Are the private lives of politicians our business?

Mike23

Mike23

CAGiversary!
There's been a recent Canadian scandal in which the foreign affairs minister dated a shady individual which had ties to biker gangs and organized crime; additionally, she was bidding for federal contracts. Clearly a conflict of interest, the minister was eventually made to resign because he had left classified documents in her house.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...gnatieff_Bernier_080525/20080525?hub=Politics - This article gives a more detailed explanation.

In addition, I know that many private scandals have emerged in the US - Spitzer, Craig, Clinton immediately come to mind. So, I guess my question is, does the private life of a politician matter?
 
I think more important than knowing about our politicians private, we need it to be easier to fire them when they end up being shitty. Just like we get fired from our jobs when we are shitty.

Being elected shouldn't mean you can dick around and do shitty work for your whole term as long as you don't really screw up.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']I think more important than knowing about our politicians private, we need it to be easier to fire them when they end up being shitty. Just like we get fired from our jobs when we are shitty.

Being elected shouldn't mean you can dick around and do shitty work for your whole term as long as you don't really screw up.[/quote]

If elected politicians were followed 24/7 by impartial camera crews, they would either become more honest or their corruption would lead to higher turnover rates.
 
[quote name='fatherofcaitlyn']If elected politicians were followed 24/7 by impartial camera crews, they would either become more honest or their corruption would lead to higher turnover rates.[/quote]

You'd also have shittier politicians.

Corruption sucks, but I could care less where a politician makes their bed (and with who)

If a local skirt-chasing politician shaved 30 minutes off my commute, I'd buy the motherfucker a lapdance.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']I think more important than knowing about our politicians private, we need it to be easier to fire them when they end up being shitty. Just like we get fired from our jobs when we are shitty.

Being elected shouldn't mean you can dick around and do shitty work for your whole term as long as you don't really screw up.[/QUOTE]

I somewhat agree, but at the same would hate to have a system in which politicians have to be afraid of going against their people. For the same reason Supreme Court justices have lifetime tenures, a politician should feel as though their job is relatively secure so that they can do what they think is best. What we hear about politics isn't always the full story. For example, a bill might be primarily about lower emissions, which sounds great, but there's a clause piggybacking that states we give a 5 million dollar contract to some crappy private company. If a politician wanted to vote against the bill because of the piggybacking clause, they might second-guess themselves because they don't want to be removed from office for voting against a bill their people supported (protecting our air).

I'll be the first to admit their job shouldn't be too secure, in the case that they do nothing but vote for corrupt legislation. It should be somewhat balanced, and I think it is.

We have a system in which politicians don't have to pander to people, and that's great. If it were any other way, we'd be having a gas tax holiday right now and Exxon's profits would be even higher.
 
Honestly, I couldn't give two shits about their personal lives, and quite honestly, they are entitled to a bit of privacy.

Contrary to popular belief, a politician can be excellent at his job AND be unfaithful to their wife or husband. Bill Clinton is a prime example.

Granted, the performance of a politician is an extremely polarizing issue and subject to the views and beliefs of the people they serve, but seriously, America has a bad habit of throwing away decent and hard-working politicians simply because they were fucking human. I hate how the "Holier than thou" method of burning people at the stake is constantly employed by those who have less than a high school education, and it really has no right in politics.

~HotShotX
 
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