Adulterer. Addict. Career-Obsessed Mom: Why No "Character Issue" in this Race?

A presidential candidate dumps his wife of 15 years to marry a younger woman. His new wife -- whose multimillion dollar fortune comes from booze -- steals painkillers from a charity, forges prescriptions and causes a doctor to lose his license because of her lies and manipulation to feed her opiate habit.

The man's running mate put her unborn child's life at risk to make a speech important to her career while leaking amniotic fluid. She has a pregnant teenage daughter.

If any of these people were Democrats, I'm sure the media would be telling the story this starkly. It would be called the "character" issue.

We would hear about how such a man is not moral enough to lead our nation -- and that if he lied to his wife to carry on an affair, surely he will lie to the country.

We would read about how having an ex-junkie, prescription-forger thief as First Lady sends the wrong message to kids about drug use.

There would be talk of how those selfish, career-driven women are destroying the American family and contributing to the breakdown of society that puts our very way of life itself at risk.

How can it be, then, that McCain and Palin represent wholesome Christian "family values" and the other guys are the party of liberal decadence, sex education for kindergartners, divorce, infidelity and cultural relativism?

Clearly the Democrats truly believe "judge not, lest ye be judged." Either that, or they are afraid to appear as hypocrites if they raise these points -- because they don't believe that people should be publicly shamed about these issues.

The pundit class won't express this perspective for fear of cries of "liberal bias." And of course the right wing -- who froth at the mouth when Bill Clinton gets a blow job but don't praise him or his wife for staying together for their child -- won't speak up.

This is not a double standard -- it's no standard whatsoever. Either the Republicans believe that infidelity disqualifies you from public office -- or they don't. Or maybe they think it's OK so long as you marry the other woman?

Either they believe that addiction is a moral issue -- or they don't. Or maybe it's OK so long as you aren't black or poor?

Either they think that teen pregnancy is a mark of shame on a family, suggesting a failure of the parents to teach good values-- or they don't. Or maybe it's OK so long as you don't have an abortion?

All of those positions represent exactly the kind of moral relativism they have decried amongst Democrats for years. It's not biased to point out when people are saying one thing and doing another. It's called journalism.

Comments

[HoneyLouise]

I was watching a profile on McCain over the weekend. McCain was interviewed, laughing about how would take off from the Naval Academy and "break laws" by drinking a lot (underage) and chasing after girls. He was laughing about his low grades, and wild ways. Can you imagine the reaction if a black man ran for office, laughing about underage heavy drinking and obsession with chasing girls? What about a woman who laughed off school, saying she was more concerned about getting drunk and chasing boys??? WHY did Sarah Palin laugh and preen whenever she was called "a HOT governor" -- ?? What do you think her teenage daughter thought about that? I can guess what she thought, and she got herself pregnant in her junior year of high school -- maybe because her mother kept saying, "Having a baby -- no big deal! I'll be back at work in 3 days and it won't keep me from anything!" By the way, I am a female chemical engineer, Catholic, college-educated (UCSD) in my late 40's, if you want to pigeon-hole ME as something, pigeon-hole me as someone who HAS experienced sexism, and I can tell you, asking a VP candidate tough questions is NOT sexism!!!!

[JaneEyrez]

There is a ton of information on the Internet that suggests that John McCain was a traitor and not the heroic POW that is his public image. He said in his acceptance speech at the RNC that after they, as he humbly put it, "worked me over pretty good, I broke." The information says that he was not tortured but gave targeting information and made propaganda tapes for the Vietcong in exchange for special treatment. The targeting information that he revealed resulted in deaths of American pilots, and revealed that they were civilian targets, hospitals, schools, temples, which was strictly against the stated U.S. policy at the time.
http://www.eaglesnest-2.net/eagles/?q=node/10

I have tried to post on this and am always attacked that it can't be true because how would such a secret be kept. Well, it hasn't been kept. It's right out there if you're willing to do the digging. I believe it is, in fact, how the White House coerced McCain to drop his long-held opposition to torture, that they told him they would ruin his political reputation if he did not acquiesce.

