How can they be that stupid?

One of the many things that has always made me wonder is the apparent idea that conservative politicians allow themselves the opportunity to be cast as hypocrites, engaging in behavior that they would routinely condemn in legislation or at a minimum, rail against in their rhetoric.

Case in point – Bob Livingston, Republican Speaker Elect of the House, was one of the many Republican politicians that called for Bill Clinton’s impeachment due to his perjury during his deposition in the Paula Jones Case. The publisher of an adult pornographic magazine had gotten some info that Livingston had “liaisons” with other women while being married and he resigned in disgrace. What was he thinking – that the media wouldn’t find out? Was he really that dumb or was it arrogance?

Second point – Newt Gingrich. His extra martial affairs came to life around the same time and his third marriage was to a 33 year old staffer (he was in his late 50’s). So as the Speaker of the House Gingrich had at least one admitted affair drawing cries of hypocrisy for lambasting President Clinton. Note though that it wasn’t the cheating that Clinton was impeached for, it was the perjury (i.e. the lying under oath and the obstruction of justice).

Other folks have had their moral failings played out in public (Henry Hyde, Bill Bennett, Rush Limbaugh) and now we have the current scandal with conservative Senator Larry Craig. Yahoo News (via AP) is reporting that Craig has pleaded guilty to “… misdemeanor charges stemming from complaints of lewd conduct in a men's restroom at the Minneapolis airport…”. The AP story notes how Senator Craig is a “conservative” so that somehow is a very meaningful descriptive term to include in this story (i.e. he is a hypocrite). Well done Senator Craig! By the way the charges are that he was looking for homosexual sex in the restroom or something to that effect so you can see the story title already. Why mention he is a conservative? Not once did I see Bill Clinton described as a liberal, or Sandy Berger, or Democratic Congressman Bill Jefferson from Louisiana. Wasn’t their political ideology important to the story or do the Media only care when those who talk virtue fall from grace.

Conservative politicians better wise up. This game is for keeps and the media will find out moral failings, lapses in good judgment and hypocritical behavior and they (the media) will report it. Conservatives should be better than that, although I understand we all are projects in development. My point is that those conservatives should act as if they know that this fight is for keeps and clean their own house. For an opposing point of view, do those politicians think that their supporters will accept the failings and forgive or let it go? Lord knows they probably can place a good bet that conservatives won’t defect en masse to the left side of the house. But what they may do is not show up at the polls leaving those politicians who have betrayed the public trust either through their personal or public actions and have strayed from the path. Sure the right is forgiving (Rush Limbaugh has never been more popular and Newt is talking about a Presidential run), but the Right is also not above demanding better from their politicians and have no problem staying at home if they feel abandoned or their ideology discarded by the supposed conservative politicians. The Right tries to keep is house in order (while the Left excuses everything and anything), and those that ignore this do so at their peril.