# The Democrats have lost the ethics issue. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 26, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democrats-have-lost-the-ethics-issue/530480 "2010-02-26T02:59:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democrats-have-lost-the-ethics-issue/530480/41 "2010-03-02T22:09:02Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > What does that link have to do with John Tower who during his confirmation hearing had to defend himself against (among other charges) being a womanizer by dating different women **after** his divorce? So just to be clear, when you said ‘Republicans,’ you weren’t talking about Republicans in general but John Tower specifically? And, in order to make a comparison about how Democratic politicians now (the subject of the OP) are such hypocrites about attacking their opposite numbers with respect to personal morals, you reached back twenty years to make that point? Is that about correct? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democrats-have-lost-the-ethics-issue/530480/42 "2010-03-03T06:42:58Z")
> [@Syntropy](#): > > So just to be clear, when you said ‘Republicans,’ you weren’t talking about Republicans in general but John Tower specifically? And, in order to make a comparison about how Democratic politicians now (the subject of the OP) are such hypocrites about attacking their opposite numbers with respect to personal morals, you reached back twenty years to make that point? Is that about correct? My point was that the BS is on both sides of the aisle as in “Ignore what we do but look at THEM.” I could also point out that 27 Demo senators that convicted Judge Nixon on perjury turned around and claimed perjury wasn’t an impeachable offence when Clinton’s trial came. They’re all hypocrites ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democrats-have-lost-the-ethics-issue/530480/43 "2010-03-03T13:09:05Z")
Your seriously equating lying about conspiracy, tampering with evidence, theft, breaking in and entering and whatever other crimes committed by the Nixon administration with Clinton lying about getting head? I’m not excusing Clinton, he deserves to be scorned, but there is no equivalency there. Besides, Clinton was impeached, Nixon wasn’t. I’ll admit though, that had Clinyton been eligible for a third term, he might have won the primary. There were plenty of people willing to back him. It is still a pretty tight standard Governor Sanford. Yes, the Democrats still have higher ethical standards than the Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democrats-have-lost-the-ethics-issue/530480/44 "2010-03-03T14:09:38Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > My point was that the BS is on both sides of the aisle as in “Ignore what we do but look at THEM.” So then why did you snip the second half of my post, which said pretty much the same thing? > [@](#): > > As to the OP: the ethics issue such as it is will continue to claim casualties from both sides of the fence. It’s inevitable. Neither side will ever be able to claim the ethical high ground en toto. The best that can be hoped for is individuals with good ethical track records. One of the biggest issues I’ve noticed with Republican voters is that they insist everything must be an all or nothing scenario. That’s very rarely the case. A small percentage of Democratic or Republican politicians with ethics issues does not mean the entire well is poisoned. Vote the candidate, not the party. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democrats-have-lost-the-ethics-issue/530480/45 "2010-03-03T15:07:23Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > Your seriously equating lying about conspiracy, tampering with evidence, theft, breaking in and entering and whatever other crimes committed by the Nixon administration with Clinton lying about getting head? Wait! What? When was Richard Nixon a judge? Try reading [this](http://www.tulanelink.com/tulanelink/nixon_box.htm) and draw your own conclusions about the hypocracy of the Senators who convicted Nixon and acquitted Clinton on basically the same charge. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democrats-have-lost-the-ethics-issue/530480/46 "2010-03-03T15:26:51Z")
It may have been the same charge, it was a considerably more serious crime. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democrats-have-lost-the-ethics-issue/530480/47 "2010-03-03T16:08:46Z")
Presented for historical context: [The “Culture of Corruption”…](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=399715) [Rep. Mark Foley resigns over e-mails to teenage boys – repercussions?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=390350) Rangel has temporarily stepped aside from his chairmanship on the Ways & Means Committee. Presumably he thinks he’ll be able to take the job back if he’s cleared, but I doubt it. And while I said yesterday that Paterson is not going to resign, the pressure on him went up last night when the head of the NY state police, who is also implicated in this scandal, also resigned. That’s two people close to Paterson who have quit in the last few days. It already looks like Paterson was involved in putting pressure on this woman, but if it gets worse he may get pushed out after all. Nobody’s going to mount much of a defense for a lame duck who is in trouble for putting pressure on a woman who’s been beaten by one of his staffers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democrats-have-lost-the-ethics-issue/530480.md?page=2)