This week yet another political scandal broke, this time involving Sen. Debbie Stabenow's husband. Apparently, he was involved with a hooker and was discovered as part of a sting operation. I truly feel bad for Sen. Stabenow as she has to listen to this play out among the media. But lately it seems like every week, another Democratic politician is in the news regarding some type of scandal.
First it was Gov. Spitzer from NY and his affair with a prostitute and possible money laundering. Then his Lt. Gov. admitted his own affair, cocaine use and misuse of campaign funds. Next was the dishonorable Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, and his indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice. And unlike Spitzer who at least had the dignity to resign, Kilpatrick seems ready to drag the city through months of bad publicity and an expensive, racially sensitive trial.
These recent events give modern credence to one of my favorite Abraham Lincoln quotes: "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
Obviously, many of our current leaders are failing that character test.
What I find frustrating about these scandals is how they have been covered by the mainstream media. Two years ago when the Republicans were rightly being exposed for their wrongdoings, the public got bombarded by the "culture of corruption" line. This message hit home by making all Republicans look crooked and helped pave the way for the Democrats victory in 2006.
Yet here we have several high profile Democrats engaged in scandal after scandal and no one in the media is making that same connection. They want to report each story as their own separate incident without the underlying theme of Democratic corruption. Is the media so myopic that they cannot see a pattern of corruption this year? Or are they just trying to protect the brand image of Democrats in an election year?
I was reading the comments of a Democrat who posted a response to the Stabenow story making the case that these scandals are not a big deal because Democrats are not the party preaching moral values and therefore they are not hypocrites like Republicans. But isn't that argument basically just an admission that unlike Republicans, Democrats have no morals and therefore can't be held accountable?
Maybe we should hold those who espouse moral values to a higher standard, but does that really excuse everybody else from their moral shortcomings? Regardless of parties or their particular views of morality, we should expect more from our leaders. Unfortunately, we live in a society where even obvious scandals become opportunity for partisan politics instead actually holding the person accountable for their actions.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Wasn't sure where you were headed at first, but in the end I agree.
I think the big reason for the spotlight on Republicans is because of the rank hypocrisy that is revealed when they fall from grace. But, that doesn't give Dems a free pass to screw up to their hearts content with no consequence.
...and you wonder why I really don't like the word "liberal"
I'm guessing the Democrats will have a good governmental solution to the corruption.
Perhaps additional spending on a Federal Leadership Behavioral Impact Study will lead to mandatory ethics improvement classes (Of course, only white, male, heterosexual, Republicans will be required to attend). The Kennedy/Boxer bill could mandate the Dept of Education teach all 1st and 2nd graders on the proper use of escorts. Murtha and Co. can spend billions in earmarks to get to the bottom of the military-industrial complex's conspiracy to cause this widespread Democratic lapse in judgement. Maybe if we could just get a couple more liberal Supreme Court justices, perhaps they can "find" in the Constitution the right for Democratic politicians to use taxpayer funds to pay for legal defense when charged with crimes. Or maybe if Ginsburg can become Chief Justice, she can create a law that says Democrat politicians (& their spouses) are entitled to at least one mulligan.
Well, even if the Democrats don't have a governmental solution yet, maybe Obama will grace us with a moving sermon on the need for change. That surely will give us the hope we need.
Post a Comment