Thursday, January 29, 2009

Gay or Straight, Politicians are Politicians.

The openly gay mayor of Portland Oregon admits lying about an affair with a much younger man (18) to get elected.  There's more about the story here.   It's not the sex that bothers me (though the wide age difference makes me uncomfortable even if the young man was technically an adult), it's the lying about it.  What is it about politicians and their zippers?

I say he should resign.  What do you think?
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10 comments:

  1. Wormwood's DoxyJanuary 29, 2009 at 7:46 AM

    I think what legal adults do in the privacy of their own homes is their business, not mine. Why is this an issue?

    Most of us will lie when we are cornered and think we will get ourselves out of trouble by doing so. It's not a good thing, of course--but I don't understand why you think he should resign because of it. The young man in question says he does not feel that Adams took advantage of him, so where's the harm?

    Doxy

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  2. DavisJanuary 29, 2009 at 11:16 AM

    He should resign because he's stupid enough to lie like this, not because he's had sex with a consenting adult...

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  3. Göran Koch-SwahneJanuary 29, 2009 at 2:42 PM

    OT!

    I found a very fascinating article about Dr Darwin today. His take on the evolution of the species seems to have developed out of his (family) convicions on God's good Creation: One Species, one Race.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7856157.stm

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  4. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2009 at 10:49 PM

    I consider Portland my once and future home: love the place...

    ...and I'm SO glad I don't live there right now (where it would affect me personally, w/ Adams as my mayor).

    Which is to say, I feel deeply conflicted.

    If rank STUPIDITY was always a resignable action, then he should definitely go.

    But I thought: if it were a 17-18 year-old woman, would I want him gone? [AND the woman said "I wasn't a victim"?] I don't think I would.

    Then again: I can't pretend his politics don't matter! (i.e., if he were a conservative Republican---and Christian and married---I would SO want him GONE!!!)

    Oy vey: conflicted, I am!

    (Idiot, he was.)

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  5. it's margaretJanuary 30, 2009 at 12:10 AM

    Sigh.... maybe it's a jaded western thing, but I kinda expect politicians to lie about something, and if it's just about sex, I'm fine with it.... perhaps that's just a protective mode....

    If the lie is about something like WMD or torture and all the other lies we have heard lately, I have no patience for that sort of lie.

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  6. toujoursdanJanuary 30, 2009 at 2:10 PM

    I dunno. He lied about a personal matter, not something tied to the job itself.

    There is no evidence that any laws or codes were broken. The young man was 18 which is legal even in Oregon (Why is the age of consent so high there?) He worked as an intern for the state, not for the mayor. It seems to be completely consensual and no one seems to have been hurt by the experience.

    And yes the age difference was large, but I dated a forty-something guy when I was in my very early twenties. I think people that age are attracted to the perceived stability and maturity of older men as there are few rôle models among their peers. I still get hit on by men that age online and in real life.

    Still a mayor can only govern effectively if he has the trust of his collegues and the people. Should he resign? I dunno. I am sure he'll have to run again in a few years and voters will have the opportunity to toss them there, if they see fit.

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  7. Wormwood's DoxyJanuary 30, 2009 at 2:18 PM

    My point is: Why was he ever asked the question to begin with? Why was his sex life anyone's business? And what does his lying about it (something I probably would have done too, TBH) have to do with his performance as mayor?

    IMO, unless he was being accused of using inappropriate influence, what he does in private should never have been a question to begin with. That's why I find the whole furor ridiculous.

    Doxy

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  8. CounterlightJanuary 30, 2009 at 4:57 PM

    It's still the lying and the cover up that bothers me. If he had been forthright about it from the beginning, then I probably wouldn't have cared who he dated.

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  9. Wormwood's DoxyJanuary 30, 2009 at 4:59 PM

    What he SHOULD have said was "That's none of your business."

    I have trouble faulting a man for "covering up" something that was no one else's business to begin with...

    And I have no idea why I feel so passionately about this. I'll shut up now...

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  10. CounterlightJanuary 30, 2009 at 9:42 PM

    Alas, to be in politics these days is to live in a fishbowl. Just ask the Obamas.

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