Another upstanding repubican
Why do so many repubican politicians masquerade as something they're not? Just to get elected? And why do repubican voters continue to fall for the lies?
WASHINGTON - Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, who has voted against gay marriage and opposes extending special protections to gay and lesbian crime victims, finds his political future in doubt after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges stemming from complaints of lewd conduct in a men's room.
The arrest changes that dynamic, said Jasper LiCalzi, a political science professor at Albertson College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho. He cited the House page scandal that drove Florida Rep. Mark Foley from office.
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, is under scrutiny for his relationship with a contractor who helped oversee a renovation project that more than doubled the size of the senator's home.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., acknowledged that his phone number appeared in records of a Washington-area business that prosecutors have said was a front for prostitution.
I think our politicians are just a real horny, hypocritical bunch.
Hell, then, I'm halfway to the presidency!
Karsnia described Craig tapping his foot, which Karsnia said he "recognized as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct."
I didn't know that.
I think our politicians are just a real horny, hypocritical bunch.
I think most Americans would vote for a horny person. So just own up to it, and run.
I didn't know that.
Then you better stop - you might get more than you bargained for.
I didn't know that.
*tapping foot*
Riiiiight, bruce, tell us another.
Everyone knows foot tapping is code for: would you care to explore my nether regions?
*tapping foot*
Riiiiight, bruce, tell us another.
Everyone knows foot tapping is code for: can I explore your tailpipe?
Is Bruce running for office?
I had to edit my comment, spexx, coz if I was tapping MY foot at bruce and saying it meant 'can I explore your tailpipe?' it makes me look like more of a deviant than i actually am. Not into poop myself, and thus do not really wish to explore anyone's tailpipe--ever. I know there are those who enjoy a good spelunking down there, but I think LJ is at work.
I had to edit my comment, spexx, coz if I was tapping MY foot at bruce and saying it meant 'can I explore your tailpipe?' it makes me look like more of a deviant than i actually am. Not into poop myself, and thus do not really wish to explore anyone's tailpipe--ever. I know there are those who enjoy a good spelunking down there, but I think LJ is at work.
Plenty of tailpipe where he works, though. Oh, you mean "taaaaiil-pipe".... :blush:
If you're gay, then just be gay. Don't try to hide it by being the ultimate fag-basher. Reminds me of Al Pacino's character in "Angels in America"...without the HIV and stuff.
So, he was in a stall and tapped his foot? He was arrested for a nervous habit? I was expecting a more significant lewd act ... one of my patients was arrested by the feds for lewd behavior (doing the shake off more than twice is apparently considered a lewd act by the federal police) in a restroom down by Independence Hall ... he defended himself in court and actually (er, I didn't mean to do this) got off. From the charges, I mean.
Pleading to a lesser charge in hopes that nobody would notice, that wasn't too bright.
If you're gay, then just be gay. Don't try to hide it by being the ultimate fag-basher. Reminds me of Al Pacino's character in "Angels in America"...without the HIV and stuff.
Hey, when you're raised from birth to think smurfs are pure evil, are going to hell, don't deserve the same rights as us, and indeed are some of the people that god actually HATES.... and then discover that you are, in fact, a smurf. Could you imagine the havoc that kind of cognitive dissonance would wreak on a person?? I think that's why all the closeted congressmen are so ANGRY! :mad2:
It's like the Dave Chappel KKK character. "He divorced his wife, saying that 'she was a nigger lover'"
It occurs to me that if the congresscritter were in a stall, he may not have been upstanding at the time.
So, he was in a stall and tapped his foot? He was arrested for a nervous habit?
Yeah, the evidence seems quite weak, assuming the article has their best case. And I don't see why, even if the cop interpreted things correctly, what he did should even be illegal. I'm not a fan of cop shortcuts- if the cops feel the need for an undercover sting, they should wait until an actual crime is committed before springing the trap. A knowing look over a business card isn't a crime.
Pleading to a lesser charge in hopes that nobody would notice, that wasn't too bright.
Indeed.
LoL Queeq.
