Watching Woods unburden himself last Friday made me think: This really shouldn’t be any of my business. I’ve never had the same thought watching John Edwards confess his sins. Athletes and actors don’t work for us directly; they’re entrusted with great wealth and fame, but not great power. But the private peccadilloes of politicians tend to interfere with, and corrupt, their commission of their public duties.
Enquiring Minds By Ross Douthat
This is an important point. We can dump stars whenever we decide we no longer want to support them, but politicians have a lasting ability to harm us. It is surely true that moral failings of politicians beget corruption by encouraging secrecy and abusing power for personal reasons. But I wonder if much of the corruption is generated in the attempts to cover things up. Maybe if politicians didn’t have to worry as much about having their careers ended by having their affairs discovered they would spend less resources on covering them up and the level of ill effect would be lower. Perhaps that is the equilibrium that France has.
