Ok, so this post is for all my very good friends, who are struggling with the conundrum we have here in Missouri relating to our governor’s marital indiscretions. And I promise I’ll tie everything together in the title of this blog, but most of all I want to make the point that the slow slide into moral disintegration affects us all, and it affects the traditional family structure that we rely on to support our values that guide our society.
Please, stay with me. This is important.
In Missouri, you may have heard of this, we have a governor who recently was exposed as to having an extra marital affair with his hairdresser. Not unusual, in this day and age, for politicians to lack impulse control where their zippers are concerned, and we as a culture, have become jaded to it. Well, first of all, let me tell you, THAT’S BAD, but we will address that later.
Now, I have many, many hard working conservative friends who have been starved for true conservative leadership in our governor’s office for so long, that many of them were thrilled to see a Republican, any Republican, get elected to office in 2016. They have supported him with great enthusiasm. Their motives are, in my opinion, completely pure and honorable. However …
Eric Greitens is not a conservative. In fact, its fair to argue he’s not the honorable Navy SEAL that he espouses every time he opens his mouth, on camera, or behind a mic. He’s a former democrat, as recently as 2014/2015.
Character counts, and it’s not an indiscretion, or a mistake, when someone cheats on a spouse. It’s a character flaw. Remember, while Eric Greitens campaigned as Navy SEAL, wrapped in all the honor and dignity that is associated with that, in efforts to paint that picture of himself to voters, his wife was with child while he carried on an affair with his hair stylist, blindfolding her, tying her up taking pictures of her. Consensual or not, behavior like this sets a tone, lowers the bar for cultural morays. The rest of us are expected to live within the guidelines of monogamous marriages when we take that step. We should not lower the bar for our elected leaders just because we want our particular political party to succeed. It wasn’t OK for most of us, when Bill Clinton was playing with interns and cigars in the Oval Office, and it’s not OK for the Republican governor to have a bondage party with a hair dresser in his basement, regardless of whether or not his wife forgave him.
This brings me to my next point. Politics. At what point, exactly, did Americans, of either party, start pledging their undying support of people who can’t keep their own houses in order, and think they could operate without impulse control and effectively set a cultural tone for running a city, state, or country. We used to care about those things because we knew that cultural morays were important in governance. Don’t voters deserve quality candidates to represent them in government? If we continue to accept such substandard candidates, we are going to continue to get substandard candidates. Look. Let’s face it. Adultery, and other bad acts, have always been a part of the mix, in politics and all walks of life. But when did become the norm to openly condone it?
Granting this guy a pass, or any guy, again lowers the bar for all of society. While most of us have forgotten to consider the bigger picture consequences, so adultery becomes common place, as it is now, and degrades the bonds of marriage, for all of us. Adultery becomes meaningless, in the bigger picture. If we aren’t all living by the rules, then why should any of us to live by the rules? And it has been this slow slide into low standards that has made it acceptable for celebrities to cheat on their spouses. It’s made it acceptable for everyone else to cheat as well. Just take a stroll through any divorce/family court. Adultery is rampant. And it goes without consequence.
If the previous arguments against adultery have failed to raise your ire, consider this. People get hurt. The families, wives/husbands, children of those who are tied to these self centered narcissists suffer immeasurable pain and humiliation. Sometimes adultery leads to divorce, and don’t be misled in thinking their lives aren’t changed forever by these consequences. Divorce is devastating, especially on children. So, if you’ve ever considered yourself as compassionate conservative, or liberal, if you’ve ever advocated for pro-life, helping homeless, veterans, #metoo, Dreamers, or any issue on the left or right, why is it acceptable cast aside the pain and suffering of victims of adultery?
Truth be told, adultery has far reaching consequences. It’s not benign. And it’s shouldn’t be treated as such, under any circumstances. And we shouldn’t defend the adulterous actions of those in our political party’s because we are afraid of losing political advantage. We should expect those whom we elect to poetical office can represent not only our political preferences, but our values as well. We all deserve better.
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