Flyover Country

A friend made an interesting point about affairs in response to my Facebook posting on Gov. Sanford of SC admitting infidelity at a press conference today, after having gone AWOL for several days. Facebook doesn’t allow more than a short response.

Here’s what she said:

I don’t understand why these politicians all feel the need to come clean about their affairs. Who cares – I certainly don’t. People have extramarital affairs all the time and they certainly don’t get fired or resign because someone finds out. While I personally feel cheating on your spouse is wrong, who am I to be the morality police?

The difference for politicians is that we place them in a position of public trust. We expect (or should) more of them because we delegate some of our power to them for a time so that they can uphold and defend the Constitution, and conduct the normal business of government.

Character matters, and it begins at home. If someone isn’t honest and trustworthy in marriage – violates their family – I think it says something about how they are likely to conduct business in which they don’t have as much personal stake. We entrust politicians with things like budgets (*our* tax dollars), the national guard, the creation and enforcement of laws, etc.

Too many politicians come out and “admit” their affairs after they’re caught. More often than not it seems little more than narcissistic camera hounding, giving them a sick thrill and simultaneously hoping that the admission itself would erase the tarnish of being caught in the act, liberating them from any consequences resulting from their actions. Gov. Sanford resigned as head of the Republican Governors Association. To his credit, he didn’t have to be forced or voted out. He knew he did something seriously dumb, and seems to be accepting the consequences of his actions.

I believed him over the last few months when he talked about defending the sovereignty of South Carolina by refusing the federal money because it came with chains more than strings attached. He wanted to use the money – tax dollars that South Carolinians paid to the US Treasury themselves – to pay down his state’s debt, instead of unwisely being forced by the federal government into investing in programs that would burden the tax payers of South Carolina long after the stimulus dollars ran out. This is a rare and admirable stand to take against overwhelming pressure. (Contrast to the government of California who have spent themselves right into bankruptcy and are now coming to the federal government – the other 49 of us – begging to be bailed out.) I believe Gov. Sanford understands that we as states are not agents of the federal government, and he took a stand.

However, Gov. Sanford violated a sacred oath to his wife and his children. How they deal with this as a family is their business now. We have a right, a responsibility, to hold politicians accountable for their words and deeds. A man gives his word to his bride with the simple phrase “I do”. If that vow isn’t sacred, then what makes that man fit to wield the power of government for and over us?