In response to the big political and entertainment news of the past weeks, Time Magazine asks why powerful men cheat.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been ousted as a cheater having had a child with another woman while being married with his wife Maria Shriver.  Now there is constant debate on all news networks about why he did it, what does it mean and what will happen next.  If you ask me nothing, nothing should happen next.

A useless question like why men of power cheat does nothing to help political discourse or aid in helping people understand the real reason why we as Americans do what we do.

I often hear people say that Men in powerful positions feel as though they can get away with doing unethical things simply because they can, their arrogance blind them and at the same time shield them from the potential consequences of their actions.

Great psycho analysis but let’s leave the bubble of the political world and think about this objectively and not get caught in fancy titles.

Men in powerful positions cheat for the same reasons men all over the world cheat.  A leader of a fortune five hundred company cheats for the same reasons a person struggling with college debts cheats.

We make a big deal about these men because they are villianized by the media and we see them and feel as though we know them but that is not their fault… it is the nature of the business they are in.  In fact in us being naive, we do ourselves a disservice in electing our politicians.

The question should be why do men cheat in general, ask why did Tiger Woods cheat on his wife then we can ask why did a person like President Bill Clinton cheat or why Presidential candidate John Edwards cheated on his wife.

9819811We say we want our politicians to be one of us and we want to feel as though we can relate to them, so why when the topic of cheating on a spouse comes up we expect them to be different or above us.  Somehow they should only represent the best in us; if that is it then we are being naive.

I don’t want to come off as excusing the action of cheating on your spouse or getting another woman pregnant while being married, but we must find a way to separate the personal lives of our politicians and their service to us as politicians.  Should you be fired or reprimanded from your job because you cheated on your husband or wife? I don’t think so.

I understand it becomes complicated when the issue of tax payer money is involved and when we determine the legality of actions by certain politicians then and only then should it matter what they do in their private lives.

So what does this scandal mean?  Does it mean Governor Schwarzenegger should not be governor, just like Edwards most likely will never be president for this and other reasons?  Must he apologize to us; in fact I’m kind of tired of hearing politicians say sorry to the American people for their integrations.

In a country where the divorce rate is between 40 and 50 percent, why are we still surprise about stories like this, why do we still care… oh yeah I know why, because it shows a lot about a person’s ethics and we don’t want unethical leaders; yeah that’s it.

In reality that is just a cop out and we avoid the real questions and the real answers.

Ask yourself this question, who you consider a better president, the president who was a “compassionate conservative” or the president who cheated on his wife. In other words who was a better leader George Bush the son or Bill Clinton?

We shouldn’t forget about our values and have our president parade around with different model girlfriends on their arms like European Presidents often do, but let’s ask the right questions and disregard the double standards we place on our politicians.

Politicians are flawed men but they are men none the less, we must accept them just like you accept your husbands and boyfriends with their many flaws.

Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com

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About the author

Clodel Remy
Writing and sports are my passions and i can't see myself doing anything else.

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