Sociologists would argue that messy public scandals erupting throughout the culture are exceptions to the American ethos rather than the rule. Unhappily, the argument is meaningless. The lurid, dishonest, degenerate conduct dominating news involves figures that've been elevated by U.S. systems of public popularity, professional achievement and political elections to roles as leaders and icons to be admired and emulated by the rest of us.
Never have the national reputation, image and moral sensibilities been so cursed. Novelists with the darkest imagination of dissolute human evil once only contrived such behavior.
This can't be dismissed as a media circus drummed up by bored reporters in a slack season of rancid gossip. U.S. public morals and ethics in high places are being discarded and disgraced as inconvenient rules of civility and virtue. (Our penchant for grisly murders and gun crimes is another story.)
Consider this tableau of Americana:
● The postmortems of international entertainment history's most successful singer-dancer, Michael Jackson, are filled with tales of pedophile perversion, addiction to illicit drugs, allegations of murder, family feuding over burial plans, and vulturous lawsuits.
● Another U.S. senator (Nevada's Ensign) and governor (South Carolina's Sanford) admit adultery, joining other licentious public notables—a vice presidential candidate (Edwards), other governors (New York's Spitzer and New Jersey's McGreevey) and members of Congress (Louisiana's Vitter, Florida's Foley and Idaho's Craig)—while another ex-governor (Illinois' Blagojevich) awaits trial on soliciting bribes.
● Three congressmen are in federal prisons for selling votes for bribes—Californian Cunningham and Ohioans Ney and Traficant—with another (Louisiana's Jefferson) on trial for accepting $400,000 in payoffs and another (former Arizona Rep. Renzi) awaiting trial for fraud and money laundering.
● A nation so inept at managing its financial affairs it's statistically broke and deep in debt.
● A once-respected Wall Street investment titan, Bernard Madoff, who coldly cheated friends and charities out of $50 billion.
● A former Republican vice presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, claiming to be a "fighter" but quits her job 17 months early.
● More evidence that President Bush and Vice President Cheney tortured Muslim detainees and lied they didn't, falsified success of brutal interrogations and created a secret CIA program so offensive the new CIA director shut it down immediately.
● Justice department attorneys, sworn to uphold the Constitution, approving violations of international law and the Constitution.
● The once highly valued American "sense of fair play" trashed by a new breed of conservative "bloggers" and political hit squads specializing in deceit and slander.
Need more be said?
