I have noticed some of the comments on the pieces regarding San Diego’s scandal-ridden mayor, Bob Filner, saying that the news is a distraction from items that really impact citizens, and that the women were consenting adults who didn’t complain…so what Filner did wasn’t really a big deal.
On the other hand, Mandy has to ask, “Has the world gone crazy?”
Now, it turns out that Colin Powell Denies Affair With Romanian Diplomat After Guccifer Hacking. I am suspicious of 10-years of electronic correspondence that included bathing suit pictures of the diplomat, but it acts as a reminder that sex scandals plague members of all political persuasions…so please don’t gloat too much over the Democrat’s recent array of embarrassments.
That being said, why really does it matter? In the case of Filner, there are three reasons:
1) If an elected representative cannot keep serious vows made to a loved one, what are the chances that difficult promises will be kept to voters?
2) The mainstream media was culpable: It did not give voters the information needed to make a fully informed choice this November.
3) It is indicative of the power-perk expectations of the leadership of both parties, who feel entitled to privileges not available to regular Americans.
Here’s how it works:
1) Filner breaks promises – He campaigned on a platform of transparency and openness, but Mayor Bob Filner’s City Hall has been slow to release public records, which can take weeks or even months to see the light of day.
2) The mainstream media essentially ignored the breaking news of victims filing claims…until the local Democratic Party and National Committee finally recognized his behavior was so odious they had to call for his resignation. In fact, one brave reporter admitted his profession’s contribution to this awful situation.
It is interesting to note that Filner’s very competent and civic-minded opponent in the November election, Cal DeMaio was derided for being a gay man not openly supportive of gay marriage. I am thinking voters would have liked to have known about the “Filner Headlock” and Filner’s alleged man-handling of interns prior to making their final selection. They might have made a different choice.
3) The “perks” Filner enjoyed include Paris junkets, a $100,000 gift from a developer, and campaign debt payoffs for city deals.
If a candidate can objectify women, then it is easy to also objectify the people that the public servant is supposed to serve. Then they feel the rules don’t apply to them.
Being a scientist interested in “behavioral biochemistry,” I recently completed a book: Sex at Dawn. There was a description of a candidate who came completely clean about an extra-marital affair he was having that was blessed by his wife. I have to say, I would weigh such a campaigner more seriously about his policies if he was that upfront about his personal life.
These are just a few of the many reasons these scandals matter to American voters and taxpayers. Next time, I want the opportunity to fully vet the people on the ballot.
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Comments
“Filner breaks promises – He campaigned on a platform of transparency and openness.”
Transparency and openness …. now where did I hear that one before … ROFLMAO!
The Democrats = The Horny Bunch
Colon Powell is a democrat.
Powell is not a Democrat. He is black. That is apparently all that matters.
It certainly is all that matters to Colin Powell.
sex scandals plague members of all political persuasions
Um, Lady … Colin Powell is not a Republican. He’s a Democrat. Yes, that’s right. He is a Democrat. So, shut up.
I double checked. Powell is a member of the Republican Party. I will let others comment on the quality of his Republicanism.
No, he is not. He has not supported a Republican candidate or administration since 2003.
“Um, Lady … shut up” — that’s a winning argument.
You left out the ellipses.
Umm, Lady … you do know that there is a difference between groping unwilling women and boinking a willing partner done in private. Do you not? Because if you feel you can lump these two “activities” under one bundle, you’ve completely lost your sense of moral equivalence.
Just like Secret Service agents (and others in the President’s advance team) were boinking Columbian hookers? no, no problem there at all.
Until they got reassigned/demoted/fired, that is.
But those agents in Columbia were helping those poor girls to get better clothes. They were so shocked with how little they had on and were good fellas to rise to the occasion.
At least they didn’t tweet their pics to 45,000 people
The “bonking a willing partner” while there’s a spouse is called “infidelity”. There are issues of disease and children to consider that make it a Bad Thing.
You might want to grow up and think about these things for a change.
Good grief.
I was not saying it is not bad. I am saying it is not as bad. Or the same bad.
