Congressional Sex Scandals

When the Larry Craig issue broke, I started to think about other Republicans who had gotten in trouble for sexual indiscretions.  Some of the names that came to mind were Mark Foley, Buzz Lukens, Henry Hyde, our own Dan Burton, and Dan Quayle, Robert Packwood, Newt Gingrich, Robert Livingston, Robert Bauman, and Helen Chenoworth.   In fairness, however,  recent history has recorded many democrats that have also gotten themselves in trouble for sexual impropriety.  You might remember Wilber Mills, Wayne Hays, Gary Studds, Barney Frank, Gary Hart, Charles Robb, Mel Reynolds, Gary Condit, and of course Bill Clinton. 

Even with lists as long as these, I have probably missed some of the offenders from both parties.  Nevertheless, it is clear to me that neither side has any right to point fingers or call names.  However, there is one difference between the two lists.  Most of the Republicans who have found themselves in political difficulty for improper sexual behavior were the loudest and most vigorous advocates in Congress for family values and sexual morality.  Newt Gingrich, Henry Hyde, Dan Burton, and Helen Chenoworth were some of the most shrill voices rebuking President Clinton, even while they themselves were engaged in extra-marital affairs.   Buzz Lukins, Mark Foley, Robert Bauman, David Vitter and of course Larry Craig were all the most strident voices against gay rights, for traditional marriage and their view of family values.  These Republicans have indeed given new and much more shameless meaning to the term hypocracy.  A case in point: Bob Bauman, arguably one of the most anti-gay and sanctimonious conservative politicians in Washington, was busted for sociciting sex from a 16-year old prostitute.  Bauman was a founding member of a couple of conservative groups, which opposed homosexual behavior and advocated morality and family values. 

The point I'd like to make here is that while we all experience a gratifying little dose of shadenfreude when hypocrites get exposed, it is probably true that politicians do not engage in inappropriate sexual behavior at a greater rate than the general public.  In America there are probably few adults, over the age of 30, who have not had some romantic/sexual experience that they would prefer not be made public.  In general, sexual behavior which is not illegal (it was illegal in the case of Bauman, Foley, and Craig) should be the private affairs of the people involved.  As long as the individuals involved are not breaking the law, I'd rather not hear about it. 

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