A Plea On Sex Scandals

by Stuart Shapiro

Well this week’s sex scandal is now over and David Wu has resigned.  Let me take the opportunity to vent on a pet peeve.  I often see in the comments here, comments about how Democrats can’t keep their pants on and how Republicans are perverts.  Here is a brief list from the past few years of sex scandals.

Democrats: David Wu, Anthony Weiner, Eric Massa, Eliot Spitzer, John Edwards

Republicans: Christopher Lee, John Ensign, David Vitter, Mark Sanford, Mark Foley

I could go back further but I don’t have to.  Being a lech crosses party lines.  If you want to complain about a politician preaching values and cheating on their wife, that’s fine.  If you want to complain about men or politicians that’s fine too.  But don’t use these scandals to claim the moral high ground for your party.  I worked for Republicans and Democrats during my time in Washington and I knew jerks and wonderful human beings in both parties.

By: Stuart Shapiro

Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.