The debate over whether or not David Vitter should go to jail reflects a sad tendency in our society across the political spectrum. When everybody is a social critic and it’s hard to be heard, humane voices are drowned out by scolds and prudes.
How about some muscular moderation? You don’t have to be an advocate for prostitution to feel that, among offenses to decency, the oldest profession is not at the top of the list (check cable TV and the yellow pages), and you don’t have to be an admirer of hypocrisy to observe that what people do is often at odds with what they profess.
That said, the outing of Vitter and those like him is a plus for honesty in politics and public discourse, but it reflects no credit on those who want to send him to prison or the guillotine for being a sad sack and a hypocrite.
Neither should the D.C. Madam be behind bars. In this society, she won’t be. More likely is that she will get a large advance for her memoirs.
When people are dying in a senseless war, there are better targets for moral indignation.
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2 comments:
You're right, Robert. Both the left and right have sex police who don't get the whole idea of "consenting adults". The Senator is from Louisiana, for god sake, where you have to be drunk to take a driver's test - which makes sense if you think about it.
Meanwhile, Bush claims Congress has no authority to investigate its firings of federal judges. This is big.
Absolutely agree with you both. Didn't care and don't care about people's personal sex lives unless it impacts badly on their working lives. Blackmail type stuff, harrassing other workers..public things. Spare me from the righteous.
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