NOT THAT YOU ASKED

With people like Dennis Hastert and Josh Duggar in their ranks, conservatives and Republicans are going to have to stop poo-pooing Bill Clinton's sexual misconduct and their claims of moral superiority. I'm not about to defend what Bill Clinton did back then because it was wrong, and he acted stupidly. I even used this space to call on him to resign at the time. Still when you compare how conservatives reacted to Clinton back then with how they are reacting today to Hastert and Duggar, they come off as nothing less than a bunch of self righteous hypocrites.

First let's compare what Clinton, Hastert, and Duggar did. In Clinton's case, he didn't pursue Monica, she pursued him. Unfortunately he was enough of a hound dog to happily take what she was offering. The key is that what they did were consensual actions by two adults. What Hastert is accused of, and what Duggar did were acts of predatory sexual behavior on non-consenting children.

As I wrote two weeks ago, Duggar's behavior might have been the result of being a confused teenager trying to deal with his emerging sexuality in a cloistered household where such feelings were to be repressed and never talked about. That said, it was still the behavior of a sexual predator. If what Hastert has been accused of is true, he was not only a sexual predator, but a pedophile. You can't get much lower than that.

When Clinton's behavior came to light, conservatives and Republicans couldn't stop talking about it. They wanted every tawdry detail made public. When the Starr Report was completed, they saw to it that it was covered by all of the media. They didn't care about how that would affect Hillary of Chelsea, they just wanted to "get Clinton." When the report didn't turn the public against the President, they resorted to impeachment. Their reaction was like a return to the Salem Witch Trials.

Now let's look at how these same people view Hastert and Duggar. According to FOX News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette the real culprit in the Hastert affair is the person who has blackmailed the former Speaker. The Democrat-Gazette even said that blackmail was the lowest form of crime. If you think that blackmail is worse than the sexual abuse of children you don't have any business on a news channel or writing editorials.

As for the Duggars, the same people who called for a public airing of Clinton's affair are saying this is a family matter and should be handled privately. they say that talking about it in the media will hurt innocent members of the family. Even two of the sisters who were Josh's victims say it is unfair for the media to report the story.

This is a family that has made millions by allowing TV cameras to record every part of their daily lives. They have invited the public to their marriages and the births of grandchildren. All the while they have presented themselves as this perfect family that shields its children from us sinners so that things like what Josh did would never happen. Now that the truth has come out, they want the cameras turned off. At least for now. Once this story dies down the family will begin campaigning to be back on TV.

So here we have three people. We know Bill Clinton and Josh Duggar did bad things. Bill with a consenting adult, and Josh with children. Dennis Hastert has been accused of awful crimes against young boys. As far as conservatives are concerned Clinton's behavior needed to be fully aired, they wanted him publicly shamed and driven from office. They still talk about it today. When it comes to Hastern and the Duggars they say that the blackmailer is the real criminal, and the Duggars deserve privacy. If that ain't being a hypocrite, I don't know what is.