What Makes Political Scandal, or I Feel Bad for Mark Sanford. Somewhat.
What bugs me is not that Governor Sanford cheated on his wife. It’s not that he left his post unaccounted for four days, lied about his whereabouts and traveled to the other side of the globe, though he should certainly be held accountable for those actions.
What bothers me is that he and people like him in the Republican Party routinely run on a platform of “family values” and believe that laws should be passed that govern how you act in your bedroom. Then they turn around and do exactly what they say “will destroy America”. Maybe they’re doing it even before they run on these claims, maybe we should ask Sen. Craig of Idaho.
Sanford is particularly hypocritical because he said that Clinton should resign from office over his affair… an affair that no objective observer could claim had any impact on his performance as President. The witch hunt that was run against the President, however, wasting untold millions in tax money, was run by hypocrites like Sanford.
I don’t care that Clinton or Sanford are bad husbands. That’s none of my business. It’s between them and their families. It becomes my business if it affects their work as an elected official. If they can juggle three lovers, a family and balance the budget, good for them.
I feel badly for Gov Sanford, honestly. Can you imagine being in a position where you had a lovely wife and four young boys… and you’re so moved by a lover that you leave your post as Governor, lie about your whereabouts and fly to the other side of the globe, damn the consequences? Clearly the man is in a tough spot.
People have recently jumped up to say “it’s not just Republicans! Look at Eliot Spitzer with the prostitute!” That is a very different situation. Firstly, it’s important to point out that Mr. Spitzer did not run on a platform of family values, and then cheat on his wife. I don’t care that he enjoyed sex with women who are not his wife, and frankly, I don’t care that he paid for the privilege. So if this was all he had done, I would again, have no problem, as long as it didn’t affect his job performance. Where Mr. Spitzer went wrong was waging a campaign against prostitution rings, and then patronize them at the same time. To me, that is over the line. That’s hypocrisy.
But I am glad that we are once again putting on display the hypocrisy of the Republicans. You just shouldn’t try to run a party on a “socially holier than thou” platform, it just doesn’t work. They should swing to the libertarian side of their party and say “who cares what you do in your own home.” They should stick to their “you can spend your money better than the government”, “minimize the role of government” and “we like to have an aggressive foreign policy” platforms. I’m not saying I necessarily agree with them, but they’re reasoned positions. Who you sleep with is none of the government’s business.
Let’s remember: “Blue” states (democratic-leaning) have notably lower divorce rates, lower domestic violence, fewer drug problems. They pay more in federal taxes than they take in in federal aid. All the while, the Republican-led “Red” states have more “moral” problems, rail against taxes, and then take in more from the federal government than they shell out! We continue to see these scandals are 10-1 Republican to Democrat.
That’s hypocrisy!
6 months ago