I was listening to NPR today at work and an interview came on that I thought was very interesting.
Here's what's going on:
The gist of it is, this guy, Narendra Modi, is running for prime minister in India with the persuasive platform that because he is living the bachelor life, he will have more time and ability to devote himself to the job. It turns out he actually still has a wife, although he contends that the marriage was loveless and purely a business relationship, which based on the limited evidence presented, seems reasonably likely to be true. What really got me thinking was when the interviewer was speaking with a supporter of Modi, and asking her about how this recent revelation might affect his chances or anyone's opinion of him.
I can't find the transcript of the interview, but basically she was saying, 'why would his personal life matter when we have so many other problems at hand?' The interviewer countered with something like, 'well, shouldn't it matter?'
And that's the question, should it matter?
It seems to me that when these politicians get busted in the US, your anthony weiners, your john edwardssss, your kissing congressmen etc. they aren't kicked out because they're bad politicians (partisan feelings aside) but simply because of a misstep in their personal lives. I'd also point out that there are probably plenty of politicians, good and bad, that probably did these things and got away with it. Look at Thomas Jefferson and all his slave babies.
And, I think with the advent of social media these kinds of things will only become more prevalent when the younger people start getting into office and the things they put on facebook/twitter/DP fourms ten years ago will come back to haunt them.
Bill Clinton was president during one of the most prosperous times in US history, and he was almost removed from office for getting a BJ. The current president of France, Francois Hollande is in the middle of some serious soap opera business right now as well, yet few french consider that something revealing about his effectiveness. Do Americans put too much stock into it, assuming that it is some non-criminal aspect of their personal lives?
Well, a number of premises are at odds with the facts.
Beginning with Modi and his marriage. One first has to allow for the fact that in India, family is everything. It is a land where arranged marriages are still an accepted and sometimes desired practice, and Indian leaders have traditionally been strong on family. If I am not mistaken they are the first democracy to have a woman head of state, so some of the "western" ideas have to be set aside.
Modi was countering criticism about his unique marriage arrangement and put that spin on it.
Yes, many politicians of the past did bad things, Kennedy especially, he used prostitutes.
But let's start with Clinton and the spun doctored myth he was persecuted over a blow job. No, he was impeached by congress because he LIED under oath, a high crime of obstruction of justice.
Now THAT matters. It's about trust. Do I want a president open to blackmail?
You see, morality in public life is based on precedent, Kennedy got away with spying on Nixon, but Nixon got caught spying on the DNC, so they had to find a better way to spy. Clinton almost lost the gig, so the moral of that is don't get caught.....with an intern, hookers I guess are still cool.
In France, it is completely acceptable for a man to have a mistress, wives lovers etc. so what's going on there has no relevance whatsoever.
But, here's the point. these people have sworn at least two oaths, one a lifetime commitment of marriage, the other terms of service. When you break one vow, are you not likely to break the second? And if you lie to cover it up, to protect yourself, is that not the opposite of what that politician has sworn to uphold?
You see, in the end, it becomes a matter of trust. Will this person do what he says? Or will he stoop to self pleasuring activities that might expose him to secondary crime, blackmail, extortion....? If he lies to cover it up, what else is he lying about? What is he really telling our allies?
Then there is this. Politicians write and pass laws, expecting people to obey them, they fund massive budgets for enforcement, but seek to escape it themselves when their careers are at stake.
In any office I've ever worked in, if the head guy had gotten a blow job from an intern he would be out of a job. Because they have to raise money and campaign to get the job why should they be any different?
