By Doug Newman – email me here.
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Posted at Popular Liberty and Reddit.
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Do politicians’ personal lives matter? Or are scandals arising from personal behavior mere distractions to keep us from paying attention to “the real issues”?

Politicians’ personal lives absolutely matter. If they say that the masses ought to live a certain way, then they themselves need to live that way. We need to pay very careful attention to how those who rule us or desire to rule us live. And if their actions and lifestyles run contrary to their rhetoric we need to expose this hypocrisy and withdraw our support. This applies regardless of party affiliation.

Remember Ted Kennedy, who inherited millions of dollars and never really had to do an honest day’s work in his life? And yet he wanted to tax us all into the pavement. He was just the tip of the iceberg of “limousine liberalism”. If these people will not part with their wealth, why should anyone else? And why should anyone vote for a person like this for so much as dog catcher?

If a politician supports gun control and yet travels with armed security guards, this needs to be exposed. How come he gets to defend himself, but we don’t? Again, why would anyone vote for such a hypocrite?

If an environmentalist politician lives an extravagant lifestyle and leaves an extensive carbon footprint, this needs to be exposed. If he will not go on Amish mode himself, why should we? And why should anyone vote for such a hypocrite?

If a politician smoked marijuana in his past and didn’t go to jail, this too needs to be exposed. If he didn’t go to jail, why should any of us proles? And why would anyone vote for such a hypocrite?

(And if such a politician’s daughter only had to serve 10 days for crack possession, that definitely needs to be exposed and hammered at relentlessly. Not only is this a case of “Chappaquiddick justice, it ought to show for all time that the Drug War is a monumental failure.)

If a politician froths at the mouth for war 24/7, the very first thing you need to do is examine his military record, if such a thing even exists. And if he won’t spill his blood in the wars which he thinks are so groovy, why should a bunch of kids from the South Bronx and the Oklahoma Panhandle? Why do so many people insist on voting for such people?

And if a politician violates his marriage vows, i.e. the most solemn vows he will ever make, he will lie about anything and cannot be trusted at all. Adultery is not limited to a particular party. We know that Bill Clinton cheated on Hillary numerous times. And yet so many “social conservatives” have supported known adulterers like John McCain, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump for president. The list of D.C. adulterers is endless.

Jesus told us – Matthew 7:20 – that we shall know people “by their fruits”. People in general should be seen and not heard. This is especially true for those who would nanomanage our lives without end. We need to be especially watchful of their deeds. And if their deeds do not match their words, we should not support them.

But aren’t I engaging in unnecessary personal attacks here? No. Consider the endless number of laws and regulations these people use to have us fined, jailed or killed. Since they intrude on our personal lives without end, we MUST keep a very careful eye on their personal lives if we wish to retain for ourselves any measure of individual liberty.

And if we don’t very carefully vet politicians we like, why should we be surprised when other people don’t very carefully vet politicians they like?

We get upset with hypocrites in our day-to-day lives. Why don’t we get just as upset with hypocrites in the political realm … regardless of their party?

But we need good people in office. I can’t say I disagree. But if there are simply no good options for these offices, what is the big deal? Why are we so frantic and desperate to be ruled that we will disregard all common sense, consistency and morality just so we can have a boot on our necks?

The timing on this was perfect. Excellent article about hyper drug warrior and draft dodger Joe Biden. However, it neglects to mention that, other than being discharged from the Naval Reserve for testing positive for cocaine, his son Hunter suffered no other punishment.