# "Family values" group honors deadbeat dad congresscritter **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 6, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-group-honors-deadbeat-dad-congresscritter/602079 "2011-11-06T18:07:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-group-honors-deadbeat-dad-congresscritter/602079/61 "2011-11-08T15:09:38Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Paul Krugman’s take on this: [Genuine Hypocrisy, And Attitudes Thereto](http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/05/genuine-hypocrisy-and-attitudes-thereto/) – An excerpt: > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by Krugman > > There’s a big difference between the left and the right in such matters, one that I don’t fully understand, although I’m trying. Here’s how it goes: if a liberal politician is caught behaving badly — enriching himself while preaching the need to help the poor, or just in general showing himself less than admirable by having an affair, visiting call girls, whatever — his career is over. > > > > But if a conservative politician who preaches stern traditional morality is caught engaging in actions that are at odds with what he preaches — buying sex, taking wide stances in restrooms, or, in this case, stiffing his family even while preaching family values — he may well ride right through the scandal. Witness what’s going on now with Herman Cain. > > He discusses why he thinks people respond differently to hypocrisy coming from liberals vs. from conservatives. Dunno why it has to be any more complicated than _“Man Bites Dog” is more noteworthy than “Dog Bites Man.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-group-honors-deadbeat-dad-congresscritter/602079/62 "2011-11-09T17:01:08Z")
Apparently the stress of being hounded to pay off his child support is stretching his nerves thin, judging from [his temper tantrum](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/08/joe-walsh-screams-at-cons_n_1083014.html) at a constituent meet-and-greet. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-group-honors-deadbeat-dad-congresscritter/602079/63 "2011-11-09T23:18:31Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Apparently the stress of being hounded to pay off his child support is stretching his nerves thin, judging from [his temper tantrum](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/08/joe-walsh-screams-at-cons_n_1083014.html) at a constituent meet-and-greet. Who wouldn’t want to stay with a guy like that? He actually sounds exactly like he’s scolding a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-group-honors-deadbeat-dad-congresscritter/602079/64 "2011-11-10T00:33:16Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Dunno why it has to be any more complicated than _“Man Bites Dog” is more noteworthy than “Dog Bites Man.”_ I don’t know how true it is that if a liberal politician is caught in a scandal, his career is over, but if a conservative one is, he can survive. I mean, if you look, scandals brought down Mark Foley, John Ensign, Tom DeLay, Newt Gingrich, Bob Livingston, Mark Sanford, Duke Cunningham, and a bunch of other conservative or Republican politicians. And a lot of Democratic and liberal politicians have managed to survive their scandals: Barney Frank, Ted Kennedy, John Glenn, Charlie Rangel, and so on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-group-honors-deadbeat-dad-congresscritter/602079.md?page=3)