POLITICIANS AND SEX

One of my favorite jokes used to be that Republicans are the kind of people who pull there shades and draw their curtains but probably don't need to.  Democrats are the kind of people who don't pull their shades or draw their curtains but probably should.  Democrat Grover Cleveland, for example, was elected President even though he had fathered an illegitimate child.*  He is the only President to have been elected twice to non-consecutive terms, and he actually won the popular vote three times.

This joke was ruined during the impeachment process of President Bill Clinton when it was found that there was this woman Republican Representative from Idaho, Helen Chenowith,** who thought Clinton should be impeached for his sexual indiscretions, but who, it turned out, had an affair with a married man for six years.  Of course this paragon of virtue said her case was different.  Fortunately, she had taken the pledge to serve only six years as a Representative and at least kept that promise.  Then there was Republican Representative Henry Hyde*** who had a five year "youthful indiscretion" in his forties (sic) but led the charge to impeach the President anyway.  So this sort of thing is bipartisan.  But these scandals are long ago.

At the present time, we have four political scandals going.  The worst of them in my mind is Democrat Bob Finer, mayor of San Diego, who has been accused of sexual harassment by 14 women at the time of this writing.****  He first claimed his problem was that he was of the "old school", presumably when sexual harassment was permitted.  But this is a very old school as sexual harassment goes back to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and has been "clarified" a number of times since.  In 1980, now 23 years ago, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) produced guidelines to enforce Title VII to define and enforce sexual harassment and they were expanded to educational institutions in 1984.****  One wonders where Mayor Finer has been all this time?  It is no surprise there is a growing effort at recall building.

Perhaps the second worst case involves Republican Mark Sanford when he was governor of South Carolina.*****  He disappeared from sight and left word he was on the Appalachian Trail, though it turned out he was in Buenos Aires.  He eventually admitted having an affair with a woman by the name of Maria Belen Chapur and reimbursed the state for funds used in a visit to Buenos Aires that included a visit with Mrs. Chapur.  The state claimed other financial indiscretions also.  His marriage ended  in divorce, and he now says he is engaged to Mrs. Chapur.  After spending some time in seclusion, he ran to regain his old seat in the House of Representatives First District and was elected.

Next on the list is the sexting by Democrat Anthony Weiner who resigned his House of Representatives seat over the matter and has admitted to doing more of it since he took treatment.*****  So far as I am concerned, this is a case of knowing more than I want to know about a politician's private life including pictures of, um, Weiner's wiener.  But he is the person who put his graphic pictures of himself and dirty texts on the internet where privacy is limited.  And if women were offended by his emails they could simply block them.  So far as we know, he has not met any of his contacts.  Well, this is all too sad because Weiner is not only taking his own political career down but may take his wife's professional career down with him.  She has not shown signs of wanting a divorce action which bothers many women.  Also it is an interesting marriage of a Jew to a Muslim.  I find that his career as a representative was much better than many give him credit for.  It certainly appears that Weiner's compulsive exhibitionism (of all kinds) has ruined his chances for election as New York City mayor.

Last on the list is Eliot Spitzer who resigned from governorship of New York in 2008 over his meetings with upscale prostitutes from the Emperor's Club VIP (since shut down) that cost from $1,000/hr to $5,000/hr and as much as $31, 000/day.******  Much normal prostitution involves trafficking, and the people are forced to enter prostitution and cannot leave, therefore a form of slavery.  Upscale prostitutes are a different matter.  They are in voluntary commerce, able to earn as much as $50,000 in a weekend.  It is a completely different matter and not much different than the common practice of someone marrying a spouse for their money.  So far as I am concerned, it is a matter between Eliot Spitzer and his wife.   Five years later, a contrite Spitzer is running for Comptroller of New York City and has begged forgiveness for his prior indiscretions.  He has gained a certain amount of sympathy because he is running for a lower office than he previously held (Weiner, however, is considered to be running for a higher office.) and is said to have a 19 point lead in his race.

Many sexual indiscretions by politicians are forgiven and some are not.

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland
** http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/chenoweth091198.htm
*** http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/hyde091798.htm
**** http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/14/san-diego-mayor-banned-from-hooters/:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_harassment
***** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Sanford
****** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Spitzer; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/14/eliot-spitzer-poll_n_3756115.html