So, here’s the question: if Greitens had engaged in the affair, we’d all likely shrug and move on with our lives. It’s only the element of alleged threatened blackmail that makes us take notice. Isn’t that an effect of defining deviancy down?
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) coined that phrase back in 1993, when he argued thusly regarding crime:
That logic doesn’t just apply to crime. It applies to the behavior of our politicians.
Thirty years ago, Greitens would have been forced from office for his obvious immorality; today, we all say that such behavior is unpleasant, but not a barrier to holding high office. That's thanks to the Kennedy family, Bill Clinton, and now Donald Trump.
The natural next step: we only get exercised if something worse happens.
Missouri Governor Greitens Accused Of Blindfolding Mistress, Photographing Her Naked, And Blackmailing Her. What Happened To Our Politicians?
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) coined that phrase back in 1993, when he argued thusly regarding crime:
[O]ver the past generation, the amount of deviant behavior in American society has increased beyond the levels the community can 'afford to recognize' and that, accordingly, we have been redefining deviancy so as to exempt much conduct previously stigmatized, and also quietly raising the 'normal' level in categories where behavior is now abnormal by any earlier standard.
That logic doesn’t just apply to crime. It applies to the behavior of our politicians.
Thirty years ago, Greitens would have been forced from office for his obvious immorality; today, we all say that such behavior is unpleasant, but not a barrier to holding high office. That's thanks to the Kennedy family, Bill Clinton, and now Donald Trump.
The natural next step: we only get exercised if something worse happens.
Missouri Governor Greitens Accused Of Blindfolding Mistress, Photographing Her Naked, And Blackmailing Her. What Happened To Our Politicians?