Puritanical hysteria

Disappointing, frustrating and exacerbated are words that come to mind to describe the last few days. First, the "news" broke about Toronto City Councillor Adam Giambrone had an affair (even though he's not even married), and now today he held a press conference announcing that he is no longer a candidate for Mayor of Toronto. With all of this news came an incredible nasty backlash from the always morally superior general public, condemning Giambrone for committing some dastardly act. Granted, cheating on your wife, girlfriend or common law spouse isn't exactly upstanding behaviour, and Giambrone showed extremely poor judgment and certainly acted incredibly stupid, but then again this is a personal matter. Europeans seem to be much mature on these matters, as adults should be, sweeping such trivial nonsense under the rug and focussing on who is the most qualified for positions of leadership, who has the best policies, who has the vision, and who can ensure a strong, healthy government, society and prosperity. Such as the case in the last French national election, when the French electorate did not scold or condemn Nicolas Sarkozy for not being legally divorced from his first wife, Marie-Dominique Culioli, but rather being separated for years before divorcing. Nor was Sarkozy judged for becoming heavily involved with Carla Bruni less than a month after being legally divorced from his second wife. Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has had a multitude of affairs and mistresses, yet continues to be re-elected. Now, just imagine if Stephane Dion, Jack Layton, or Gilles Duceppe were involved with anything remotely close to Sarkozy's and Berlusconi's experiences.

We should stay out of other people's bedrooms. Giambrone isn't even married, and I think his ability to stay faithful to a girlfriend or not does not show whether he would have been a good mayor or not. After all, he was running for Mayor of Toronto, not the head of a church. If we waited around for men that could be faithful to their girlfriends, we'd be waiting a long time. Oh and about Adam lying to the Toronto Star about his affair? Instead of lying, he should've told the Toronto Star that it was none of their business. So, Adam lied about his personal life. That's what all the hoopla is about. I think that is insane. And I'd defend any centrist or conservative as well. If this was happening to John Tory, Michael Walker or even Rob Ford, I would also defend them as it's their personal lives. Cheating on a spouse obviously isn't upstanding behaviour but it's not a crime. This puritanical hysteria is sickening.

Finally, regarding all of those who are judging Giambrone and insulting him with great rage and vitriol, it would be interesting to ask them how they feel about other political figures throughout contemporary history who had affairs, such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John and Robert Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Martin Luther King Jr., George Herbert Walker Bush, Bill Clinton, Nikolas Sarkozy and the countless others. Would they be so quick to cast stones or would they flounder, become flustered, or avoid the topic? I'd say they'd avoid it altogether, as miserable knee-jerk blowhards just react and don't really think.

I think Toronto Councillor Howard Moscoe put it best by saying:

I don’t think there are many single males in this city who could have their hormones so closely examined and come out all right.