Posted by denised in 
Ensign resigns
Bosses behaving badly – Another Senator, another affair
Nevada’s Republican Senator John Ensign is the latest publicly elected figure caught up and out engaging in an extramarital affair. It’s becoming rote. The headlines can practically write themselves.” Insert politican/public leader /CEO name here, has affair with 30ish assistant/campaign staff member/former model.” In fact, it’s so common that this “news” almost didn’t make it as a post. But then I started thinking. The fact that extramarital affairs by public leaders have become so commonplace that it’s no longer news…is news.
Extramarital affairs, bathroom dalliances and a random love child here or there is no longer headline news. Remember a few weeks ago when 61 year old Citigroup Board Chairman Richard Parsons admitted to having fathered a child with 32 year old ex-model MacDella Cooper? You probably don’t. It didn’t dominate the news for days on end and most believe the affair and his ability to do his job effectively are too separate issues. Are they though? When someone in a position of power lies and cheats (which is essentially what adultery is) does he get a pass for his personal (and now almost expected) indiscretion or does it make him a Really Bad Boss?
It’s easy to argue either view. On the one hand people who lie to their spouses, close friends and family, are only one step away from lying to the people who elected them. Some might say they’re more susceptible to breaking other rules and laws that will eventually impact their ability to do the jobs they were hired or elected to do. Plus, there’s a degree of arrogance that comes with getting away with a deception for any length of time. Judge Sam Kent, the judge I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, felt untouchable because he’d gotten away with his nastiness for years. But is it that simple? We’ve got decades of history showing that people in power who were caught doing immoral things were still able to do the jobs they were hired/elected to do. Case in point, Bill Clinton. He remains one of the country’s most popular presidents even after his affair and lying under oath. And, what about those in power secretly carrying on affairs or other indiscretions, under the radar, never to be caught?
When it comes to certain bosses, it appears that we do give immoral behavior a pass, especially if we think they’re competent in other areas. Ensign has resigned, due largely in part to the moral high road his party travels on while in public. But in refusing to relinquish positions of authority despite unquestionably immoral acts, some democrats in power are no better . When it comes to immorality among bosses, the families involved suffer the most, while the rest of us are left hoping that the indiscretions never went beyond the bedrooms and minds of its perpetrators. Thoughts?
