When you hold a public office...
By now you've surely heard about New York Governor Eliot Spitzer (D) and his alleged solicitation of prostitutes. It's all over the radio, TV and the Internet. He has given a brief public statement which included the following:
Today, I want to briefly address a private matter. I have acted in a way that violated the obligations to my family and that violates my — or any — sense of right and wrong.
Private matter... I don't think so. This makes me nuts because I heard the political left spew that "private matter" bullshit throughout the Lewinski matter and it still keeps popping up today. (Unless of course it's a Republican in a sex scandal, but that's another topic.)
While for the most part, I am a firm believer in sex being a private matter. I'm all for don't ask don't tell. But when it comes to public officials, especially officials that hold executive positions such as a Governor or a President, I think the rules change. Let me explain why.
You hold the highest public position in the land. It is not a position one should take lightly. In fact, there are very few positions I can think of that are more serious. And for this reason; you have been entrusted by the American public to make decisions that can have a direct effect on their lives. In the case of a President, it could be decisions that have a direct effect on our National Security.
Think about this for a second. You ever watch Godfather Part II? Remember Senator Pat Geary of Nevada? He came into Michael Corleone's office and pretty much told him he didn't like him and he was going to milk the Corleone Family for the gaming license? Then later we see that same Senator in a whore house, crying and not knowing what happened to the dead hooker on the bed?
You think Senator Pat Geary actually killed that hooker? No. The Corleone family did. The Corleone family killed that hooker and pulled the Senators strings from that point forward. They killed the hooker to hold that over the Senators head in order to control him. To get what they wanted from him, the free gaming license.
Granted, that is a Hollywood movie, not based on any real situation, as far as we know. But my point is illustrated perfectly in that movie. When a public official, a man of considerable political power puts his private life in jeopardy with hookers or gambling or homosexuality, the business of the people is put in jeopardy.
Ask yourself this question: What would Bill Clinton have been willing to do to keep Monica a secret? What would Eliot Spitzer have been willing to do to keep this scandal quiet? What would Senator Larry Craig have been willing to do to make his bathroom escapades go away?
Now ask yourself, what if the Chinese knew about Monica Lewinsky? What if the mob knew about Governor Spitzers hookers? What if the cop in the bathroom was not a cop, but a homosexual political operative looking to sandbag Senator Craig?
That's why it matters people. That's why it's not "just about sex" or just "a private matter." These people have been entrusted with the power we give them. And when that power can fall into the hands of anyone other than the person we entrusted with it, we should all be very concerned about it.
I realize this seems like common sense to most of my readers, but as often as I hear this "it's a private matter" argument, the more it makes me absolutely nuts...
Discuss this in the Political Bullshit ForumLabels: Politics
