Their Private Parts Corrupt their Public Pronouncements

Now I know why some Republicans didn’t want Congress to pass a Stimulus Package. Senator Ensign and Governor Sanford were already too stimulated.

This is a sad chapter in an ongoing soap opera called the Republican Party. The party is controlled by wingnuts looking for conspiracies and black UN helicopters, religious crazies and self-righteous moralizers, and tea baggers who believe the Confederacy will rise again. I am not sure who I feel sorry for more-the spouses and friends of these hypocrites who wrap themselves in vestments of moral and religious superiority or those true believers who give money and attention to these Grade B political hacks.

I am not surprised the Gingrich’s, Livingston’s’, Foley’s, Craig’s, Ensign’s and now the Sanford’s of this country let their private parts somehow corrupt their public pronouncements. Our friends on the Democratic side of the aisle, Spitzer, Edwards, and Big Bill are also prone to letting their libidos trump their better sense.

Remember, they all aspired to be in politics. History tells us over and over again that the political life has far more opportunities to indulge in financial and personal corruption than most other professions. Most politicians were once geeking teenagers with lots of acne, bad haircuts and pocket pen protectors, They just aren’t prepared for the rich array women and or men and lobbyists fawning all over them.

What I really don’t understand is how so many political sycophants and voters offer up their unbridled support for these political hacks that profess overly religious and moral pronouncements on complex social issues. Sadly, those voters and supporters are the ones getting burned again and again.

Do these hypocritical politicians really believe what they publicly profess? Or are they just like other politicians who use their transparent religiosity to advance their careers? I guess some of these overly religious politicians start as true believers and soon find out that this approach brings with it financial support and accolades from voters who are desperately seeking someone who will save them. They reduce highly complex issues into overly simplified views of what is right and wrong for a broad swath of the electorate who cry out for someone to tell them what to do. It becomes a symbiotic relationship.

The more events and issues became too overwhelming to comprehend, these scripture quoting politicians offer a portion of electorate a safe harbor in a very complicated world. Mark Sanford over time began to believe that he really was morally superior to others because his followers reminded him everyday of his self-evident greatness and moral wisdom. Remember, W’s minions use to say, “We are faith-based and not reality-based.”

I wish we could judge politicians more on their collected body of work on behalf of their states or districts than their personal behavior. The problem is the Mark Sanford’s of this world set themselves up for failure because they ask us to evaluate their actions in both their public and private lives. I don’t know many politicians that could pass such a test. Few of us could. I know I couldn’t.

I just gulped when I heard Governor Sanford start his press conference with overly religious parables to frame his confession of adultery. I feel sorry for his wife, children and all of those true believers who once again are hoodwinked into believing his pseudo-religious anointing as a public servant. It is so tiresome and contrived.