I think our politicians are just a real horny, hypocritical bunch.
Betcha they don't gots nothin on the '80s-'90s British Conservatives!
How many of your politicians have been found dead of auto-asphyxia wearing stockings and suspenders with an amyl nitrate soaked satsuma in their mouth?
I think our politicians are just a real horny, hypocritical bunch.
But... um... I'm not a politician! :eek:
Was that it? He was tapping his foot in a stall? I'm really hoping somebody comes forward and extrapolates that, because otherwise this is just a witch-hunt.
Also, there are other reasons people can oppose rampant laws granting certain groups additional rights not afforded to the rest of us. I don't know enough about him to say if he was truly bigoted or not, but voting no to that stuff is not de-facto gay hunting hatred.
Was that it? He was tapping his foot in a stall? I'm really hoping somebody comes forward and extrapolates that, because otherwise this is just a witch-hunt.
Why would he plead guilty to a lesser charge though? In this situation, it doesn't seem to make sense.
It also doesn't help that he has been linked to being gay in the past...that's not necessarily fair to him, but it's there.
Is foot tapping a form of gaydar?
If that's the case, you must be rooty tooty fresh n' fruity.
It's what happens if you don't keep your Brazillian tidy.
what's a repubican?
Those are the hypersexual republicans.
Ummm...yeah. I got them confused with the Demoscats for a minute...those are the real freaky-deak Dems.
"I'm not gay, damnit!!!"
Why do I see a Ted Haggard moment coming here?
"I'm not gay, damnit!!!"
Why do I see a Ted Haggard moment coming here?
Good timing (from
here):
Pastor Ted Haggard's dream of ministering to fellow "broken people" at a Phoenix halfway house has foundered amid revelations that he urged donations to support his family be sent to a Monument group run by a twice-convicted sex offender.
...
The revelation that Haggard asked supporters to give him tax-deductible donations via a nonprofit run by Paul Gerard Huberty, a registered sex offender from Monument, is just the latest twist in the bizarre saga of the fallen preacher.
Haggard, 50, last year quit as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and was fired as pastor of a Colorado Springs megachurch after he admitted to purchasing drugs and unspecified "sexual immorality" involving a male prostitute.
...
In February, one of Haggard's spiritual advisers said the ousted founder of New Life Church emerged from three weeks of intensive counseling convinced "he is completely heterosexual" and committed to his marriage.
In the fundraising pitch, Haggard told KRDO "we are looking for people who will help us monthly for two years" while he and his wife seek counseling degrees at the University of Phoenix.
"If any supporters need a tax deduction for their gift, they can mail it to Families With a Mission ...," Haggard added.
Haggard didn't note in the solicitation that he was paid one year's salary of $138,000 in a severance package by New Life's board and still owns a Colorado Springs home valued at $715,000, according to the El Paso County Assessor's Office.
Haggard's 2006 salary was reported as $115,000 plus a $85,000 bonus. He also collects royalties on his book titles, although it was unknown how much he receives from that. His books were pulled from the New Life Church's bookstore when the scandal broke.
Jones said Haggard's plea for financial help was "sad and embarrassing."
"When I exposed Ted Haggard, I exposed myself," he said. "I lost everything. My life is still in boxes and I haven't asked my best friend for help. Here's a man who left with hundreds of thousands of dollars. The ultimate word is greed. For all the people who came down on me for ruining a man's life, this is another example of what this man is like. He would stoop to anything regarding money."
...
Huberty, who originally incorporated the nonprofit in Hawaii in 2001, was listed as president of Families with a Mission in Colorado incorporation papers.
Huberty was convicted of attempted sexual assault in Hawaii in January 2004 and sentenced to 12 months in jail with six months suspended.
He also received five years of probation and is registered in Hawaii as sex offender who has committed crimes against a minor. Because of the Hawaii conviction, he is also registered in El Paso County.
The Hawaiian state sex offender registry lists Huberty's Monument home address — which also is the mailing address for Families with a Mission.
Calls to Huberty's home — where the voice mail has a man named "Paul" saying to leave a message and "God bless you" — were not returned Monday.
