I just watched Campbell Brown and a panel of guests discussing South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s affair, behavior, and confession/press conference today. It wasn’t long before the topic broadened into why so many politicians have affairs.
Among the panelists were a psychologist and a psychiatrist, and the discussion got deep into issues of risk-taking, power, privilege, and narcissism.
I finally just turned it off. There’s no mystery here. No analysis needed. Sex is one of the most basic human drives, and the last time I looked, politicians were still humans. I very much doubt they have more affairs than other people; I just think they are under greater public scrutiny and get discovered more often. Like Hollywood celebrities, if they weren’t public figures, no one would care or pay attention. Human beings being human. That’s not news.
The holier-than-thou press is screaming that Sanford’s real sin is hypocrisy — even as they file their stories and leave to commit their own private sins. Hypocrisy, indeed. People who live in glass houses, etc. Likewise with the general public.
Frankly, I’m tired of hearing about what people do in their private lives; private means private. When a governor gets seriously stupid and leaves the country for a week without telling anyone, that’s news. But his affair — that’s no one’s business but his and his wife and family.