Purity and Politics

I don't know if anyone's been following the 10th district congressional race, but it's become more interesting because of news of the Republican incumbent's affair. Check out my favorite quote from the article:

Some voters will make up their minds on other issues. But the outcome may rest with the likes of Wade Whitney, 75, a Republican since the days of Dwight Eisenhower.

"Sure, the affair matters," he said, standing outside the post office in tiny Dalton. "We don't condone that kind of stuff. A man should be able to resist temptation...

"But I can't bear the idea of the Democrats taking over in Washington. How am I going to vote? I'm up on top of the telephone poll. This is the toughest decision I can remember."

I've always felt that voting on moral values was pretty dumb, but I'm starting to think that, many times, it's also pretty selective. Clinton did essentially the same thing Sherwood did, except Clinton was foolish enough to lie (or at the very least closely pare the truth) about it under oath. Republicans went apeshit over that, and wanted to impeach the man even though most Americans didn't. However, when a Republican fools around on the wrong side of the sheets, then it's all, "Well, he's still better than the Democrats." (Keep in mind that in the 10th district race race the Democrat is not accused of adultery.) In essence, these "values voters" are proving that their dedication to preserving the moral purity of this country extends only to the Republican section of the ballot. Very convenient, that.

(In case you were wondering, I think voting for a politician for moral reasons is pretty foolish. Ain't no politician overly concerned about moral values; their primary purpose is to get reelected, and anyone who loses sight of that deserves exactly what he gets.)

BTW, Outfest was yesterday, so the gayborhood was pretty much off-limits to auto traffic. I saw one festival staffer playing the heavy to drivers frustrated by traffic, and he wasn't getting much respect. I'm guessing that had something to do with the fact that he was at the time wearing an orange sweater tied around his neck and was carrying a crocheted shoulderbag. Not exactly a power-outfit, in my view. And his shoes didn't even match the sweater, for Pete's sake.