While serving with the U.S. Air Force in Germany in 1996, then-Lt. Col. Paul G. Huberty was convicted of sodomy, indecent acts, and adultery involving a 17-year girl who accompanied Huberty to Europe as his "legal ward," according to military court records.
In the same trial, the 18-year Army veteran also was convicted of "dishonorably fondling his genitals" during an incident involving two Dutch women at a public swimming pool in the Netherlands.
Huberty, who was a married father of three at the time, was dismissed from the military and sentenced to six months confinement, court records show.
I was listening to Hannity this afternoon, and it appears that the linked news article downplayed what the not-quite-so-Honorable Senator was doing.
From what I remember hearing, the "foot tapping" was more like foot protruding under the stall tapping the undercover cop on his foot, which is part of the signaling of intent, and was also waving his hand under the partition.
In the woman's room these same actions would be interpreted as having difficulty inserting a tampon in an overly cramped stall, and also having discovered that there is no toilet paper left on your roll.
Guys are weird.
Is THAT what that meant? When men run out of toilet paper, we waddle out and grab a handful of paper towels and then purposely clog the toilet. The foot under the partition I just wrote off to tight pantyhose.
Politicians know what's best for *you*. That doesn't mean it applies to them, whatever it may be.
Man, this Craig flames brighter than Elton John at concert night.
Democratic-voting media people will beat on naughty Republicans just as long and as hard as they can. They are never this thorough with naughty Democrats, of whom we have no shortage at all *coughBarney Frankcough*.
The effect on the Republic is not at all good, and the people know this -- it's why they're watching a lot more Fox News these days, to at the very least get an opposing bias. It's a method I use myself.
Betcha they don't gots nothin on the '80s-'90s British Conservatives!
How many of your politicians have been found dead of auto-asphyxia wearing stockings and suspenders with an amyl nitrate soaked satsuma in their mouth?
Though isn't capital-C Conservative the name of a British political party?
This article gives his party affiliation as Tory. And then there's this included in it:
Statements released to the media via the House of Commons press office did not dispute such manner of death and had the effect of indelibly smearing and blemishing the MP’s previous good standing. The following inquest resulted in a verdict of death by misadventure. No one came forward to lay claim to supplying Mr Milligan with amyl nitrate, nor was this possibility openly explored.
Democratic-voting media people will beat on naughty Republicans just as long and as hard as they can. They are never this thorough with naughty Democrats, of whom we have no shortage at all *coughBarney Frankcough*.
Actually, it's the
republicans that make the biggest deal of it.
Have you heard of Congressman David Vitter?
He's that one who got in big doo-doo a few weeks back about that 'DC Madam'.
Do you hear a huge outcry for his resignation anymore? Of course not. He's out of sight, out of mind.
And you know why?
Because the governor of his state is a democrat. If Vitter goes, a democrat steps up in his place. On the other hand, the governor of Craig's state is a republican. If Craig goes, the Republicans get to put whoever they want as a senate incumbent up for re-election. This would mean, in effect, they get to replace the damaged Craig for anyone they could get elected.
Now do you see the problem?
It's not democrats who're busting this guy's chops - it really is the republicans, and that's why.
@UG
*smiles* yeah, Conservative is the proper name of the party "Tory" is another name for them, relating to their history and the basis of their ethos.
Ah, so that's it. Thanks.
Over here, we use "Tory" as a bit of historical namecalling, er, categorizing. It was a popular term for the loyalist population during the American Revolution, who weren't at all afire to break with England and King George III. The American colonial population of the time was divided into approximate thirds, one part Tories loyal to the King, one part the radicals who made the Revolutionary War, and a third part who mostly tried to keep their heads down at least for some of the eight years the shooting went on, 1775-83. There were a small number of regiments raised in America to fight for George III, and there was a good deal of backstreet unpleasantness for the Tories in the civilian sector, such that many of them fled to Canada, where some remained while others made their way back after the peace (Treaty of Paris? IIRC) to resume the interests they had had to drop. Not to say there wasn't some residual ill feeling, but with everybody having something better to do than feud, namely conduct business and rise in the world, this too faded away within its generation. And there was the ever present western frontier as a refuge for anyone who wanted a new set of neighbors.
