Once we had the Terminator. Then we had the Governator. Now we have the Fornicator. Or so talk radio would characterize it. Once we had a highly respected general director of the International Monetary Fund. He was a known womanizer whose advances, while annoying, never approached being criminal. They now appear to have crossed the line. He was touted as the next President of France. Not so much now.
The topic of this post is whether the personal lives of public people should be a factor in their public lives. In the US, the answer is clearly yes. Gary Hart and his escapades ended his quest for the Presidency. Ted Kennedy’s quest for the Presidency ended at Chappaquiddick. The political fate of Elliott Spitzer is yet to be determined. Europe is much more tolerant of the personal lives of their leaders many of whom have had quite open relationships out of marriage. Should it matter?
Let the man who is without blame cast the last stone. Religious evangelists in the United States are reported to have the largest consumption of sexually salacious material. These are the same people who have televangelists whose out of marriage dalliances have cost them their church. And then, again, the Catholic Church has nothing to be proud about when it comes to sexual malfeasance. One of the highest incidences of HIV in New York is among Hassidic young men. And it’s not from dirty needles. One of the recent Presidential hopefuls cheats on his wife and fathers a child when his wife is ill with cancer. A cad, certainly. A jerk, absolutely. But should that prevent him from becoming President.
There is often a large gap between what we say and what we do. The expectations that surround public persona is often so unrealistic that a saint would be found wanting. In fact a saint or soon to be a saint has been found wanting. A recently beatified Pope is being called to task for his lack of leadership in the Church’s sex scandals. Well, nobody’s perfect.
In my view, personal information is relevant only to the extent that it affects the public role of the person in question. I have been wondering for some time when the Reagan family knew, for sure, that the President was suffering from Alzheimer’s. At some point such a tragically personal fact could have a profound effect on the nation. How effective could the President be as Commander in Chief? Sometimes it is a matter of perception. Roosevelt was never seen to be standing because he believed that this illness could be perceived as weakness. When a public official is caught, literally, with his pants down is he a jerk or a risk as a public figure. Such officials could be blackmailed. But when a public official is caught, again, literally, with his pants down in a public washroom making suggestive signals to other occupants is this a matter that should lead to his resignation from Congress. Should the fact that he is (although he vehemently denies it) a homosexual disqualify him from public office. It has not clearly disqualified Barney Frank.
In the case of the Terminator, I never did see his movies and never intend to do so. So his dalliance, while regrettable and painful to his family, makes no difference to me. Other than five minutes of news on every news channel the matter should die a terminator’s kind of death. As to the IMF general manager, clearly if he has engaged in criminal behavior his political career and his public service career are clearly over. Even if he is guilty of no more than forcing himself on women the social stigma of such behavior has cost many a company presidents his job.
But fear not, the media will make the decision. Where everything is news, not much is new. Elliott Spitzer is now a highly paid host on CNN. I see this as first step in rehabilitation on the road to a political life in the future. All seems to be forgiven. What it proves that being a jerk has never stopped anyone from succeeding in political life.
Bernie
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