Tuesday, March 18, 2008

America is clearly disillusioned....

So, I read this morning that the new Governor of New York and his wife publicly admitted to having extramarital affairs.

What is this country coming to???

Here's the thing. While I do not condone extramarital affairs, people in the United States have got to come to grips with letting go of this puritanical and utopian expectation of perfection that we have of our leadership. They are people, plain and simple. And people are not perfect. Period. It is unrealistic to expect human beings to walk the straight and narrow moral and ethical lines of life at all times. I know this is what we want….but let's be honest, it's unrealistic.

And most importantly, what a person does or doesn't do within the confines of their marriage is truly none of any one's business. It certainly should not be the measure to which we determine whether a person can or can not do their job in political office. Here's the thing -- leaders all over the world, as well as in our own Presidencies have been less than "faithful" to their respective spouses. This has been going on for centuries. Does that truly mean that they are not capable of being a good leader? No, I do not think so. While I don't think it's morally correct for them to cheat on their spouses -- it is not for me to place judgement upon them for that. Because none of us are perfect. Nor am I involved in their relationships to know the specifics of their day to day life. I think part of the fire that is fueling this is the lack of separation between state and religion - and I do tend to think that is where the lines have become very fuzzy in our political communities presently. (This is not the same as keeping "One nation, under God" in the pledge of Allegiance which I whole heartedly support.)

But the problem that seems to be upon us today with people like former Governor Spitzer - is that we have this "holier than thou" perspective of others, as did he in his judgement of others. Which is part of what led to his demise. And I tend to think that a lot of these politicians are suffering from "doth protest too loudly" which often leads to them being guilty of the very things that they're persecuting others of. Those who live in glass houses, should be sure that they have nothing to hide because the stones cast back are often boulders.

Truth be told - if someone truly was that "squeaky clean" as we want them to be, there more than certainly would be a witch hunt to find skeletons in their closet because we not only don't believe that they can be that good -- we don't want them to be either. We in this country thrive on the demise of others. We build people up, just to tear them down. We are poor little sheep that are following a fickle and disfunctional shepherd known as the media. And we frenzy over the misgivings and falling of others.

So here's my suggestion to America. Let your leaders be people, and stay out of their bedrooms. Worry about their thoughts and views on public issues and stop worrying about their personal moral compass. Worry about them doing things that are associated with their roles in office, and if they don't have their city/state/country's best interests at hand. Because there are very few people in life who truly talk the talk and walk the walk as well; life is complicated, and not always how we want it to be. No one is ever proud to say that there are problems in their marriage and so maybe they're seeking something elsewhere. And while I certainly don't condone seeking alternatives outside of the marriage and don't want this post to be construed that way -- I'm not wearing blinders to how life really is either.

And truthfully - the bottom line is -- it's really none of your business anyway.

6 comments:

Suldog said...

I respectfully disagree.

While it certainly IS their business what goes on in their bedrooms, when someone busts other people for the same transgressions they're committing, as Spitzer did, then he deserves to be hung by his balls and no pity.

He is no better than a cop who makes drug busts and then sells the drugs. It has nothing to do with a judgment concerning his private sex life. It has everything to do with the judgments he made on others.

~**Dawn**~ said...

Totally not related to this post (sorry), but I linked over here from your comment on Nichole's blog. I see you are a Sox fan! Are you ready for baseball??? Feels like an eternity since the World Series. Anyway, not sure how "obsessed" of a fan you are, but we have a fun little site with a group of Sox fans on it -- Nichole is a member too -- and you are more than welcome to come shoot the breeze with us if you're interested! Just pop on over to my blog, and just under the header photo in the center is a red button with "Red Sox Nation" on it and that's a link to us! No pressure though, if that's not your thing. Just thought I would mention it! =)

Rebecca said...

Hey Suldog -
Well that was sort of my point. He had it coming truly, mostly because he was so sanctimonious regarding others who might behave that way. And he wasn't a very "nice" person so people generally aren't going to view him favorably, whereas there may be more slack for the new governor coming in. I was SO NOT DEFENDING Spitzer at all; it was more in reaction to the new incoming and legally blind governor and his wife admitting to affairs so as not to be dragged throug the mud themselves. When in reality, their personal relationships - and all public officials personal relationships should have no bearing to their public role.

BUT.... then again, part of me felt like who cares if he sleeps with prostitutes so long as it's not on the back of the taxpayers dollars, really?

Hi Dawn -
Thanks for stopping in! I don't get to blogsurf often, my work filters blogs so I can't read them; but I'm able to check postings here, which is rather odd. I'll gladly pop on over, and I'd love to talk Sox with you girls. Thank you! :)

Rebecca said...

As a footnote - I have to apologize. I CAN NOT BELIEVE I spelled "dysfunctional" as "disfunctional". I'm absolutely HORRIFIED AT MYSELF.

Thank you. ;)

Anonymous said...

The governor didn't just have an affair. He was with prostitutes. He has had an agenda of finding and shutting down prostitution so it is more than an affair it is a violation of the public trust. And, I really do think we need to hold people to high standards. We can be understanding and forgiving when they fall, but to just accept things as none of our business lowers the standards. This will eventually affect our kids and future generations. Let's go back to what God wants us to do and do our best to follow his rules (not suggestions).

Rebecca said...

Hi Anonymous -
Thanks for writing. :)
I know, I absolutely agree that this man in particular was a hypocrit -- that was in part my point. And it's poetic justice that he's been revealed to be the very person he's scorned others for being.

But at the same time,while I do believe that it's wrong to behave in such a manner, I don't know that I necessarily support the way the media looks to be involved in ever aspect of a person's life. At what point, is your life no longer your own? To be a "public servant" is not to be a literally servant. What goes on behind a persons closed doors is truly none of my business -- I whole heartedly believe that. I firmly believe in a drawing a line between public and private lives, as I'm sure anyone who lives under the scrutiny of the media would agree. At the same time, I'm totally not condoning his actions; I think what I'm really speaking out about is the way the media frenzies on this kind of thing - and how the public just sort of follows blindly along.

This particular individual absolutely had what was coming to him - "doth protest too loudly" for obvious reasons, clearly. But in general, I do believe that as much as we are quick to judge and release a person of "corrupt morals" -- we wouldn't necessarily be accepting of someone who was lily white in their background eithe;, because there would always be the "shoe waiting to fall" in the eyes of the public.

I'm glad I came back to re-read some posts otherwise I wouldn't have seen your comment. Thanks again for the dialogue. :)