There’s something about sex that makes politics more engrossing.
When I turn on the news, the reporters and correspondents seem to gloss over the particulars of the political sphere, probably because the public doesn’t care to hear the details about the latest boring bill or prosaic policy. Yet, when one of our dear leaders, politicians or elected officials is caught committing infidelity, the media and the public get up in arms.
These cases of promiscuous politicians have been around all my life: Former President Bill Clinton, former Republican candidate Newt Gingrich, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, New York Rep. Anthony Weiner and David Petraeus, most recently, all cluttered up the headlines for weeks on end. Americans had trouble focusing on anything else. Each time one of these lascivious leaders faced an accusation, we became outraged.
It’s almost as if we were the ones who got cheated on. We take it personally.
I’m not the biggest fan of any of the politicians I called out earlier, but do I really think their kinks and carnality diminish their ability to function well in their occupation?
Last week, the media painted a picture of General Petraeus giggling to himself in his office, shooting flirtatious text messages and emails to women all over the country like a kid in high school. Is that how we really think this played out? Are we really going to suggest that our military and national security was at risk because Petraeus felt the thrill was gone with his wife?
As citizens, we hope that our elected officials earned their spot in office because they are people who can do the job better than anyone else — we like to assume that these politicians are our pillars of morality — that they are just, honorable, and that maybe they wear golden halos around their heads. But they’re just people; they’re human beings with the same base, primal impulses as anyone else.
Perhaps we’re so interested in these cases because it’s cathartic. The Greeks used to make up dramas about Zeus and Hera — perhaps our equivalent is Bill and Monica. Perhaps we feel a little better, a little stronger, when we watch someone at the top with a lot of power crash and burn in a pit of social shame. We’re better able to justify our own mistakes and shortcomings when our politicians, supposedly made up of the strongest moral fiber, prove themselves to be nothing more than flesh and bone.
We get so excited when one of these scandals comes out of the woodwork because it’s a safe way for us to experience the taboo. Admit it, doing bad things is fun and they always have been. The only reasons we aren’t bad all the time is because there are consequences and because it would get boring if doing bad things became the norm.
When someone like Petraeus is caught red-handed, we get to experience the captivating commotion of being involved in a sex scandal that we’d never actually like to be a part of. When we watch his appalling downfall unfold on television, we get to feel the thrill and giddiness that comes with having an affair without having to face the sobering consequences of judgment and exile from our peers, not to mention divorce.
It’s a scary truth: we sacrifice their reputations for our entertainment.
Reach the columnist at jwadler@asu.edu or follow him at @MrJakeWAdler.
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