Writer's Block: A political affair

[lisamoe]

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I think people misuse the word "right" a lot. I do think that the public has a legitimate interest in knowing if politicians have things going on in their lives that would substantially distract them from performing the duties they have been elected or appointed to perform. So basically, if they take time out for a quiet nooner and it's not affecting their ability to do their job, it seems like a personal thing to me. If they go off to Argentina for a week without telling anyone on their staff where they went, it becomes more public.

I don't think that politicians should be held to some crazy standard that the rest of us aren't held to. Most of us don't feel that our employers have any right to know about our personal lives as long as they don't impinge on our job performance and I'm not sure that politicians shouldn't be the same way. We're electing them to represent our political interests; we're not electing them for sainthood. On the other hand if they're a politician that preaches that sort of saintly morality and then violates it themself, I do think it speaks to a lack of commitment to their political principles, the same as a politician who preaches austerity to the masses and lives opulently, or who preaches equality and then belongs to an all-white golf club, yanno?

Comments

[angel-ent.livejournal.com]

Personally, I would rather not know about most people's sex lives. Politicians, celebraties, or just otherwise famous in some way - well, I would rather not know unless it impacts their job. I could care less that Clinton was getting blow jobs under his desk - but it really bothered me when John Edwards cheated on his dying wife.

I think it was the hyprocrisy of the actions that bothered me more. Frankly, I always thought that Hilary knew her husband stepped out and dealt with it, whereas Edwards was just flagrantly cheating on his wife because he felt entitled.