[EL] Congressman Weiner

Tue Jun 7 11:55:03 PDT 2011

Doug

I agree with you but isn't this a function of America's traditionally moralistic and Puritanical political culture, combined with changing norms of political journalism and a 24 hours television / cable / internet news cycle?  

I know it is a very different situation, but the national self-reflection that France and the French journalistic community are experiencing in response to the DSK affair is illustrative.  France has prided itself in keeping the private lives of its politicians out of the public sphere.  Yet, that norm had obviously gone too far.  

We're probably going to far in the opposite direction, exposing in excruciating detail the personal and private lives of all of our leading politicians.  There has to be some sort of middle ground, but I'm not sure how we're going to get there.
---
Paul Gronke                Ph:  503-517-7393
			               Fax: 734-661-0801

Professor, Reed College
Director, Early Voting Information Center 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd.
Portland OR 97202

EVIC: http://earlyvoting.net

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On Jun 7, 2011, at 10:51 AM, Doug Hess wrote:

> Well, I guess if he sent nude pics or certain sexually suggestive text
> via government device, I might agree that that is the sort of thing
> that somebody should expect to get fired for in the private sector, so
> perhaps some sort of "no sexting with your tax-payer phone please"
> censure is in order.  But I fear that bloggers and web sites that give
> muckraking a bad name will make people "gun shy" of public office
> because anything can possibly be hung out in public. I would hate to
> know what government officials do with their per diem in Rio.
> 
> Doug
> 
> On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 1:30 PM, Rob Richie <rr at fairvote.org> wrote:
>> If being stupid and/or lying about sex were a standard for forcing
>> politicians from office,it would indeed be interesting to see how many
>> Members of Congress would be left,
>> 
>> As to Weiner using a government Blackberry for personal use as an excuse for
>> an ethical violation? Please -- does any Member of Congress ever text a
>> spouse to say he or she will be late for dinner or can't pick up the kids at
>> school?. Not to excuse his gross behavior, but this seems like a return to
>> the standards of Puritianical judges from Salem (something I take rather
>> personally, as a direct ancestor of mine was among those murdered by the
>> government as an alleged witch!).
>> 
>> Rob
>> On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 12:38 PM, Paul Gronke <paul.gronke at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Maybe if he used a government Blackberry or web access, though I'm not
>>> sure how they'd track the latter.
>>> 
>>> It's unfortunate, I think, to see a pundit mention the "Chris Lee"
>>> standard in the NY Times:
>>> 
>>> David Birdsell, dean of Baruch College?s School of Public Affairs in New
>>> York City, said it would be hard for Mr. Weiner to argue that his conduct
>>> was any less damning. ?By the Chris Lee standard, these are offenses that
>>> merit resignation,? he said.
>>> 
>>> No comment at all about whether such a standard is a reasonable one?
>>> 
>>> ---
>>> Paul Gronke     Ph:   503-517-7393
>>>                        Fax: 503-661-0601
>>> 
>>> Professor, Reed College
>>> Director, Early Voting Information Center
>>> 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd
>>> Portland OR 97202
>>> 
>>> EVIC: http://earlyvoting.net
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Jun 7, 2011, at 5:29 AM, Doug Hess wrote:
>>> 
>>>> All joking aside, what is the reasoning or grounds behind starting an
>>>> investigation of the congressman (or the same with the NY GOP
>>>> congressman that had the shirtless pic on craigslist but I guess left
>>>> before it was investigated)?  That he sullied the image of congress?
>>>> It seems odd to go looking for bigger violations if there is not yet
>>>> any evidence of it (i.e., inappropriate romantic entanglements with
>>>> somebody that does business with congress, etc.).
>>>> 
>>>> Doug
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Law-election mailing list
>>>> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
>>>> http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
>>> 
>>> 
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>> 
>> 
>> 
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>> 