John Edwards's Affair - Why Should We Care?

So, the news is abuzz, yet again, because, yet again, a prominent politician has been caught in an extramarital affair.

If you're following current news, you'll know I'm talking about Democratic senator and former presidential hopeful John Edwards. Those news organizations, political blogs, etc., which aren't reporting the sordid details are busy asking, "What does this mean for the Democrats."

I won't try to tell anyone to pretend we aren't interested. I remember the Monica Lewinksy affair all too well, and how people kept crying, "We don't care about this!" while all the while buying the tabloids and tuning in to the TV news in record numbers.

We want to believe we're above this sort of thing, but the truth is, we are, in fact, very interested in the sordid details of a politician's (or any famous person's) love affairs and sexual scandals, because hey, sex. We're so utterly sexually repressed in this country that we can't help but eat it up any time we get a chance to acknowledge that yes, human beings in our society have sexual lives, whether it's Bill Clinton, Ted Haggard, or Paris Hilton.

So I won't say, "look away!"from the spectacle ensuing. Look all you want. Satisfy your prurient curiosity to your heart's content (I know I won't be able to help it). But after watching this same sad drama play out over and over again, I'm starting to be more and more convinced it is vital to the health of our society that we don't look here to the exclusion of all other things.

We need to remember that politicians are elected to make policy, not to remain faithful to their spouses. We also need to remember that the highest indicator of a leader's character should not be what they do in the bedroom. We need to realize that throughout history, powerful men have always had their women and this is nothing new. We need to remember that, hey, adultery is not terribly uncommon for the average American and we're deluding ourselves if we try to say we're "above" this somehow.

But most of all, we need to ask ourselves is, "what are they trying to distract us from?"

Maybe nothing. Maybe all it comes down to is that sex is a great way for news proprietors to sell ads - much better, certainly, than boring stuff like world news or how US economic policy is affecting it. Even stuff like the ancient history of current politician's policies and actions isn't going to drum up marketing revenue, so why bother with it?

Still, even if the reasons for focusing on sexual "scandals" are purely market-based, the problem remains. These kinds of stories are empty distractions that keep us from being aware of the real ways in which those in power are making political and economic decisions, decisions that truly will influence the lives of millions of people, including each of us.

John Edwards's decisions about his own sex life don't qualify in this category. It has no direct relevance to our lives, and due to the fact that it was consensual sex with a willing adult, and not a kind of sex which Edwards has ever tried to demonize and persecute in his political career, it has no indirect relevance, either.

So please, America, let's be smart.. Let's keep our eyes open, our ears to the ground, and not watch the shiny birdy.