THE LATEST sex scandal to rock Washington involves Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who was accused of lewd conduct towards an undercover police officer in a men's bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. This comes on the heel of another scandal just a few months ago involving Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and his alleged use of an alleged prostitution service.
The media and the public's obsession with the private lives of politicians has many negative consequences on the overall political process in the country. All the focus on the personal conduct of politicians not only takes away from serious issues that actually matter, it makes important issues seem less so. The intense scrutiny of the personal lives of politicians keeps many talented individuals from serving in public office and unnecessarily ruins the careers of many others. On top of these practical reasons, politicians and their families also deserve a basic level of privacy that all individuals are entitled to. In the end, as long as the personal conduct of a politician does not affect their jobs as public servants, there is no need to focus of politician's life.
America is currently fighting a difficult and divisive war in Iraq and faces looming problems with Iran. Numerous domestic problems such as health care reform and the question of undocumented immigration have gone unresolved for years. These important issues are the victims of the obsession with the personal lives of politicians because they are overlooked by the media and the public. These are the real issues that make a difference in the lives of ordinary people and these are the issues that deserve to be in the spotlight instead of the misconduct of a few politicians.
We are naturally interested in the mistakes and flaws of others and love hearing about them in the media. Yet in the national interest of the country, these sorts of stories should be relegated to the realm of celebrity -- not to politicians. When the sexual misadventures of politicians are reported as readily as those of Paris Hilton, political discourse suffers. Not only is attention taken away from important issues, but these issues have the same level of importance as sex scandals. When the media dedicates the same amount of attention to the War in Iraq as to Senator Craig's possible homosexuality, the public loses sight of the war's importance.
Numerous talented individuals who would be effective and honest politicians are driven away from serving because of the amount of unnecessary scrutiny on their personal lives. Many great American leaders have had indiscretions within their personal lives that would be unacceptable in the modern media. Both Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy had numerous extramarital affairs that were ignored by the media, at least while they were alive. Even though these men had imperfect personal lives, it did not matter because they are two of the greatest leaders in American history. These men also teach us that problems in their personal lives did not mean that these men could not be effective leaders.
Although politicians seek to shape public policy, that does not mean they do not deserve a private life. When some sort of sex scandal affects a politician, it is not only the politician's career that suffers. The families of the politicians are also swept into scandals and also have to suffer the weight of public scrutiny. A matter usually handled behind closed doors such as an extramarital affair suddenly unfolds itself in front of the entire public. The innocent children of these politicians have to deal with the embarrassing and public allegations against their parents. The public nature of such a private matter cause immeasurable psychological problems for both the spouse and children of the politicians.
Although the personal mistakes of politicians may be interesting, these things have no place in the media and in the political discourse. Focusing of these scandals keeps talented individuals from serving our country, takes away from important issues and makes those issues seem less important. It also creates an unacceptable lack of privacy for politicians and their families. I hope in the end we hold politicians accountable to the policies they implement and not the possible personal mistakes they are involved in.
Sam Shirazi's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at sshirazi@cavalierdaily.com.
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