Chicanery

by Valentine Logar

Created on: September 19, 2007

Peccadillo: a very minor or slight sin or offense; a trifling fault

Chicanery: trickery or deception by quibbling or sophistry: (b) a quibble or subterfuge used to trick, deceive, or evade: (c) the use of tricks to deceive someone usually to extract money from them
Webster Dictionary and American Heritage Dictionary

Why is this even a debate?

Let's take first things first shall we. The private activities, personal likes and dislikes, and sexual orientation of an individual are the business of that person, their family, and their partner or partners. While many in our society today like to believe that they have the right to invade the personal lives of public figures and thus judge them, it is simply not the truth. The fact is that people, yes even public figures including politicians have the right to privacy and personal lives. The public doesn't have the right to invade their bedrooms or the choices that they make with regard to who might join them in their bedrooms; or for that matter how many might join them at any given time. Nor does the public have the right to entrance into the workings of their marriages and how they might choose to interact with their spouses (Bill and Hilary Clinton as an example).

The fact that we have come to believe, especially in the United States, that we have a right to entrance into our public figures personal lives. This is fiction created by our media. The fact that many believe that we have the right to judge others based upon a set of moral standards that are inconsistently applied for political and sometimes personal gain frankly is misrepresentative and is nothing less than immoral and in many cases unconstitutional. Frankly the media has created a feeding frenzy and the "Immoral Minority" has created an environment that is so contrary to the core teachings of the very religion that they claim to represent that the entire situation would be laughable if it did not make us, the United States, such a laughing stock globally.

Realistically what two or more consenting adults of any gender choose to do with or to each other is their business. How a marriage is conducted between consenting adults is the business of the spouses. As long as their actions or activities do not affect their ability to perform their jobs all other judgments regarding their Peccadillo's are irrelevant. A public figure is not required to suspend their own moral standard to serve in office and they are not required to apply a different standard simply to satisfy others. That would be the same as saying that only Protestants from the Christian sect can serve; or no Muslims can serve; or no Atheists can serve.

Ridiculous right? But we, the public sure do like our sex scandals don't we? They hold our attention for weeks, months, even years. We brought a presidency down with one.

On to chicanery though, this is a different issue and in truth in the broader application a more insidious issue. To deceive, trick, evade; usually to extract money and we can then take this further and assume that it is for personal gain. Here lies a problem for us as a society as we look at our public office holders. How could we not think this is the greater problem? Scandals that uncover massive financial misconduct by public officials whether elected or not should get our blood boiling, but they don't seem to. Here our tax dollars are at work lining the pockets of the already wealthy while the homeless wander our streets, war veterans are treated to less than ideal conditions, home foreclosures hit all time highs, joblessness continues to rise, and the hit parade just keeps playing; but we ignore the financial misconduct and the pork barrel spending of the professional politicians. Lets try a few of these on just as a reminder:

Former Gov. George Ryan convicted of corruption in steering $25 million in contracts to political insiders (Illinois)

Lobbyist Jack Abbramof pleads guilty of corruption (Federal)

Tom Delay contribution funds laundering, among other things (Texas)

Dick Cheney coordinated the sole-source Halliburton contracts for clean-up of Iraq (Federal 2003)

Supreme Court refuses to order Dick Cheney to release papers regarding environment policy and the White House relationship Enron (Federal 2004)

Sen. Robert Torricelli questioned regarding relationship to Korean businessman David Chang (2002)

The list goes on and on. Yes certainly sex scandal sells; but financial "chicanery", is what we should be worried about. Thomas Jefferson once said "When the government fears the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny". Where do we fall today on that scale? If we are willing to "forgive" theft I would say we fear the government.

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