March 25, 2008
The indictment of the mayor of Detroit and his top aide on twelve counts of obstruction of justice, misconduct in office, perjury and conspiracy is just the latest in a series of incidents involving political leaders.
Like the other so-called “sex scandals” of recent years which have affected members of both parties, the case of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his aide involves allegations of sex, but the heart of the case is about lying and covering it up.
Now you may wonder why I said “so-called” sex scandals a moment ago. Why should it be a scandal when we have decided as a culture that nothing is right or wrong anymore, but everything is about personal choice? Aren’t we the real hypocrites in these things when we claim such behavior is scandalous but refuse to reinforce the virtues that would prevent much of this behavior?
This is having it both ways. We flirt with virtue while denying its power and then when politicians and others engage in the activity we promote the most, we say it’s a scandal. What’s a scandal is our toleration of all of this.
Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.
