THE FRENCH TRIANGLE: IS IT REALLY SUCH A BIG DEAL?

THE FRENCH TRIANGLE

It sounds as though French president Francois Hollande has gotten himself between the proverbial rock and a hard place.  With a pregnant girlfriend and a hospitalized mistress., it is said that Monsieur Hollande will soon be making a decision as to which of the two ladies his heart belongs.

The interesting thing about the situation is that it is not getting that much attention on Hollande's home front, as the French are somewhat more casual about such circumstances.  Generally not known for prudishness, the French do have an established reputation for sexual laissez-faire. 

When I read of President Hollande's dilemma, I could not help but think there would be far more curiosity in the U.S. concerning the story.  Somehow, in the U.S., our so-called public-servants can remain credible despite serious shortcomings in all areas of life except marital and sexual fidelity.

Certainly, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky  come to mind.  Their sad affair of infidelity had such a paralyzing effect that it succeeded in totally diverting attention from what should have been the great issues of the day and resulted in a disproportionate amount of time and energy being invested in the impeachment process. Could it be that our traditional Anglo-Saxon primness has led us to judge politicians based on fidelity, or the lack thereof?

Any number of completely incompetent buffoons may be singled out in Washington.  They are essentially do-nothings who enrich themselves at the cost of the taxpayers, while picking the pockets of various interest groups.  But they are not known to be philanderers, or, at least, they have yet to be caught in the act.

Oh, the marvelous things that our public servants in Congress can do with their PAC's!  All sorts of personal expenses may be written off to a PAC, and there are always official junkets and also special goodies and hand-outs from the lobbyists to be looked forward to.  Then one can always craft bills that will keep those funds flowing from all sorts of interest groups and lobbies.

When it comes to family, life in D.C. is nothing if it is not a family affair.  There are always the ways and means of getting parents, spouses, siblings, children and even cousins on any number of payrolls, if not directly paid for by the public servant, then paid by campaign committees and from family services rendered to special interests.

It must be admitted that, if a politician cannot keep his pants zippered, then that politician should not be applauded; however, I am of the opinion that genuine service and commitment to constituents and to the country should be judged as far more important than personal shortcomings, flings and pecodillos.

If impeachment proceedings were to be considered against a public figure, surely it would make better sense to base any such charges on actions that unreasonably endangered the lives of one's countrymen, that abused  power by unleashing the divisions of government against its citizens, that lessened the ability of the nation to defend itself and that permanently bound future generations to debt and national penury.  As citizens, let's focus on the real essence of public service and leave the other matters to the cerebrally-challenged who are drawn to the pages of National Enquirer and The Globe.

Deo Vindice!

God bless Texas, and may the Lone Star State remain forever red!