Public Office vs. Private Life

There are certain, rather unseemly activities that people may on occasion engage in. If these people end up becoming public officials, they need to understand that their lives probably will be put under a microscope. Depending on what activites they engage in, it can severely affect the probability of them being elected, and the public should know of said activities so they can know if that is who they really want to represent them.

I don't believe once a person becomes a public official that immediately every second of their life should be noted and publicized so that the people can judge them at every turn. Public officials have the right to their own privacy but, much like Thompson says, depending on the relation between the office they hold and the unnattractive activity they are taking part in, it's important to show the true person they are. I do not want a smoker as the head of Drug Enforcement or a wife beater in law enforcement. This kind of hypocrisy sends a bad message not only to the people these officials are supposed to be role models for and people in other countries looking at our officials as representatives of America.

On the pro side of publicizing politcians lives, it weeds out those who would hope to hide the skeletons away in their closets and it robs the objectivity of the morality of whatever actions that may need to be shown to the public.

On the con side; publicizing everything in a politician's life does indeed distract the public from some of the real issues that are going on that need to be adressed. It turns politicians into celebrities merely there for sow and ridicule. The sexual activity of my representative has no affect on their job, so I don't need to know about it. I don't need to know about their drinking problem so long thy aren't drinking on the job. I don't need to know about any of it unless it is truly affecting how they are doing their jobs.

I definitely think that politicians need to be watched and some of their actions made known to the public so that the people can decide who they want to represent them, however I believe that journalists need to place a higher importance on what the effects are of some of the stories they may publish.