You hear nothing from the surviving POWs, but, on the other hand, you do not see them supporting McCain. In fact, a POW named Butler is breaking the pact to the extent of making videos to explain why he would not support McCain:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KjsEs46C70

[INDmind]

Why should the character issue of the #2 person on the republican ticket be an issue when it isn't an issue for the #1 person of the democratic ticket?

Fair much?

[palinsnohillary]

Great points!

History has shown that the repubs and radical-religious extremists (I mean of the Christian faith) have a genetic inability to look in the mirror and recognize their hypocrisy.

[attuned4news]

It's true that politicians are no strangers to adulterous behavior, but there's something very unseemly about McCain and his wife moving into the white house.

The genesis of their relationship is that of a cheating husband and his mistress. To my knowledge, there have been presidents who've engaged in infedelity throughout their term(s) in office, but none who was sworn into office with a former mistress by his side. The symbolism of the McCains in the white house would sanitize a union that was built upon the ashes of pain, lies, and betrayal that resulted in the decline of a first marriage.

McCain and his wife are comparable to Guiliani and his wife. It's tacky and tawdry, but unlike McCain, Guiliani's children weren't so forgiving of their father's errant ways. If the tables were turned, Republicans would never let up in moral outrage over a morally bankrupt Democratic ticket. They are reaping the benefits of PC behavior or their candidates, when in fact both McCain and Palin would have been ripped to shreds if the roles had been reversed.

I'd welcome an ad for the Dem ticket on family values showcasing both Biden and Obama in their element -- men of character, as fathers and as husbands. I love the way they adore their wives and cherish their families. The ad can read something to the effect of Honoring Family and Country, Change You Can Believe 'and ' Trust In.

[snarkopolitan]

It's thorny. Do we want to bring up adultery, when we could have had John Edwards as our nominee? I am more concerned with something the Palins did that is not in dispute: they gave their children no warning that they were about to be dropped into a fishbowl; they LIED to them about why they were being flown to Dayton. They themselves have said they told the kids they were being flown to Dayton for their parents' anniversary. The kids must have been sitting in the private jet, thinking, "Dayton? For their anniversary they want to fly to Dayton?"

Imagine a male, say, Charles Schumer. Imagine him saying yes to being VP without consulting his wife, and flying his kids to the announcement rally in complete ignorance. Would that be remarked upon? I think it would.

It's daffy. That's no other way to put it. Dishonest, secretive, but also daffy. Unfair, uncaring, but also daffy. Those kids have to follow their parents' (since Todd is so involved with government work he gets his own subpoena) ambition around. They looked dazed.

This is McCain's best decision making? Yikes.

[INDmind]

And Obama picked Joe Biden because.....

[gaebolgaes]

the principle operating here is alluded to in isaiah chapter 32 verses 5-8. here the prophet speaks of the evil switching places with the good and committing all manner of wickedness against the poor...the widows etc.the KKK driven GOP spouting the hypocritical racist drivel of the born agains and christian evangelicals has usurped the teachings of jesus christ with fake morallity and other obnoxious racist white supremicist pap..

[mema01]

It's simple. Present the Palin family as is, same number of children, same family issues, same job titles. Change only one thing; suppose they were African American. I am sure the christian extremists (thats what I now call christian conservatives) would not be singing their praises, but would have McCain committed. And would have the family shunned.

[larry278]

Integrity is so 20th century? Besides the democrats always lose the election when integrity is the issue. Repubicans are amoral, not im-moral. American voters are turned off by morality & integrity as evidenced by W's being re-elected in '04.

[JAYFRTTT]

Personally, I feel it is not a good thing for a Democrat to bring up the extra marital affairs. You gotta admitt - there is a little history there on that subject.
Also, addiction knows no boundries. ASk The Betty Ford Center. And, personally, I think a person who has an addiction and controls it and admitts to it is a stronger individual for it, a real fighter.
Besides, let he who is without sins cast the first stone. That would leave out the last Dem. President and the present person in the same party running for President.

[schatsie]

Let me tell you if he who is without sins casts the first stone, we would still be waiting for the first stone..