Folks, try taking the express train sometime.
Umm Lady, …. do you know those little Youtube music embeds you guys like to include on your home page? The ones that have been running Jackson Browne tunes for several days?
Did you know that Jackson Browne beat his girlfriend?
What’s up with that?
Not true, in fact Jackson was the one who called the police.
So,there is this: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Did_Jackson_Browne_really_beat_up_Daryl_Hannah#page2
I stand uncommitted but unconvinced.
Notice that these Sex scandals suddenly pop up to drive the Obama scandals off the front page? Weiner, Filner, Powell – In Hillary’s words – What difference does it make?
This just takes the pressure off the State Dept, the IRS, the DOJ and the White House.
Yet another object lesson regarding the old observation that whenever some politician waxes poetic about how he/she is all about their providing some government “service” to the people, that we should remember that “service” is the same word that’s used to describe what the bull does to the cow.
MOOOoooo…..
I wholeheartedly agree about how fidelity in areas of life “when no one is looking” is merely a window into the soul of the person and the degree to which he/she can be trusted with the “public trust” (or company trust) behind the closed doors of the Executive Suite.
It really DOES matter (re: MLK, Jr’s stress upon the “content of their character” not the observable external “wrapper”).
Funny that. There are rumors that MLK, Jr was a philanderer.
So. What’s up with that, now?
These are distractions from more vital matters – but are ESSENTIAL to address. As is the IRS issue. As is the Benghazi issue. Etc. Etc.
The underlying problem is that there are way too many things that are happening and we can’t possibly handle them all in the same way.
This “sexcapades” issue is a chronic problem for right AND left, Democrat and Republican. And of course the media, who won’t do their job and REPORT in an unbiased and ethical manner – i.e. they won’t say anything about it unless it is a Conservative and/or Republican. Double standards in the media, along with the deep desire to destroy Republican candidates and politicians in general, not to mention rich donors, is endemic.
Chronic media problems. Double standards. Political Correctness (aka speech “self” censorship). Moral decline. Low-information voters (aka public who THINKS they are informed because they believe the media). Politicians who are unethical and liars who get away with murder (literally!) because the media won’t report and to their job.
Yeah. Lots of problems.
“so please don’t gloat too much over the Democrat’s recent array of embarrassments.” -Leslie
mmm… I gloat as much and as often as I see fit.
I’m not budge-able when ‘nudged’ with shoulds & shouldn’ts.
That’s a primary reason why, on Twitter, I don’t follow, nor allow folks to follow me, who offer up unsolicited advice on what I should or shouldn’t do and how I should and shouldn’t live my life or interact with the world.
Yeah… I am seriously independent-minded.
Liberals openly gloat over GOP sex scandals to the maximum extent possible, why? because it is right out of Alinsky Rules For Radicals.
I ‘Use Alinsky On Them To Neutralize’ an otherwise one-sided standard applied by the left on the right.
I honestly mean no personal offense, Leslie. I speak my mind.
I have learned that fighting fire with fire levels the playing field that the rabid leftists have constructed.
Too bad it has to be that way & the standards don’t fit across the board either… Upper tier pundits, bloggers, celebrities, notables, and politicians are held to a higher standard of civility & nuance than their lower tier piers and everyday consumers of politics.
We all have our roles and as William Shakespeare wrote…
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
Okay, a sex scandal got exposed. Big bucks for the media that follows this. Especially because the media potentates feel why should the National Enquirer make all the bucks?
The other is this thing where people believe they point to him and tell him to leave. As if they’re the wife. And, you’re being told to “pack your bags.”
Maybe, it’s not so easy to throw an elected official out, after all? Because you can always find a scandal!
On the right, no one wants to notice that sex happens outside of monogmamous marriages. And, Filner’s behaviors are more typical of plenty of bosses, than not.
And, plenty of women also like sex. Or let on in an office setting that they are available. And, when you look at the assorted women now showing up and charging Filner with sexual harassment just happen to be women who want to sue him for money.
