The nature of affairs

Last fall when I read John Edwards was accused of having had an affair, to be honest, I figured, despite his denials, the accusations were true. I am kind of jaded about politicians while at the same time, as a Democrat, I don't generally care politically whether someone has had an affair or not.

Despite my belief a leader's personal, sexual life is not part of the public's right to know, some affairs seem more egregious to me than others. For instance when Newt Gingrich was having his affair with a woman he divorced his wife to marry, he was also pursuing impeachment of Bill Clinton for having an affair he didn't divorce his wife to marry. But that was more about hypocrisy than the affair.

Then there was John McCain's affair (the one that ended his marriage and led to a new marriage with a beautiful, wealthy woman who was not handicapped). It seems that was okay because of the divorce. Was John McCain faithful to that second wife or are the rumors about his possible other relationships true? Unlike most Republicans, if he was my candidate of choice, I would not actually care. He has plenty of reasons for me to dislike his candidacy, and his sexual habits aren't among them. His booting a wife because she was not perfect or his using someone to make his career successful, those would be reasons I would see as relating to his political ideas.
Although John Edwards having an affair would not have impacted my voting, his being a hypocrite or fraud would. Was Edwards a fraud when he presented himself as a happily married man, on a crusade to rid the country of poverty? He was doing what many powerful men do as he found his lover a well-paid staff position, so he had a good excuse to have her with him. Who paid for that? This is an area where it begins to be the public's business if the lover/employee is being paid for by donations or public funds.

Then there is the question of his judgment in choosing staff. Is the usual method for hiring documentarians to meet them in bars? The films she directed have mostly disappeared denying us the ability to evaluate whether she was naturally gifted in film making or whether the real gift was something more personal to Edwards.

The people who donated money to Edwards' poverty work might have reason to complain, but I personally didn't like him for other reasons. Revelation of his affair even now wouldn't impact my vote. It would though have made it impossible for him to be elected president probably. This country seems to have very rigid standards-- serial monogamy or nothing.

Before he announced his run for the presidency, Edwards says had told his wife about the affair. They apparently both decided it shouldn't matter. Shouldn't it have, given what happened with Clinton? Would it have ended his run if they had come out with the full truth at the start? Was his sex life any business of the public? Does being a sexually moral person mean someone is more likely to be a more ethical person in other arenas?

I used to have a saying about politicians and am trying to think of a polite way to phrase it while retaining the meaning. Basically it was that I prefer to vote for Democrats who screw women rather than Republicans who screw everybody. I personally think the Bush administration validates my theory (and who knows how many of them have been busily having affairs that are yet to be discovered).
My photos to illustrate this theme were inspired by a movie about a famous affair-- Bridges of Madison County. Interesting how often we romanticize affairs until they appear in our own lives or in a political leader.

Covered bridges can be symbolic for an earlier time where things seemed simpler. In Oregon we have quite a few that are still functional bridges. Generally they are one-way which works on gravel roads, but used to be death traps on highways, which is why the first one is now a park alongside the more effective concrete bridge.

Covered bridges serve as symbols for a way from this side to that with secrets sometimes hidden beneath their roofs. How many have served as romantic beginnings as they did in the movie? One more thought-- might, despite their beauty and our fascination with them, covered bridges also represent holding onto an antiquated system that needs changing.

I know with the Russian army killing so many in Georgia, with questions of global warming escalating Global Climate change, this topic might seem unimportant.
But is it?Are those leaders with the most potential to help solve these serious problems staying out of the public arena because their past or present cannot pass inspection? Do we reject leaders for the wrong reasons? Things like hypocrisy, misusing government funds, uncaring use of other people seem important to me but is sexual morality or immorality among them?