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Should Personal Lives Matter?

Should a politicians personal life be taken into account?


  • Total voters
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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
You need to get your facts straight. Adultery was not one of the charges against him.

IMPEACHMENT - THE OVERVIEW -- CLINTON IMPEACHED - HE FACES A SENATE TRIAL, 2D IN HISTORY - VOWS TO DO JOB TILL TERM'S 'LAST HOUR' - NYTimes.com

William Jefferson Clinton was impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice
 

"...almost removed from office for getting a BJ" is just supporters refusing to accept reality and trying to spin and minimize his impeachment by making it sound as petty as possible.

Now, don't get me wrong, to be honest I do feel that the whole line of events that led up to it were indeed petty, but the simple undeniable fact remains that he was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice. Sorry, Clinton supporters, it just is. If he hadn't broken the law by lying, he never would have been impeached.
 
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?

I think all five of your choices are good answers. I voted for all five. People can use any measurement that they want to in order to choose their elected officials. They can use any method and they can use it fairly or unfairly. Politics isn't child play. When you run for office, you are opening yourself up to all kinds of scrutiny. Some of it fair. Some of it unfair.
 
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.
That is total bullcrap.
 
That is total bullcrap.

Well... lying about it under oath. But like all serious impeachment proceedings, they are not fueled with the interest of justice, but rather partisanship.
 
Well... lying about it under oath. But like all serious impeachment proceedings, they are not fueled with the interest of justice, but rather partisanship.
He committed perjury in a sexual harassment lawsuit. And was disbarred for doing so.

He was not impeached for getting a blowjob.

That is just the way the Dems likes to spin it. But of course all non-idiots know that they are evil liars.
 
He committed perjury in a sexual harassment lawsuit. And was disbarred for doing so.

He was not impeached for getting a blowjob.

That is just the way the Dems likes to spin it. But of course all non-idiots know that they are evil liars.

And if I remember correctly, all offending material centered on his relationship with Lewinsky, not Jones.
 
It depends on the individual and the situation. In general, I'd say no.

But then you have our 'public servants' lying to their wives and political staff, telling them they are 'going hiking,' and ending up in South America with their 'girlfriends.'

Totally not doing their jobs, so absorbed with their dicks they completely drop their responsibilities.

The best example of someone who will NOT do the job is Anthony Weiner. It all unfolded over a matter of years...the man *could not stop* even to save his family or his job. So he 'attempts' a comeback and a run at governor (was it governor?) of NY....and STILL was caught popping his penis all over the Internet. He "could not stop".

Do you think that a man like that, with everything to lose...and still cant stop...isnt going to be all over the Internet everyday instead of doing his job for the people? He has no self-control even when the stakes are about as high as they can go. He will not stop once he gets the job....he will be distracted and wasting your $$ and doing nothing.

So again, it really depends.
 
Hard to separate private life stuff from public life stuff. We have no idea what may happen tomorrow but it is reasonable to make assumptions on how a politician will handle the situation by looking at how he handled issues in the past.
Your comments on Bill Clinton are somewhat offensive. I personally don't care what he does in his private life but when someone shows a proclivity for going after women who works for him then it indicates a tendency to use the office for personal gain. The French have the right idea, surprisingly, and consider adult consensual relations between an employer and employee as felony rape. The is a obvious power difference and the subordinate either complies in fear of repercussions (unstated or not) or hopes of some favorable employment benefit. And co-workers are impacted. Clearly not a private personal matter that only concerns a spouse.
 
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