I agree with your expectations stated above but I would say as for the bribing, we can’t control or get rid of people who offer bribes, so we can’t exactly expect that an elected person won’t BE bribed. However, we should expect that an elected person will reject the bribe and report the person or people who are trying to gain favor that way.

I have an expectation that a senator should not be in a restroom stall trying to get sexual services.

I have an expectation that a congressperson should not be bribed.

I have an expectation that a president should not commit perjury in a legal proceeding and any spouse that defends such behavior is unelectable

It goes on and on….

Hitchens is off his rocker these days based on what I’ve been reading by him. I stopped taking him seriously about two months ago.

I resent – seriously, I resent you saying I have a lower expectation because she is female. That is nonsense to anyone who knows me – if anything, I expect more from women, because we always have to do more, show more, say more, be more. If you want to have a longer discussion on that point, I’m always game – it’s a fascinating topic.

Again – the issue here is why the media covered it at all and the different way in which it got covered. That’s what raised my ire.

And I do thank you for reading and commenting.

You and I both know she was up there to grandstand (by the way a problem with both parties at these stupid hearings)and shove it in the face of a Bushie.

I expect more from an elected official, male or female; democrat or republican, black or white. I think you have a lower expectation because she’s female.

None other than Christopher Hitchens, not a garden variety conservative, says it best.

“People who think with their epidermis or their genitalia or their clan are the problem to begin with. One does not banish this specter by invoking it. If I would not vote against someone on the grounds of “race” or “gender” alone, then by the exact same token I would not cast a vote in his or her favor for the identical reason.”

I think you can extrapolate that to your position on this issue. Who cares if it was a male or female reporting the story? Who cares if it was a male or female screwing up? I don’t care if it was a liberal or conservative.

I have an expectation that if politicians are going to run these half ass hearings I expect that they should know who the hell they are questioning.

I take no responsibility for Quayle.

She’s made plenty of other mistakes of this variety where you have to question her smarts.

Just remember the flack Dan Quayle caught for spelling “potatoe”.

Sounds like a double standard here and it’s not from men.