One of the great things about sex scandals in politics- like those of Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, and for New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey- is that we get to see just how thoroughly (&^%$# up politicians can be. They’re a lot like the people they represent in that respect, no?
Clinton got his helmet polished in the Oval Office, Spitzer boffed high-priced call girls, and McGreevey came out of the closet while in office. Now that McGreevey and his wife are divorcing (I suppose realizing that your husband is gay will do that), even more sordid details are emerging. This time it’s the revelation that the McGreeveys carried on a longtime threesome with one of McGreevey’s aides…and that Dina Matos McGreevey was the initiator.
Frankly, I really don’t much care about any of this- who’s schtupping whom, who’s doing what to and with whom, who’s sticking what where- any of it. As far as I’m concerned, if it doesn’t impact a leader’s ability to do his (or her) job, then why should personal sexual behavior even be an issue? Private sexual behavior is just that- private. OK, if Dina Matos McGreevey had been caught blowing Teddy Petersen in the rotunda of the New Jersey statehouse during one of her husband’s press conferences, that would be a different story. If it happens behind closed doors, though…well, what difference does it make? What harm is done…except perhaps to the sensibilities of those too prudish to admit they’re jealous they’re not getting the same thing? We are, after all, talking about consenting adults here.
I’m not trying to paint myself as some sort of libertine (though I certainly wouldn’t take it as some sort of insult), but why do we feel it’s acceptable to hold elected officials to standards we would never dream of holding ourselves to? If this isn’t the height of hypocrisy…well, then I don’t know what is. Most people, if they were willing to be honest, would be intrigued by, and perhaps even very interested in, the idea of a threesome. As a society, though, we’re so conflicted about sexuality that groupthink tends to lean towards prudishness.
(Someone’s having fun? Burn the witch!!)
Yes, McGreevey, Clinton, and Spitzer should have to deal with their wives and families for their duplicity and deception. But did any of their private sexual behaviors adversely impact their job performance? Were the people they were elected to serve somehow ill-served? There’s certainly no credible evidence to indicate that they weren’t diligent in fulfilling their responsibilities. So why should their private sexual behavior be anyone’s concern? Because we just LOVE being judgemental, don’t we?
Jeebus, people…can we lose the hypocrisy already?
