When I read that New York's new governor, David Patterson, had had extramarital relations with several women, I didn't know whether to chuckle, laugh, or laugh out loud. Is it becoming any clearer to anyone in this country, and intimacy-driven media that this abnormal tendency to out politicians on their private business is "Silly Season"? -- My favorite, newly-coined term by Barack Obama.
Can we please put to rest the idea that politicians are supposed to be saints? Inhuman, we know -- just look at Bush. When he attended "How to Act like a Human School," the When to Smile and Smirk course was either accidentally left out of the curriculum or, like so many other things, maybe he just forgot. But, saints? Are we talking about politicians, aka human beings?
And then, there was Mrs. Patterson, stoically standing by her man as he took questions from reporters about not just his adulterous behavior, but hers, too! Aren't we sick of these scenarios yet? Aren't we full to bloating from binging on public figures' sex lives? Are we that bored? Or that obsessed with sex that all the porn available in magazines, on TV, and online isn't enough to satisfy us? Aren't we ridiculous??
Yes, politicians love power and sex, and love the combination even more.
Yes, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton did drugs.
Yes, politicians have children, friends and teachers that say and do embarrassing things.
Okay, now we know. So, can we take one big, national breath and decide that we only care about issues relating to governance? Come on, let's be bold! Let's just skip over those inane articles when we see the headlines. Let's turn off the TV when the junkies, oops, journalists start in on that stuff they can't get enough of. Let's not write letters to the editor commenting on those stories. Hey, let's not blog about them either! If we ignore them, the money trail will dry up, so the stories will, too. I know this is harder than dragging yourself out of bed on a Saturday morning to take part in an anti-war march. Giving up on the supposedly titillating but ever-so-boring sex stuff is a true heroic act. But it's possible. I believe this deep in my heart.
Come on, we went and elected Mickey Mouse to the White House, and he turned out to be so unfunny. Let's renounce our mass ADD affliction and focus; yes, we can, focus, focus, focus on the goods that really affect us--our health, our planet, our wallets--so we can avoid voting in Donald Duck in his place.
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Posted March 21, 2008 | 11:54 AM (EST)