However difficult these birth pangs, which only finally ended with yet another war between England and the newborn United States in 1812 -- we lost a lot of the land battles and had Washington DC burned (why the White House is white, incidentally -- we painted over the scorch-marks) -- it's our consensus view that the United States could not have become what she is without our culture's grounding in England's political institutions, especially limited government, and Englishmen's political expectations. This is why England and America have gotten along so well since 1814, and why the mutual admiration continues.
Yeah. I studied some of that period last year. Very interesting.
Because the governor of his state is a democrat. If Vitter goes, a democrat steps up in his place. On the other hand, the governor of Craig's state is a republican. If Craig goes, the Republicans get to put whoever they want as a senate incumbent up for re-election. This would mean, in effect, they get to replace the damaged Craig for anyone they could get elected.
Now do you see the problem?
A Democrat replaces a Democrat and there's no noise, a Republican replaces a Republican and there's noise. No, I'm sorry you'll have to explain this one again to me.
There are plenty of lousy representatives from both parties - one just seems to get rid of theirs when "outed."
A Democrat replaces a Democrat and there's no noise, a Republican replaces a Republican and there's noise. No, I'm sorry you'll have to explain this one again to me.
Vitter is a repubican. The Democratic governor would replace him with a Democrat - the repubicans would lose a seat, so the repubicans are NOT calling for Vitter to resign. If Craig were to resign, a repubican governor would replace him with another repubican - no loss of seat.
...Barney Frank...
Is not a hypocrit
Is not a hypocrit
True, Frank has been candid about being queer, whereas Craig has worked hard to against queer marriage and opposes extending special protections to queer and lesbian crime victims.
I'm too lazy to read tha whole thread, but I hope someone else noticed that these politicos are all rePUBICans ...
Hence the title of the thread, but it's not an exclusive club. I'd bet even the Libertarians and Greenies have their embarrassments from time to time.
Hence the title of the thread, but it's not an exclusive club. I'd bet even the Libertarians and Greenies have their embarrassments from time to time.
Yes but Libertarians, the 'true' conservatives, have an official 'people should be allowed to be whaterver they want' policy. Craig has been up front in his criticism of Clinton (probably justified, but certainly the pot calling the kettle black in retrospect) and his socially conservative stance against gays.
[youtube]0_Vs5570pKw[/youtube]
Okay, who here thinks he had a woody while talking about what a 'naughty boy' Clinton was?
Someone should think about starting a
National Association for the Advancement of Closeted Conservatives (
NAACC). Just by taking into account the last nine months and extrapolating, I'd guess there are at least 50,000 potential members.
Hence the title of the thread, but it's not an exclusive club. I'd bet even the Libertarians and Greenies have their embarrassments from time to time.
They do. Back in the Great Gubernatorial Sweepstakes & Election (137 candidates for Governor, Schwarzenegger won), the top-rated Libertarian candidate (of three running) jettisoned his candidacy by punching out a radio talkshow host. I've never been curious to find out what provoked that, on the assumption that this man was a most impolitic penile-encephaly case.
"intend"
Will he or won't he?
Better question:
Can he lead? I am highly skeptical.
numerous additional sources here He hired Michael Vick's lawyer. Maybe he can share a cell with Vick.
And in response to the question some commentators have put -- why do Republicans get bombarded with myriad demands to resign in cases like this when Democrats aren't given such a bum's rush out the door -- Democratic spokesmen have said, "Well, we don't set our party members up as examples of propriety and chastity," or words to that general effect. Okay, so it's expected that Democratic Party members behave like whores in pinstripes? Well, they wouldn't say that...
And in response to the question some commentators have put -- why do Republicans get bombarded with myriad demands to resign in cases like this when Democrats aren't given such a bum's rush out the door -- Democratic spokesmen have said, "Well, we don't set our party members up as examples of propriety and chastity," or words to that general effect. Okay, so it's expected that Democratic Party members behave like whores in pinstripes? Well, they wouldn't say that...
