Last night's interview on 60 Minutes with Stormy Daniels was a
big audience grabber for the show. They had their highest ratings in
10 years!
Of course they did ~ because sex sells!
Did I watch the show??? No I did not. Am I surprised by the
allegations? No, I am not. Am I upset by these allegations?
Once again, the answer is emphatically no!
Sex outside of marriage is in not a new story in the world of
politics, power, or by the resident of the White House. So,
why would I allow this current accusation disturb me???
It sounds like business as usual to me.
I stopped being naive a long, long, time ago. While I live
in my own little bubble of puppies, cottage decorating and my
love for "G" rated old movies, I am not unaware of the tawdry
world that lives just outside my doorstep. In fact, I purposely
maintain a "Leave It To Beaver" world to keep my sanity intact.
History and particularly the history of our country's leaders shows us
that extramarital sexual affairs have taken place numerous times by
presidents of both political parties. Some of our most beloved leaders
have carried on torrid affairs, yet that didn't stop them from leading
the country in whatever fashion they chose.
The list of dalliances is a long one, and I will only touch upon the
ones within say the last 100 years. I will also say that primarily, the
other woman was not of the current "me too" mindset, but was a
willing participant in the affair.
FDR carried on a very long term affair with Lucy Mercer. Lucy
was originally hired to be Eleanor Roosevelt's social secretary. Let's
just say that Lucy expanded upon her social networking duties.
This was a very painful situation for poor Eleanor. A real slap in
the face for the woman who was the President's trusting and
faithful wife. I can only imagine the humiliation she must have
endured.
President Eisenhower had his Kay Summersby. Let's not
assume that only the Democrats have game ;-)
Then there is the Kennedy family. JFK and his brothers,
Bobby and Teddy were no strangers to extra marital affairs.
That should not be too surprising because their father,
Joseph Kennedy Sr, had a long term affair with the old
movie star, Gloria Swanson. You might not know much about
Gloria, but I am sure many of you have seen this famous
film clip of an aging film star trying to capture an audience
when she is well past her prime ...
Apparently George HW Bush cheated on Barbara. Most
everyone seemed to love Barbara, but maybe she was a bit too
matronly for old George.
And of course there is Bill Clinton who had a string of women
who accused him of extramarital affairs. I can't even remember
all of their names, or how many of them there were. What I do
remember was that back when all the stories about Bill and
Monica came out, the Democrats were saying ...
"It's just sex"
No one can accuse Jimmy Carter of cheating in the physical
sense, but he did admit to lusting after women in his mind.
I am including an article from The New Yorker, written
several years ago on this subject. You can learn more from it
should you care to read it. The link is at the end of this post.
Do I wish our leaders were faithful to their wives?
Of course I do. I know that there is a very good chance
that they won't be faithful. I also know that when one enters
the arena of power, marriages are often not love stories, but
rather are unions of strategic planning.
I had a relative who was very successful and made a great
deal of money. His wife often found women flirting with
him and doing what they could to get his attention. When
his wife got a bit jealous he told her "don't worry honey, they
only want me for my brick and mortar". When a man is
powerful and or wealthy, there will always be another woman
who will want part of his world. Sadly, men are often weak
to the wiles of the other woman, and there are those women
who are only too anxious to fill the need.
I won't change the way the world operates. Sex sells and
affairs will always be part of the political world. As long
as the leader defends our nation and protects our rights,
I am not going to be dissuaded from their service to our
country.
Here is the link to the article in the
The New Yorker.
Thanks for reading. I will return y'all to my world of
puppies and cottages in my next post.
Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley
