When You Mess Up In A Fishbowl

In the last week or so, an elected official pleaded guilty in a case that involved a life insurance policy in a divorce. It was well covered in The Patch, as well as the usual paper and inks, so I won't belabor it here. The story, and especially the subsequent comments, got me thinking. What do we expect from our elected officials and what is their responsibility when something goes wrong? Not in the course of their elected duties, but in their personal lives.

First, most local news outlets, this one included, run stories about minor crimes that happen in their coverage areas. It's usually called the Police Blotter and it tells us about local folks who get caught driving without a license, driving drunk or lifting some shaving cream from Jewel. Occasionally you see someone you know who was busted for drug paraphernalia or a domestic disturbance down the street. Unless it involves someone who is close to you, you probably forget about it a few minutes after you read it.

With all the certainty of a Caleb Haney incompletion, there are immediate calls for resignation. Let me ask you, if you were arrested on a misdemeanor, would you voluntarily quit your job? Unless you were no longer able to perform your duties, why would you resign? Maybe you'll be fired; maybe you'll lose reelection. That's someone else's call. But, do you have an obligation to walk away?

Now I'm talking about misdemeanors here, not corruption or other serious felonies. The issue that prompted this case involved a divorce. As anyone who's ever been through one, or even knows someone who has, can tell you; things can get pretty ugly. Emotions and tensions are pushed to the extremes and often people will do regrettable things. Sometimes, small things are blown out of proportion. He said, she said, and the police arrest. And we read about it in the blotter. Perhaps, that's what happened here.

Now, that doesn't mean it's OK for someone to break the law, especially a public official. Regardless of how or why things happened, the police are required to do their jobs and it seems as if they did that here. Some commenters said that if this was just an ordinary guy, this would not be public. Again, the Police Blotters are full of ordinary guys. These people have families and friends that read this. Quite possibly, so do their employers. When it comes to public officials, we are the employer. It's possible that when an ordinary person hits the papers after messing up, their employer may hold it against him. Maybe right away, or maybe in the future. It's the same thing for a public official. Will this effect how some people vote? Of course it will.

What an ordinary person doesn't have are political enemies. It's doubtful that a co-worker's DUI will be posted on the company billboard. You can bet that any transgression on part of a politician will be instant fodder for their next opponent. Is that fair? Of course it is.

Fortunately, a person in a situation like this has the opportunity to redeem himself. If you're not fired from your job, or forced from office, things can be done to mitigate the damage. Good works have a way of cancelling out the bad. The further in the past something gets, the less damaging it is.

Having once been an elected official, I can say that I always tried to be aware of my actions at all times. I knew that anything I did wrong would be broadcast all over town. Whether it was not cutting folks off in traffic, or flipping off someone for doing it to me, I tried to avoid any behavior that would look good in an opponent's campaign piece. Yeah, that part about political enemies; I had those and I wasn't giving them anything.

The thing to keep in mind is that the people we elect are just that, people. They do good things and they sometimes mess up, both publicly and privately. Sometimes they get divorced, sometimes they go bankrupt. They even get caught driving drunk sometimes. Sometimes it affects their work. Sometimes it changes how we see someone and it changes how we vote.

Is it fair? Of course it is.