But it's true! There are lower expectations when it comes to the sex lives of Democrats. Think of the Kennedys, Gary Hart, Clinton - they're all whores. But Democrats know that a politician doesn't run the country with his penis. They know that sex is a natural act, and they enjoy it. Repubicans, on the other hand, tend to act as though sex is bad, dirty, and should be avoided. They'd rather be lead by a celibate, influence-peddling, bribe-taking, special-interest-whoring, setting-up-a-lucrative-future-job-legislating moron than someone who might enjoy a little
strange.
More importantly, both sides just attack when they can get away with it. I think the reason more people care about the republican scandals is because, as spexxvet pointed out, they pretend to be on a different moral level. If the Democrats can be pointed out to do something against their nature, they are.
Just don't think for one second that either side has any sort of moral superiority, they're all a bunch of assholes jockeying for more power than they already have, and I don't even think they'll know what to do with it once they get it.
...and I don't even think they'll know what to do with it once they get it.
They'lll try to get laid :eek:
:lol: Hahahaha! Too bad it's usually by little boys or other men in the bathroom...
More importantly, both sides just attack when they can get away with it. I think the reason more people care about the republican scandals is because, as spexxvet pointed out, they pretend to be on a different moral level.
It has to do with hoisting and petards.
And in response to the question some commentators have put -- why do Republicans get bombarded with myriad demands to resign in cases like this when Democrats aren't given such a bum's rush out the door -- Democratic spokesmen have said, "Well, we don't set our party members up as examples of propriety and chastity," or words to that general effect. Okay, so it's expected that Democratic Party members behave like whores in pinstripes? Well, they wouldn't say that...
look up "lying hypocrites" and get back to me, k?
Why look it up when my post demonstrates an excellent, perhaps perfected, understanding of the term, V? Try on "Well, they wouldn't say that..."
As long as he is voting the way his constituents want him to it does not matter what he does in his free time.
I don't care if he screwed a male dressed as a horse on the capital steps.
ALL THAT MATTERS IS HOW HE VOTES!
It is his right to be a homophobe and gay at the same time. That has NOTHING to do with his job!
And a lot to do with how well he can digest his supper.
And under "how he votes" I presume his constituents prefer that he not whack the appropriate button with his wang.
Again, as long as it is the right one... I could care less.
People who are afraid of sex should not leave the house.
I quite agree: can't even ask them to keep it to themselves to any effect.
I would ask, but the problem is that they are hounded by the press and those morons bring things that are irrelevant to their jobs/fame up and shout it to the world.
It should be ignored.
As long as he is voting the way his constituents want him to it does not matter what he does in his free time.
I don't care if he screwed a male dressed as a horse on the capital steps.
ALL THAT MATTERS IS HOW HE VOTES!
It is his right to be a homophobe and gay at the same time. That has NOTHING to do with his job!
I agree, rk. But the repubicans are the self-professed "high moral values / integrity" party. Remember how they were horrified that Clinton had an
affair?
I think you've struck on the core problem there Spexxvet.
During the early 90's the Conservative party in the UK was embroiled in a series of sex-scandals which damaged them heavily. The reason the damage was so great was not because people were so shocked about sex, but rather that the Conservative government had based its election campaign on a 'Back to basics', family values ticket. The politicians involved in the scandal were invariably family men who'd been photographed heavily in the media with said families.
Several of these politicians had made their reputation with right-wing, anti-gay stances and then were discovered to have had homosexual experiences.
People were shocked because of the hypocrisy involved. These were politicians who actively campaigned against the 'assault on family values', haranguing 'dole dosser single mums' and 'liberal ideas of modern family structures'. Yet in their private lives they did not practice what they preached.
Sex scandals didn't damage the Labour politicians so much...but the financial scandals have damaged it greatly...why? because Labour campaigned partially on financial probity after the conservative's 'cash for questions' scandal.
