Vox

Musings, rants, rambling, general nonsense

Lacking in Judgement

Posted on | February 19, 2012 | 2 Comments

I will preface this by saying I know very little about Paul Babeu.

I know he is a Republican. I know he is tough on border security. I know he has been doing good work trying to shine a light on Operation Fast & Furious. And I know Paul Babeu has poor judgment. Why?

Because this picture exists.

No one with a functioning judgment chip takes these type of pictures, let alone expecting them to remain private. I don’t care who he intended the pic for. If a photo like this of Mitt Romney* surfaced and he told us it was a private picture intended only for his wife of 42 years, I would say it was proof that Romney lacked judgment. I would believe he meant it only for his wife – but I would still say it was a HUGE blunder.

The New Slimes article proves little of import. We learned that he is gay, something that is of no consequence. We learned he had a bad break-up with an impulsive, vindictive person. We learned that, given the opportunity to respond, the Babeu office prevaricated and stalled.

What seems likely from the article – as well as the pictures and screen caps – is that Babeu was posting on various websites looking for hook-ups. Again, whether those hook-ups were with men or women is irrelevant. The fact that a man serving in public office, and running for an even higher one, would exhibit such behavior shows horrible judgment. The type of behavior that sets a person up for blackmail – or an exposé in a sleazy local journal.

What is alleged but not proven: That Babeu’s lover was an illegal alien, that during that relationship Babeu continued to solicit casual hook-ups with others, that Babeu or his attorney threatened the lover with deportation after the break-up.

What was mentioned in a different article is that Jose left one of those inflammatory comments on eNewsAZ. After deleting it they contacted the Sheriff’s office for a comment and were told that Babeu has a mentally ill sister who has been leaving those comments. If that is true, it means the sheriff was willing to throw his sister under the bus despite knowing who was really behind the offensive comments.

To have any understanding of the internet and still take and post those pictures is political suicide. If you pay any attention to the news, which I expect elected officials to do, you could not have missed the careers that have previously been derailed by just such pics. (Chris Lee, Anthony Weiner,….) It would take a serious bit of self delusion to convince yourself that YOU are so different.

As I said earlier, tell the truth about your relationships. Tell the truth about your behavior. Your constituents don’t care if you’re gay, but they sure as heck care if you are a liar. They care if you have good judgment. They care if you own up to your mistakes.

And, if they are anything like me, they care if you are trawling the internet for random sexual encounters.

* I chose Mitt Romney because he was the most clean-cut, non-undie-pic politician I could think of



Comments

2 Responses to “Lacking in Judgement”

  1. Phineas
    February 19th, 2012 @ 9:55 am

    Just wait until Romney’s “leather king” pics come out. 😉

    I just don’t get it with people like Babeu, Lee, or Schwarzenegger: do they really think they can run for office without risk of huge bombs like this going off? (In Arnie’s case, the news of the illegitimate son came out after he left office, but the risk of exposure was there from the moment he first ran.) Do these people think they’re somehow invulnerable?

  2. Vox
    February 19th, 2012 @ 1:54 pm

    They have been calling Romney a Ken doll.

    There was a leather clad Ken Doll

    Coincidental…or prophetic 😉

Leave a Reply





Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.

  • Meta

  • Vox AZ's bookshelf: read

    Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune
    Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living
    In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
    True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself in the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray
    Emma
    The Walls Have Ears : The Greatest Intelligence Operation of World War II
    Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever
    I Loved Her in the Movies: Memories of Hollywood's Legendary Actresses
    B is for Bubblegum
    How Iceland Changed the World: The Big History of a Small Island
    License to Parent: How My Career As a Spy Helped Me Raise Resourceful, Self-Sufficient Kids
    Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff
    On Liberty
    Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician
    Chatter: Dispatches from the Secret World of Global Eavesdropping
    The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II
    Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide
    Hallowe'en Party
    If You Really Loved Me
    I Don't Need Therapy: and other lies I've told myself


    Vox's favorite books »