Private ethics, public ethics

“I’ve been unfaithful to my wife,” said South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

He’s also been unfaithful to his constituents, by secretly abandoning them for seven days while he rendezvoused with his lover in Argentina.

Simultaneously come concerns from a watchdog group that Sen. John Ensign violated ethics rules by having an affair with a campaign aide, then terminating both her employment and that of her husband, who also worked for him.

Both cases raise the same questions about morality that have been aired in every one of America’s high-profile political sex cases over recent years: If a man can wrong his wife by forsaking his vows to her, how can constituents believe he has the strength to do what is right by keeping his promises to them?
That’s a legitimate question.

And in these two cases, there’s more.

In these cases, the questions are not theoretical; they are concrete. The facts as we know them today strongly suggest that both these men not only wronged their wives, but also others to whom they were responsible.

Mr. Sanford’s bombshell news broke just two days ago. But for days before that, the media had been aware that he had “disappeared.” After the first couple of days of speculation and doubt, aides said he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail in order to get away from the stress of the job.

As of this writing, it is unclear who among his aides knew where he was, or whether he could be easily reached in case of an emergency.

If aides knew where he was, and why he was there, then he basely involved them in his deception and marital betrayal.

If they did not know where he was, then he effectively abandoned his state and his leadership responsibility to his constituents.

Mr. Ensign’s adultery, meanwhile, had already been revealed. What is new is the formal complaint filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington regarding that affair.

The married senator had a relationship with a married woman on his staff. Her husband also was on staff, and in Mr. Ensign’s recent acknowledgement of the affair he referred to them as “lifelong friends.”

However, questions are being raised on both side of the issue. Did the couple receive special favors because of the illicit relationship? Or were they — was she — victimized by sexual harassment by the man for whom she worked?

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics wants the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate the sexual harassment angle, as well as allegations that pay-offs may have occurred.

The group claims that ethics rules also were violated when Mr. Ensign did not report severance pay issued to the woman from his political-action or
leadership committee. The woman had in fact been hired to work for the senator’s campaign and political-action committee.

It is a lapse of personal morality when someone betrays his or her spouse by adultery.

And it is a breach of ethics when a politician betrays a public trust by abusing his authority or abandoning his responsibility.