What you do in your private life doesn't matter as long as you represent your constituents. But...and its a big but...if you are engaged in the world of politics your words can affect the way society runs and the lives of your fellow citizens. The higher up in politics that you get the molre that is the case. If you are voicing opinions about how your fellow citizens should live their lives, you have no right not to apply those strictures to yourself.
DanaC - I think that that was a good synopsis of the issue.
A funny thing happened a few days ago. I'm still out here in Vegas and I used the mens room in one of the casinos. It was pretty busy, and out of the blue someone makes a "I don't want to hear any foot tapping" joke.
Someone else said "Don't worry about me, I'm a Democrat" which got a big laugh.
Guilty or innocent, when your life is reduced to jokes among strangers in men's rooms, your career is toast.
If the guy is gay, he should just jump out of the closet and become another disaffected gay Republican. He can have loads of fun sniping at them from the sidelines as they go into the 2008 elections.
If he really isn't gay and it's a misunderstanding or setup, than he's the dumbest guy on the planet for not asking for a lawyer. IMO, one of the big differences between law-and-order conservatives and generic liberals is that many of the law-and-order types have never had the experience of being arrested while innocent, or pulled over for not looking quite right.
Craig's experience mimics that of any working poor person who finds themselves in trouble, maybe with a prior drug arrest, and faced with the prospect of pleading to something they didn't do rather than take a chance with a public defender.
If Edwards is right and there are "Two Americas", then Craig stepped over into the wrong one. Maybe he'll learn something from the experience.
I think a lot of the "anti-Craig" stuff from the left has been of the "hey, look at this guy, 'values-voters'!" sort. I don't think that, regardless of whether he did it, what he was accused of should even be illegal. However, if there's anyone that overly restrictive laws should be applied to, it's the politicians that supported them. And if anyone deserves the tsking and clucking of the "values voters", it's the politicians that cater to them.
I think you've struck on the core problem there Spexxvet.
During the early 90's the Conservative party in the UK was embroiled in a series of sex-scandals which damaged them heavily. The reason the damage was so great was not because people were so shocked about sex, but rather that the Conservative government had based its election campaign on a 'Back to basics', family values ticket. The politicians involved in the scandal were invariably family men who'd been photographed heavily in the media with said families.
Several of these politicians had made their reputation with right-wing, anti-gay stances and then were discovered to have had homosexual experiences.
People were shocked because of the hypocrisy involved. These were politicians who actively campaigned against the 'assault on family values', haranguing 'dole dosser single mums' and 'liberal ideas of modern family structures'. Yet in their private lives they did not practice what they preached.
Sex scandals didn't damage the Labour politicians so much...but the financial scandals have damaged it greatly...why? because Labour campaigned partially on financial probity after the conservative's 'cash for questions' scandal.
What you do in your private life doesn't matter as long as you represent your constituents. But...and its a big but...if you are engaged in the world of politics your words can affect the way society runs and the lives of your fellow citizens. The higher up in politics that you get the molre that is the case. If you are voicing opinions about how your fellow citizens should live their lives, you have no right not to apply those strictures to yourself.
I don't see it that way, they are not paid not to be gay, they are paid to vote conservatively. There is NO disconnect.
You are not a hypocrite if you are an exterminator and have pet bugs at home. You are NOT YOUR JOB.
Why can't people get this through their heads?
It's like the immediate link between sports and kids... it is in your imagination.
No, they are paid to not have other jobs while in public service. They are elected for whatever reasons their voters choose. He chased after the votes of people who want government to oppose homosexuality, and deserves to be hoisted by his own petard politically.
But not criminally. Even taking the officer's word as absolute truth, the only thing he's "guilty" of is being annoyingly creepy. The harshest punishment for that should be being asked to leave.
You are not a hypocrite if you are an exterminator and have pet bugs at home. You are NOT YOUR JOB.
If your 'job' is your conviction it is hypocritical not to hold it tightly.
[eta] A politician deals in convictions, ideas and beliefs. If a salesman sells a product he knows to be broken, he is a con-merchant.
Again, I don't care.
