Is it reasonable to expect high-ranking male politicians to never have indiscretions with women? (suspect, Kennedy)

[wutitiz]

We've had a lot of sex scandals on both sides of the aisle in the last 15 years:

Bill Clinton
Al Gore
John Edwards
Elliot Spitzer
Anthony Weiner
Mel Reynolds
David Wu
numerous mayors, including DC, LA, SF, and Detroit.

Larry Craig
Herman Cain
Mark Foley
Mark Sanford
David Vitter
Newt Gingrich
Bob Packwood
Arnold Schwarzeneggar

I think a lot of it is the dumbed-down media. It's easier to report a sex scandal than a study by the CBO on the cost and benefit of GSE's 'iimplicit guarantee.' I think we probably would be better off if we could go back to the days of JFK and LBJ when the media ignored 'scandals' as long as there was no dead girl or live boy.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by california-jewel

Wow i really agree with you a lot today.

How right you are. I have to be honest here. At one time before we had our own business, i worked in a very large office.

I saw first hand what a woman can do, when she is pissed at a man, and most of the time a married man, that paid her no attention. Or single women that thru themselves at married men. I saw with my own eyes, what really happens, and to say these things don't would be very foolish.

I saw married men, sorry ladies being tempted by young beautiful sexy women, i use to get upset myself, because i too am married a very long time, and see what these young women do to entice a man. Besides wearing sexy clothes, putting theiir hand on the Man, getting touchy, and a bit friendly, get my drift. Happens.
Why would this be any different for a politician, i think in each and every profession today, there are indiscretions that are going on.

Politicians would be no different, i would say it happens even more.

Oh, yeah. "Evil, thy name is Woman".

[Sunnysee]

Well, power IS an aphrodisiac! Hmmm.....yeah, it's reasonable but apparently quite unlikely. Perhaps those that seek this power are most often the most dishonorable types.

[vamos]

In my "former" life, I held a fairly powerful position with a lot of public exposure. Nothing on the level of a high-ranking politician, rock star, A-list actor, etc., but still, a position with status and influence in the most powerful US city and within one of the most powerful organizations in NYC. My decisions could potentially make or break careers, alter entire organizational structures, etc. In my position, I met quite a few high-ranking politicians, executives of Fortune 500 companies, etc. and I cannot begin to fathom the degree of temptation these people were exposed to.

You see, even though I was nowhere close to their level of power and status, it is still impossible for me to remember the number of women who "threw" themselves at me in hopes of somehow benefitting from a liaison with me. Sure, a few stick out for their particularly brazen attempts.... It didn't matter that I was not available and sometimes, "No" apparently had a lot of room for interpretation.

Generally, I pride myself on having a very strong character, free from corrupt tendencies. I am exceptionally well equipped to maintain and uphold boundaries. Still, I have to admit that resisting temptation was not always the easiest.

If there were difficult moments for me, it must be almost impossible to remain impervious if you are even higher up the food chain. In essence, I find myself REALLY surprised when some of these people claim that they did NOT (or do not) have affairs...

[old_cold]

No matter how small the pond, there is a groupie contingent out for the big fish.
It's amazing how many females there are that succumb to it.
When the big fish uses it to confer favors or deny them, 'he' takes it many steps lower than just taking advantage of it for sexual purposes, which is bad enough, but pretty human.
And yes, we should expect more simply because it suggests bad judgement from people we rely on to have good judgement.

[burdell]

Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer

Let's face it, most high-ranking male politicians have a tremendous amount of money, power and status compared to average people. This means they also have access to quite a lot of women, many of whom literally throw themselves at such politicans.

Given this, how could most men resist such temptation? Have society's expectations of men with political power become unreasonable?

Money, power, and status do not preclude a man having character.

[purehuman]

Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer

Let's face it, most high-ranking male politicians have a tremendous amount of money, power and status compared to average people. This means they also have access to quite a lot of women, many of whom literally throw themselves at such politicans.

Given this, how could most men resist such temptation? Have society's expectations of men with political power become unreasonable?

Oh believe me.....for some men...there is NO temptation to resist....all the money and power in the world should not be the deciding factor on whether a married man commits adultery or not....If he's not married, then, by all means, he should be able to partake of the companionship of any number of women that he wants...societys expectations of men with political power is that they be just, and fair to all, I don't see that as unreasonable....I don't really think that what they do in their bedrooms after hours is of real concern,....escept maybe to mainstream media

[Who?Me?!]

Originally Posted by california-jewel

Wow i really agree with you a lot today.

How right you are. I have to be honest here. At one time before we had our own business, i worked in a very large office.

I saw first hand what a woman can do, when she is pissed at a man, and most of the time a married man, that paid her no attention. Or single women that thru themselves at married men. I saw with my own eyes, what really happens, and to say these things don't would be very foolish.

I saw married men, sorry ladies being tempted by young beautiful sexy women, i use to get upset myself, because i too am married a very long time, and see what these young women do to entice a man. Besides wearing sexy clothes, putting theiir hand on the Man, getting touchy, and a bit friendly, get my drift. Happens.
Why would this be any different for a politician, i think in each and every profession today, there are indiscretions that are going on.

Politicians would be no different, i would say it happens even more.

There ya go...blaming those Evil Women !


So you're giving men a free pass....then I hope you aren't upset by sexual transgressions by politicians .


BTW, don't try the "She Made Me Do It" excuse on your wife....most women are smarter than that.



If women are so evil why don't female politicians have more scandals involving sex????????????

[GregW]

In the very unlikely event of my becomming a "high level politician" I would succumb to as many sexual temptations, but not financial, as possible and then brag about it.

[sammbriggs]

Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer

Let's face it, most high-ranking male politicians have a tremendous amount of money, power and status compared to average people. This means they also have access to quite a lot of women, many of whom literally throw themselves at such politicans.

Given this, how could most men resist such temptation? Have society's expectations of men with political power become unreasonable?

no! i have no issue with it either. the human race is relatively promiscuous, i don't understand why people are still shocked by this. the only issue i have is when people preach about their virtues and then turn around and fiddle with school boys and girls. this is one of the reasons i think social conservative politicians are a dying breed.