The laws that you can sue a boss who chases you around his desk is nothing new! Wanting to make money above your usual wages is also not something new.
The “outrage” though … Wow … that seems to be a specialty of the right. They’ve never heard of sex happening outside of marriages. So when they hear a story like this it gets the juices flowing.
It’s not as big a deal as you’re making it.
Nor do you get the stories from men, who are successful, who get all sorts of invitations from broads offering themselves up on a platter.
These ladies aren’t starry eyed virgins.
And, it took two to tango.
You sure you’re not my husband’s mistress? You sound like her.
Valerie, send him over! I’m 73. And, my hair’s white. Never died it. And, I no longer wear a bra. If you send him without his clothes, I’ll dress him, too.
Mayor Filner made his reputation as being a “women’s advocate.”
There’s a steep contrast between his political reputation and his actions.
http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/08/02/Another-Filthy-Filner-Accuser-Comes-Forward
Some funny late night talk show clips on Filner and Weiner http://blog.doodooecon.com/2013/08/video-clip-of-day-filner-vs-weiner-perv.html
More seriously,
Filner and Weiner show their contempt for others in these scandals. They feel entitled and unaccountable.
The reason this is a left vs right issue is because Donna Frye TAUGHT selective enforcement at a progressive activist training session which I attended as a tea party investigator.
Selective enforcement is the belief that ONLY laws which progressives agree with should be enforced. In this way, there is no counter, legal or otherwise, to their agenda.
Selective enforcement is the reason Bob Filner is who he is today. When there is no equal justice, there is no justice. When THEY decide what laws are to be enforced, law is a tool not a rule.
Anyone who votes for these people is voting against our country. Given, most people are ignorant as to why this is true, but it is a fact.
Actually, no. Arshats can’t go into voting booths and hit people who don’t vote the way they want them to. It’s still a free country. And, we’re blessed with choice.
Just as we’re blessed with free speech rights.
As to the women stepping forward, believe it or not, they’re doing to cash in on getting some money. And, they also love being seen on TV. It’s like a car accident where people come out of them okay. But then they think “insurance companies are rich” so I’ll sue for backlash.
Screaming at the ghosts again?
Actually, I think it’s called “whiplash.” Definitely doesn’t show up on X-rays. And, you’ve got to remember not to turn your head quickly, when you’re claiming you can’t live without your neck brace.
“…as a reminder that sex scandals plague members of all political persuasions…”
To imply that up-your-colon powell has a “different” political persuasion than “Carlos Danger” WEINER, Client #9 spitzer, FILTHY FILNER, bill “monica-stain” clinton, etc., etc., is BOTH STUPID AND NAIVE.
Then I offer Mark Sanford’s going AWOL as the Republican equivalent. The point is that it isn’t so much the parties as then men… and the attitude of the elite politicos that promote this behavior NOT only in the area of relationships by in civics as well.
Leslie taking some heat! 8)
You might say, this topic is getting close to something I have been working on for a while.
Bottom line, there are good decent people who believe in consistency, honesty, responsibility, and integrity in every walk of life. However, people who are not “good people” believe in the opposite, and the rest of us make excuses for them because we want to believe people are like us. Some aren’t like us, evil exists, and these people are drawn to power and achieve it through manipulation.
It’s been a while since I’ve commented here. Looks like the tone has gotten nastier. Not sure why Leslie is getting attacked.
Once again, for the nothing-but-net 3 pointer:
1. Yes, willing people who have affairs show poor character
2. Yes, people who grope other unwilling people show really poor character
3. In this collection, #2 is much worse than #1.
4. If you don’t grok this then your entire sense of moral relativity is hosed.
So, start showing us the Republican gropers, harassers and rapists. You know, the counter points to Filthy Filner.
tick, freakin’ tock.
Why should we assume Filner didn’t “keep serious vows made to a loved one”? What vows, and to whom were such vows made?
[…] Why The Sex Scandals Really Matter – Legal Insurrection […]
I’d have to ask the Democrats why this one matters when Bill Clinton’s didn’t.