I got a chuckle from an advertisement today, a first from a campaign yard sign. The sign pimped for a congressional candidate named Samm Simpson, but a wise-ass had taken a black Sharpie to it:

Homer Samm Simpson
for Congress

Kudos to the person who would suggest that Homer Simpson would fit right in with the rest of the monkey’s asses who claim to represent the real interests of voters.

“We all know what to do, we just don’t know how to win the election afterwards.” - Jean-Claude Junker, PM of Luxembourg, as quoted in The Economist

The exposure of hypocrisy gives me a giddy, albeit guilty, bit of pleasure. So it is that I chuckled darkly with the recent resignation of U.S. Rep. Mark Foley over a row involving inappropriate messages to teen boys graduated from the ranks of Congressional pages.

I don’t stand alone in shadenfreude. In recent political times, witness the right-wing circus over [insert name of scandal, suffixed with -gate] during Bill Clinton’s presidency. Or the left-wing bloggers’ field day when Sen. George Allen made remarks widely interpreted as racist. Or Swiftboat Veterans for Truth. Examples abound.

Nor do I see my glee as partisan. It’s as natural as the sky is blue: People like to fashion idols as much as smash them. If the former representative were a liberal Democrat, I think I’d still carry the same banner. As much as I thought the Blue Dress Affair didn’t wash as a scandal big enough to oust a president, I still put the blame squarely on Clinton’s apparently faulty zipper, where it belongs.

America should hold national figures to a high standard. Sports stars, pop icons and politicians all occupy a space larger than their respective human bodies (but not, for some, their egos). That space comes with both influence and responsibility. Too often, figures in the national media glory in the former while ignoring the latter.

There’s nothing wrong with being gay. Just as I wouldn’t call out a philanderer (a private matter between wife and husband), I would’ve greeted a Republican coming out with a hearty, “Good for you.” But chasing 16-year-old boys is simply unacceptable.

I don’t expect perfection from former Rep. Foley. I certainly don’t expect it from George W. Bush or Bill Clinton or Tom Cruise or Floyd Landis. Nor should anyone. Show me a perfect human, and I’ll lift his mask to reveal a clockwork contraption without a soul.

But, I do demand responsibility.