Thou Shalt Not Kiss On Camera

There is quite a furor in my former sate of Louisiana. It seems that a U.S. Congressman, Vance McAllister, got caught with his pants down the other day. Well, not literally so. But it might just as well be,  the way some people are reacting to a kiss.  The Congressman is the latest victim in our electronically addicted society as he was caught on an office camera passionately kissing a married staffer.

But members of the opposition party and quite a few moralists are calling for his head. "I think he needs to resign, and I don't think he can be effective", announced a state politician named Robert Johnson, the fellow McAllister defeated last election for that Congressional seat.  I guess Johnson shocks easily and equates cheating on one's spouse with total paralysis and incapacity to act in one's job (as a Congressman). When a press member asked Johnson is he wanted to take over McAllister's seat he blushed and denied it all, saying that he is only "very interested" in replacing him. Hmmmmm I wonder if lying, as Johnson is doing, is as bad as kissing a woman who is not the kisser's wife?

The bad news for kisser McAllister is that he campaigned for his Congressional seat on a "moral values" agenda, one which probably doesn't included  sex with the staff while the wife is away. One question which doesn't seem to have been asked by the media is,  "How did someone manage to video McAllister in his lip lock, and who did it?" It was filmed in his office, so one of his own staffers must have betrayed him and released it to the press.  Oh the power of electronic addiction to ruin everyone's life.

Interestingly, no one has called for the female staffer who kissed McAllister to resign from her job. But then, she isn't an elected official with opponents who would call for her resignation. One question which doesn't seem to have been asked (at least not addressed in the media) is,  How did someone manage to video McAllister, and who did it?   His behavior may be not so nice, but there are other reprehensible characters in the story, as well.  Should people be forced to resign from a job (any job, not just one in politics) because they had or are having an affair?  

If so, those high unemployment numbers the Obama administration has been trying to hide would be way worse.  I am not sure one's sex life has anything to do with making decisions about public policy as an elected official. Do you? After all, there is no crime in kissing anyone (well, ok..excluding some of those nutty Muslim countries). Let the voters decide when McAllister runs for re election if kissing  is a political disqualifier.

Maybe McAllister and Johnson should just kiss  each other and forget the whole thing.