Thursday there was a big article in the paper about the young mayor of Torrington being pressured into removing his MySpace profile because it was deemed "inappropriate". Friday there was an article by a Torrington writer about MySpace. The writer, Bill Dunn, wrote "Mark my words, I predict that someone running for public office in the year 2036 will be forced to withdraw from the race when embarrassing comments and photos surface, comments and photos that were posted on MySpace.com during 2006."
What does this say about expectations for public officials? That they are required to fit into a tight, conservative mold? That they should never allow their private lives to be public knowledge? That they should be expected to present a public persona which is an outright lie? It's sort of like Bill Clinton saying he never inhaled--we all knew he did, and the very lame lie was far worse than the youthful exploit.
Or maybe it's like John Kerry and Al Gore modifying their public images on the advice of consultants, and then losing the elections anyway. A lot of people don't like politicians because they are viewed as being self-serving and dishonest. This certainly has been my opinion for a while. I'm beginning to understand that there are people who expect and desire that politicians lie about who they really are as human beings. This is not a healthy system, and it might very well be one of the causes of the widespread voter apathy we have in this country. Our politicians tend to all look the same, because they are all trying to fit into a mold instead of just being themselves. (Apologies for the gross generalization!)
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