Politicians Must Be Held to a Higher Standard Than the Rest of Us

I was called into my boss' office recently because of a pair of fuzzy, blue slippers I had at the office. I was chastised and humiliated although, there were smiles all around. Poor choice. I get it. Politicians don't seem to get it, and that's the point.

Imagine if I had kept a guy in tight jeans under my desk as opposed to those slippers. I'm told all the time that my lunch hour is my own. But is it? No. I'm on the job. I'm in the workplace on company property. That same truth holds for many an elected official who steps over the line, then cries that the public is holding him to standards that are a bit too stringent.

At the very least, politicians should have to adhere to the same (moral/ethical) rules the typical Human Resources department dictates in the average corporation. I'm only talking about the elected official living up to the same standards that you and I have to follow if we want to keep OUR jobs.

One of the first things that pops into a person's mind on this subject is the whole Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal. I'll use that as an example just because it's the most obvious, and people tend to have strong opinions on the subject. The whole sex aspect was a side issue, and it muddies this sort of debate in my opinion. I don't care what anyone does in his bedroom.

Let's get back to the job scenario. A few things are just facts. Bill Clinton campaigned for, and won, a job. While on company time, he got out of line, and then he lied about it over and over to the people who hired him. Set up the same scenario with you and a coworker in your office. Then go into your boss's office and lie about it. How do you think that would work out for you?

Let's pretend the scenario with you and coworker happened after work hours? You'd still get fired, right? Forget the coworker. Let's say you stayed late at the office, and you started surfing porn on the Net. You'd get just as fired.

Now, add to that scenario that adultery (using it loosely in the Clinton case, but not so loosely in many other cases of politicians in the news), that adultery is still illegal most places, if not all. Politicians swear to uphold the law.

Politicians run on a moral ticket in effect. They ask the public to trust them. And we do.

Think about it. Have you ever heard a politician run a campaign based on: "I've done wicked, immoral and unethical things, and I expect to do many more in the future." The day that happens, I'll loosen my metaphorical noose of expectations from around the wayward politician's neck.

When a politician accepts that job s/he is on the job. I promise not to crawl around in his or her bedroom and look for any weird tendencies. I just ask that the politician not embarrass the people who gave him the job in the first place.