What is it with these people?
I just watched one of the Lib Dems on the BBC News 24 channel this morning. I just couldn't help myself from laughing.This woman was talking about the disgraced MP Oaten regarding his 23 year old 'Rent Boy'. If a 23 year old can be called a boy. Read more here.
I thought it was his mum at first because she said 'That doesn't sound like him at all' 'He wouldn't do that' etc. The fact he resigned instantly and didn't threaten to sue mean the report must have been spot on. Looks like she doesn't know him as well as she thought. Which could still leave her his mum as that seems to be the norm today. My son wouldn't rob/kill/rape/kidnap/take drugs. You hear it from them all. He clearly thought a lot of her as she had been trying to contact him with little success. Clearly a close friend.
He clearly decided to stray, he decided to a man, he decided to go for the vacant leaders job. Little did he know how much his own life would come under scrutiny and his little secret would come out. These politicians think they can get away with anything. You can't put yourself in the public eye and not have your secrets come out nowadays. Going for leader caused a spotlight to follow him and he was caught with his pants down, so to speak. Could even have been leaked by someone in our Government. MI5 must know and being in the closet is a sin to our security services.
Although I think his private life is his own. Politicians need to be whiter than white regarding anything out of the norm. Having an affair is clearly OK to politicians. A lot of them have done so with the women who are chasing the power a politician has. Many have not been caught yet I'm sure but as we get closer to elections it starts to come out. But, a relationship with a man. That's a no no if would want to be PM. Excluding Maggie of course.
posted by Bag @ 2:19 pm
2 Comments:
As a libertarian, these stories bother me. Clearly I don't want to restrict the press from telling such stories. Equally, I am dismayed that people (including many I respect) regard them as relevant to someone's career.
This story is a tragedy for the Oaten family. It's amusing to the rest of us only because the LibDems were so horrible to poor Charlie Kennedy and this looks like Divine retribution along "judge not, lest ye shall be judged lines". But it's damn all to do with the poor guy's ability to do his job.
If the only people who go into Parliament are (a) boring souls with nothing they would not want their mothers to hear about and (b) mad chancers who get off on the risk of detection how is our democracy to function?
Consider all the "great men" of the past who would not have lasted in current conditions; Gladstone, Disraeli, Churchill to name but three.
Consider also that this government has repudiated the "Wilson Doctrine" that MP's should not have their mail intercepted or phones tapped. Any dirty little secret of an opposition politician is likely to find its way to the media in future, meticulously timed to do maximum political damage.
These are real problems to which there is no obvious solution.
You are right there. My personal view is that one of the job requirements to be a politician is that you have to tread very carefully in many areas. If you are gay you need to be open and this guy wasn't. Nothing in anyones private life should be a bar to any career but unfortunately that is not what life teaches. People in high positions are frequently pulled down by revelations like this. I don't have a solution. I'd be interested to find out if one exists.
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