I don't get it, do you think spending 20,000,000 on a hockey rink, and 500,000 per year to keep it running is preferable to spending money on Rape Kits? That is your choice...

[EspressoAtNoon]

Could you imagine if Obama's unwed daughter had a child at 17? FoxNews would be all over it as proof that African Americans are irresponsible with illegitimate kids and then they'd charicature Obama to suggest he's not like us - that his values are different.

But they turn a blind eye towards Palin's kid. I think there's an underlying racism amongst their constituents. These people have already made up their minds and they just look for anything to buy into. Ignorance is bliss and the right is like a flock of ignorant, uneducated, faith-based, low-information people. If they win this election I'll be so freakin mad ...

[ESerafina42]

Forget Obama - look at Bill-O's excoriation of Jamie Lynn Spears' parents as "pinheads."

[MWChris]

I'm glad somebody is addressing these character issues, even though in the end the American people may give the McCains and the Palins a pass...

[quadman]

It is interesting that you call Cindy McCain to the carpet for drugs but yet you are totally silent on BO's admitted hard drug use. Come to think of it, the media is eerily quiet as well. I would venture to say that your arguments are hypocritically biased.

Tell the whole story and then tell us why one is worse than the other. I eagerly await.

[Max7073]

Okay quadman, here's the distinction. As a young man, Obama experimented with drugs. It is a hallmark of youth to experiment. As an adult married woman and mother, Cindy McCain used her own charity organization to funnel drugs to feed her addiction. The reason one is worse than the other is that Cindy McCain was given a free pass on a felony because she was white, rich and privileged.

[schatsie]

and Bush and Cheney did their own drugs as well..... this is a dead issue in the 21st century when thousands or people are dying each year for lack of Health Care in the largest economy in the world.

[quadman]

Drug use is drug use is drug use. My own father had adult issues with substance abuse, however myself and my siblings shunned it all. The primary reason was the damaging affects we saw on him (and he was professionally successful as well), we learned from others' mistakes and didn't have to make the mistakes ourselves to learn that they were bad. Regardless, it shows a lack of clear thinking and judgment, and learning from others mistakes. The fact that Maia is making an issue out of Cindy McCain (who is not running for public office) and pain killers, while totally ignoring BO's (who IS running for public office) own admitted use of illicit drugs, and then criticizing Palin for supposedly lacking in her parenting while again simultaneously ignoring the fact that Michelle Obama is likewise a working mother is a hypocritical double standard. Neither issue should be relevant here. Why can't Maia, or many posters here, recognize that this is a clear hypocritical charge? Why can't you?

[prettychicago]

It's apples and oranges, dude. Or youthful partying vs. adult addiction, theft from charity and forging prescriptions... Why is it that a young person experimenting gets more attention from the right than the scary fact that there are more adults in this country that are addicted to pills than are imaginable?

[quadman]

No. It is apples to apples. Cindy McCain is not running for public office, BO is. Many people on HuffPo are so eager to point their crooked little fingers at others while failing to recognize that their criticisms can be directly applied to their own candidate!

Perhaps also you are ignoring the fact the BO didn't just experiment, but was a regular user of pot, cocaine, and alcohol (all illegal for him to use or possess) for at least three years. Try reading BO's "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance".

Also, the difference between pain pills and illicit drugs is that people who get addicted to pain pills are usually prescribed them initially for a legitimate reason. The narcotic nature of the drugs makes them highly addictive and addiction drives people to do irrational things to continue their habit. I saw this firsthand in my own family.

Lastly, BO's past drug use is not an issue for me. Those seeking to tear down his opponent for this reason are not helping one bit. It surprises me that so many do not see it.

[MajorKong]

It's OK to do those things as long as you're a Republican.

[snarkopolitan]

OK If Repulican: OKIR

Adultery: OKIR Drugs: OKIR

[tdiem]

Your catharsis is good for my soul--I scream at the media all day--I despair at the powerlessness of it all--why is it that we all say this on blogs and comments but it doesn't get aired anywhere else----what say you???