Posted by
Green Faerie on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 5:42:13 PM
The replacement for disgraced ex-New York governor Eliot Spitzer, Governor Paterson, doesn't seem to be a whole lot better than his predecessor. Already Paterson has admitted to multiple extramarital affairs, including with women he has favored with jobs and used taxpayer money to fund some of his escapades, as well as using pot and cocaine when he was "in his 20s." Ex-governor Spitzer admitted to drug use in his past and now we have a serious presidential candidate, Barack Obama, who has used cocaine and pot. Former President Clinton famously "didn't inhale." Even Republicans can't be relied upon to just say no. Remember the hubbub over a Reagan-era Supreme Court nominee who doubled as a pothead? Other pols like Newt Gingrich also admitted to drug use in their college days.
The media and the politicians themselves have brushed these incidents off as youthful indiscretions that shouldn't be any big deal. Paterson even said that there are many cokeheads like himself that had their fun and now lead productive lives. Not only has drug use become normalized as some sort of rite of passage, it has become almost a badge of honor, a way for a pol to show his hip bonafides but still reassuring the public he's not mainlining anything now. Hollywood obliviot George Clooney even stated in a recent interview that he wouldn't vote for someone who hasn't used drugs because it means that person hasn't really lived life. The cynics say that if we disqualified everyone who had used drugs, we wouldn't have anyone available to run for office.
On behalf of the millions of Americans who have never used drugs, I say, "Bravo Sierra." Don't get on your "high" horse simply because you had no discipline when someone offered you a joint or a line of white girl. So sorry I didn't do my part to contribute to the gangbangers and Scarface drug lords who used your drug money to kill people. Politicians are like showbiz people in one respect and that is they desperately want the approval of their peers. I suspect that, in addition to the baby boomer generation's loosey-goosey attitude toward drug use, is the real reason why we suddenly have a crop of former druggies in positions of leadership. You'd think they used to have Young Democrats and Young Republican meetings at Studio 54.
We have Clinton to thank not only for teaching a generation of youth that oral sex isn't really sex, but for pretty much knocking down the bar when it comes to personal behavior and drug use when he jokingly told an audience on MTV that he didn't inhale marijuana in his college days. It used to be that cocaine use was a political career killer. Now that seems to be fine too. What "past" drug use then isn't acceptable now? Heroin? LSD? Ecstasy? Meth? Or all of those okay too? How about someone who crossed the line from recreational user to addict? After all, our current president is an alcoholic. Granted, he's been on the wagon a long time but it does make you wonder if one day we'll elect someone who roomed with Courtney Love at Betty Ford for a black tar problem.
I'm not saying one toke of a joint 40 years ago should disqualify you from public office no matter what you've done with your life since then. But I am concerned that drug use, even of hard drugs and use beyond "experimentation," is quickly being viewed as acceptable. You do have to take that person's judgment into account. As Paterson showed, he didn't exactly lead an ethical life even after he supposedly snorted his last line. You do have to take into account that person's moral authority, because it can impede your ability to lead. Moreover, it shouldn't be considered shocking or embarrassing or God forbid, "uncool" if you never did use drugs. Look at the way the media treated former presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Worst of all is the example this shows impressionable youth. A kid may think it no big thing to start trying drugs, because after all, it didn't seem to really affect people like Barack Obama, did it? And if he doesn't do drugs, then everyone will laugh at him and say that he hasn't really lived life.
Thanks again to The Worst Generation.