As long as the person does what I pay them to do better than everyone else (or, in some cases, as well as I ask them to) I'm happy, end of story.
Their being a hypocrite is not the point and none of my business.
Make touchdowns, vote conservative, mow the lawn, etc, etc, etc... it does not matter.
Again, I don't care.
As long as the person does what I pay them to do better than everyone else (or, in some cases, as well as I ask them to) I'm happy, end of story.
Their being a hypocrite is not the point and none of my business.
So you're ok with the drug-dealing or hit-man cop? How about the pedophile pediatrician?
rk - I have mixed feelings about this. I don't believe that a politician's job is to represent themselves, but rather to represent the citizens of their district and the interests of the nation.
However, it can't be denied that their professed beliefs do influence public thought, as most people rely on the statements and attitudes of others in determining their own opinions.
This is human nature. (Anyone who is immune from the effects of public opinion is truly remarkable.)
So the honest politician would say, "I'm voting to outlaw X because the people that I represent believe X is wrong, but I personally think X is great."
But real politicians represent themselves as anti-X . They say, "I'm voting to outlaw X, and I personally believe that anyone who commits X should be punished."
Very few politicians could actually survive and succeed at their job if they didn't know when to separate their personal beliefs/opinions from the job of representing their constituents. But constituents vote politicians in based at least in part on the campaigns they've run and the opinions they have espoused as their own and their partys'.
Politicians are not just your voice in government, they are your eyes and ears. If they are dishonest then they will paint a dishonest and misleading picture of government for you. They do a lot more than merely vote the right way when it comes time. Their effect on the country comes from their words and their campaigns as much, sometimes more so, than their voting record.
So you're ok with the drug-dealing or hit-man cop? How about the pedophile pediatrician?
Those are illegal, well being a pedophile is not, just acting on it.
I don't know how I would feel about it.
Have you ever interviewed a cop about his personal life when you needed him or her?
Seems kinda' silly huh?
As long as they are doing their job well that will be all you are concerned with.
As long as your doctor is just a pedophile and not acting on it, you will never know will you?
Did you ask your plumber what his stance on abortion was before they fixed your sink?
But real politicians represent themselves as anti-X . They say, "I'm voting to outlaw X, and I personally believe that anyone who commits X should be punished."
I don't believe in "human nature"... that is ALWAYS a cop-out. Human nature is to eat, sleep, breed, shit and die. That is all.
You are putting those words in their mouth.
What they are really saying is "this is what my constituents, and/or party, wanted me to vote for, so I did". If you read more into it than that, that is your choice. But, if they don't ACTUALLY say it, it does not exist... it is JUST a vote.
As long as they are doing their job well that will be all you are concerned with.
Their job is to espouse and put forward ideas and convictions with a view to affecting how everybody, including themselves, lives and works. As long as they do that properly then they're doing their job. Part of doing that job properly is to then live within the system they have created, not remove and elevate themselves to some point above the crowd.
What they are really saying is "this is what my constituents, and/or party, wanted me to vote for, so I did". If you read more into it than that, that is your choice. But, if they don't say it, it does not exist... it is JUST a vote.
If their only role is to vote a particular way without regard to any knowledge or information they may have then why bother electing from amongst the educated, and professional elite? You might as well send a circus geek as long as you train him to read a list of voting positions and cast the vote on cue. Politicians vote, but they also shape the debate. The debate then shapes peoples' views (rightly so, given we are not al experts in all the things that government has to deal with) and the politicians cast their vote in line with their constituents' wishes. A good politician helps to crystallise their constituents' opinions and democratic insight; thereby helping them reach a position for him to represent in government.
My first statement is that those activities were illegal. They should not be allowed to do them.
Though it depends on your definition of "drug-dealer".
I'm with rkzenrage with this one. Ideally, a politician voting record reflects his or her personal views but it is unrealistic to expect them too since the system works against an honest politician.
Its just that a politician has to to realize that by being caught for lying will hurt their voting record.
Do I like it? No, I hate it but what can ya do?
I would agree if their only role was that of voting.