The head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is accused of molesting a hotel employee. The former governer of California and the fearsome Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger admits to fathering an illegitimate child with a member of his staff. Singer Chris Brown is accused of assaulting fellow singer Rihanna. Charlie Sheen has a spectacular meltdown which is all over the news. Some members of the clergy in America are apparently unable to keep its pants zipped up. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is accused of frolicking with girls young enough to be his grand daughters. South Carolina Governer Mark Sanford flies off to Argentina to visit his mistress without informing his family or staff.
Are these people nuts? They seem to think they have a right to behave in any fashion they see fit. These people really seem to believe that normal rules of conduct, decency and morality do not apply to them. And then they have the cheek to lecture the rest of us on issues of morality! The examples given above are taken from developed countries. Developing countries have much more egregious examples of public figures behaving abominably privately while donning a public mantle of morality. For example, members of the Saudi royal family are famous for hijinks abroad while maintaining a puritanical state domestically. It is this mismatch between private behavior and public posture that outrages. These figures seem to consider the rest of the population no better than children who must be admonished about proper behavior. This is an insult to our intelligence. It is also rank hypocrisy.
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