I've read a lot of posts about John Edwards's affair, and, IMO, one's reaction to the affair illuminates the difference between liberals and conservatives.
Liberals believe in personal freedom and that it's nobody's business what goes on in a marriage "except the two people involved." They don't believe that changing societal mores should bother anyone unless they are directly affected. Conservatives believe in personal freedom, but that how individuals treat marriage affects the way marriage is viewed by society. They believe that if society, as a whole, devalues marriage as an institution, it affects individual marriages by cheapening them.
On many liberal sites, the view is, "How unfortunate for Edwards and his wife Elizabeth. But this doesn't have anything to do with the rest of us because John Edwards isn't a public figure." This argument isn't really honest, though. While it is true Edwards had lost in the primaries to both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, his name had surfaced in the last month or so as a vice presidential candidate or as a candidate for a top post in an Obama administration. This doesn't even mention Edwards's very public role as a sort of spokesman for the Democratic party, or that he had been the VP candidate for the Democrats in 2004. Edwards was a public person in every way it is reasonable to discuss.
It's normal to feel sorrow for Elizabeth Edwards, the cancer-striken wife of the former presidential candidate. But I don't believe her when she tells us, "I ask that the public, who expressed concern about the harm John’s conduct has done to us, think also about the real harm that the present voyeurism does and give me and my family the privacy we need at this time. This is the same family that didn't consider Elizabeth's cancer to be "too private" for public consumption. It's disturbing that her husband's infidelity is off limits, but her heartstring-pulling malady is just another event to be used for political advantage.
When events like this occur, it is dispositive to note the reactions on the Left and the Right. For liberals, it always comes down to hypocrisy. It's ok to be a cad as long as you aren't advocating the sanctity of marriage. For conservatives, it's all about lying.
And there's the rub. The problem conservatives have with infidelity in general, but specifically from public officials is that there are multiple lies involved. We're not just talking about the private lies of private individuals. When a public official is unfaithful to his wife, it shows disrespect for his family and the institution, as well.
Our friends and foes on the Left often ask why conservatives care what happens in other people's bedrooms. I tried to answer that question in the comments at this Delaware Liberal post.
Liberals make a big deal about the “it’s nobody’s business but him and his wife” argument, but they know inside that that isn’t true. It’s not merely the hypocrisy of someone preaching family values and getting caught with a prostitute. It’s not the legality of toe-tapping in an airport bathroom. It’s that infidelity and sex scandals coarsen discourse and affects the way all people end up looking at marriage and faithfulness as quaint institutions.
Edwards won't be big news forever, but that doesn't mean his comeuppance has no meaning.
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