The Nature of Political Scandals

This week in class we discussed scandals. Some famous (and more often than not infamous) political scandals were mentioned, from Watergate to the more recent scandal involving a Congressman sending inappropriate pictures to a woman on Craigslist. We learned that in most cases it is the cover up that really matters, that the cover up can bring down any politician, even a president. It was also implied that politicians who admit their wrongdoings can avoid or at least mitigate the public backlash, negative press, and other attacks that generally occur in the aftermath of such situations. While this is all understandable, at the same time I can't help but wonder why we are so ready to forgive politicians who admit what they did and even re-elect them. I realize that the private lives of politicians are of no importance to citizens of other countries, the fact is that the American people do seem to care a great deal about such things. Given this higher than average concern, why is it that when a politician admits to doing something, no matter how immoral, he/she is able to maintain his/her reputation? If I recall correctly, admitting to doing something wrong is only the first step in the Jewish process of repentance. How are we to know if the politician has completed the other necessary steps? Perhaps we should be more like other countries and disregard what politicians do in their private lives, especially since I suspect that this relatively recent interest is a sign of the growing trend in journalism to pay more attention to sensationalist and celebrity news. If we instead choose to maintain our concern for the morals of our politicians then I suggest that we don't do it in a half-hearted manner, and remember their actions come election time.