There’s a fine line between forgiveness and indulging license.
It wasn’t all that long ago when something quaint like an extramarital affair could end a career. At the moment? Second chances are all the rage in America’s political culture. Take Jim McGreevey, the guy resigned from the governorship using his sexuality as a cover for what was (in reality) a swelling tsnuami of ethical and criminal allegations overwhelming his administration. Two decades have passed since that dramatic Trenton presser, and McGreevey (long since divorced) is riding a rehabilitation narrative to a second act as the presumptive next mayor of Jersey City.
An even more dramatic example: an ex-Gambino enforcer was just appointed to council in Englishtown, New Jersey.
I stand in judgment of no man’s soul, Save Jerseyans, but doesn’t there come a point when we need to create a distinction between healthy discrimination and cosmic condemnation?
Said another way: forgiving someone’s past misdeeds and allowing them to function in society after they make amends is wholly different than discarding the notion that high office should be accompanied by higher standards.
Lumberton’s Democrat Mayor Gina LaPlaca provides us with another example of what can be generously described as our Puritan-founded society’s moral overcorrection.
LaPlaca has a long history of dumpster fire behavior. This week, she was back in the news after allegedly driving drunk on St. Patrick’s Day with her own child in the car. The New Jersey Globe, which dubbed her the “Queen of Toxicity,” also detailed some her past brushes with the law in the website’s own write-up. Days before her arrest, she appeared in a viral video cursing while being escorted out of a public meeting.
Her husband appealed for compassion on Facebook.
“Gina is a loving and caring mother and step mom to our son and her step son,” LaPlaca’s husband wrote. “Our oldest is a teenager and can see the unkind things being said online. I ask simply that you respect our privacy, be better humans and please show some compassion, thank you.”
Compassion… maybe? But is that truly the relevant issue when we’re talking about an elected official?
Is she still deserving and worthy of a mayorship?
Wouldn’t our politics benefit from a little old fashioned shame? In a post-shame world, we shouldn’t be surprised when our politicians’ behavior continues to degrade for lack of a bruised conscience’s ability to ground us and, most importantly, the people who want to lead us.
