Politicians should keep their privates private

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/11/2018 (2809 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This may come as a surprise, but anyone who knows me knows there is a lot I do not understand about politics.

For instance, I really do not understand Tony Clement, who this week saw his long, distinguished political career go up in flames amid a bizarre sexting scandal.

For those of you who have been too busy wondering where U.S. President Donald Trump buys his orange makeup in bulk, allow me to share a bit of background.

The longtime Parry Sound-Muskoka Tory MP was punted from his party’s caucus the day after admitting that sharing sexually explicit images and a video of himself led to an extortion attempt.

“Over the last three weeks, I have shared sexually explicit images and a video of myself to someone who I believed was a consenting female recipient. The recipient was, in fact, an individual or party who targeted me for the purpose of financial extortion,” is what Clement said in a statement earlier in the week.

“The RCMP are currently investigating the matter to determine the identity of the party responsible for the extortion attempt.”

So, Tony apparently shared photos of his private parts — excuse me if I do not use the phrase “honourable member” — with a stranger and it turned out badly.

Who could have predicted that? Well, definitely not Clement, despite the fact he was his party’s justice critic, held multiple cabinet posts over the years, was a leadership contender and had top-secret clearance to sit on top-secret committees.

It makes you wonder what you would find if you took a gander at his parliamentary to-do list: 1) Fix the economy; 2) Do something about unemployment; 3) Send nekkid pictures of self to a complete (bad word) stranger.

I mean, seriously, maybe I am revealing my lack of political chops, but when did it become a thing to share private pictures of your “special purpose” online?

I mean, with all sincerity, who is (another bad word) dumb enough to do something like that? Let’s have a show of hands… OK, pretty much no one, except for that creepy guy in the corner wearing leather pyjamas and a rubber horse-head mask, which sort of proves my point.

Initially, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer took Clement at his word that this “terrible lapse in judgment” was a one-time thing. But Scheer finally gave him the boot after allegations washed over social media suggesting Tony’s online behaviour was creeping people out.

“I don’t know that too many people… have to be told not to share explicit images and videos with people that you haven’t met, but obviously, this is a terrible decision, extremely poor judgment,” Scheer said in giving Clement the heave-ho from his party duties.

Well, I suppose, “extremely poor judgment” is one way of putting it. Galactically stupid might be closer to the mark, but I don’t want to appear overly judgmental.

You know who has to be told not to share images of this nature online? I will tell you who. High school students have to be told not to do stupid things online. But that is why we typically don’t elect high school students to public office or let them sit on top-secret panels such as the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.

Consider the fact that police in the Montreal area were warning parents this week about online predators using the wildly popular video game Fortnite to lure teenagers into a sextortion scheme by offering them a chance to advance their game in exchange for providing revealing photos.

Fortunately, even most teenagers seem to know more about the hazards of online activity than do any number of grizzled politicians we can name. Speaking of which, why is it that so many politicians who bumble into scandals of this nature seem to be named Tony?

Unless you have been hiding in your basement for the past few years, you will recall the countless news stories about the downfall of U.S. politician Anthony Weiner, a former New York congressman whose sexting escapades eventually landed him behind bars.

Tony Weiner was a big-shot Democratic congressman until he was forced to resign in 2011 after admitting to exchanging “messages and photos of an explicit nature with about six women” over a period of about three years.

Weiner attempted a political comeback and was running for mayor of New York City in 2013 when it emerged that he was sending explicit photos to a 22-year-old woman under the pseudonym “Carlos Danger.”

But Tony Weiner — sorry, make that “Mr. Danger” — didn’t learn his online lesson and he was sentenced to prison last year after pleading guilty to sexting with a 15-year-old girl. He is expected to be released in May 2019.

As I may have mentioned already, there is a lot I don’t understand about politics, but there is one thing I am fairly certain of — people in public life need to keep their private parts private.

Otherwise, legally speaking, they might already be a Weiner.

doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca