The establishment media are finally asking former-President Bill Clinton some tough and long-overdue questions about his treatment of Monica Lewinsky. It is important to note, though, that the media are only doing this after it matters.

If Hillary were president today, which would make Bill Clinton First Gentleman, no one in the media would be asking him about any of this. No. One.

Twenty-years-ago, in order to cover up his infamous lie about not having sex with “that woman,” and with the full cooperation of the establishment media (especially CNN), the White House launched a cruel campaign of personal destruction against Lewinsky, a young White House intern. She was ruthlessly smeared as a liar, lunatic, and unstable stalker, something akin to Kathy Bates in Misery — only Monica was Bill’s number-one fan.

But as a blue dress later proved, she was telling the truth, he was lying.

So let’s not forget what came before. A sitting American president — the most powerful man in the world — engaged in a sexual affair with a 22-year-old woman, 25-years his junior; an affair that could only — at best — end in heartbreak and rejection for her.

What happened in reality, however, was far worse and predictable.

The affair ended in permanent disgrace for Lewinsky. Before her life could even get started, she was made infamous as the human humidor (Google it), and all because Clinton was more interested in satisfying his animal impulses; all because he chose to exploit an immature crush, rather than doing the only decent thing, which would have been to protect a vulnerable young woman from launching herself on the road to lifelong notoriety, from becoming a verb (“a Lewinsky”) and punchline.

For 20-years, the media have ignored, dismissed, and even excused Clinton’s appalling behavior. Add to his list of sins the fact that while in office he committed perjury to cover the affair up.

But when Clinton was still in office and the media wanted to keep him there, when Clinton was a beloved ex-president who could help Democrats win elections, when Clinton’s enabler-of-a-wife was still a political powerhouse, no one in the establishment media dared criticize or challenge or even question Bill Clinton.

And so, instead of asking him tough questions about his reprehensible behavior, the media told us…

“We’re not electing a pope.”

“Character no longer matters.”

“What happens between two consenting adults is nobody’s business.”

“It’s just sex.”

“Republicans puritans are on a witch hunt.”

Over and over and over again, over two decades, this propaganda, these amoral deflections made up the spine of the media’s Clinton coverage.

But now … NOW! … now that the Clintons no longer hold any political power, now that the Clintons are no longer needed to prevent Republicans from winning elections (most especially presidential elections), only NOW are the media going through the motions of finally holding him accountable.

Do not let them fool you.

Folks, it was just a little over two-years-ago that CNN cut off the microphone of a guest who dared bring up Bill Clinton’s horrific past, which includes a lot more than the Lewinsky affair.

Except … that was then… that was when CNN wanted Hillary Clinton to be president.

Now that the Clintons are done, now that there is no political downside for Democrats in doing so, it is safe for the media to pretend to be journalists and ask Bill some tough questions … that should have been asked 20-years-ago … or even two-years-ago when Bill looked like a shoo-in to be America’s first First Gentlemen.

Here is a great example: Watch Chuck Todd and Jake Tapper, watch the phony and conveniently-timed virtue signaling of their outrage over Clinton’s behavior with Lewinsky, and ask yourself where the hell this outrage was when Bill Clinton was cruising back into the White House less than 24 months ago.

Never forget that like the rest of the media, Tapper and Todd had countless hours of television at their disposal to bring this up — you know, when it mattered.

But neither Tapper, nor Todd, nor anyone else in the media, had the moral courage to raise this issue when it mattered; no one dared risk damaging Hillary’s chances of winning the presidency; no one dared risk hurting the Clintons while they were still useful to furthering the media’s left-wing cause.

Even so, notice how even now the media still give Bill Clinton a break, focusing only on the consensual affair with Lewinsky, and not the sexual harassment case he settled with Paula Jones, or the allegation of groping a woman who had just lost her husband, or a very credible rape allegation.

Even now, even when he is useless to the media’s left-wing cause, the media still cannot overcome the natural impulse to protect a guy with a “D” after his name.

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.