Editorial - Dumb is not as bad and deceitful

Who are these men who immediately respond with lies at embarrassing moments?

One, of course, is Congressman Anthony Weiner.

He was caught in a sexting scandal in which he sent risque and lewd photos of himself to a college student.

When caught, his first response was to lie. He claimed his twitter account had been hacked. He held to this story for a full week. Then he publicly and painfully apologized.

It was “a very dumb thing to do,” he said.

It was also dishonest.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s long affair with a housekeeper who raised Arnold’s illegitimate son side-by-side with his other children and his wife recently became public.

It too was dumb.

It was also deceitful. It involved years of lies. All the while, he served as California’s governor.

Elliot Spitzer was governor of New York. He cut his teeth on cleaning up crime and unethical behavior. One of his targets was Wall Street, another was prostitution.

It turned out he was famous Client Number 9, a regular customer of an exclusive prostitution service.

And, there was the South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford who disappeared, saying he had gone on a hike to clear his head. Actually, he had gone to Argentina to be with his mistress.

Newt Gingrich was having an affair with one of his staffers while trying to get Bill Clinton impeached, in part, for the Monica Lewinsky affair.

John Edwards was the darling of many. He repeatedly lied, denying he was having an affair. At the same time, he used about a million dollars in contributions (or gifts) to cover it up. This was while he was seeking the Democratic nomination for president. He now faces six felony counts that could send him to jail.

Dumb and deceitful.

There must be a playbook for public figures.

Rule One: Lie and stonewall.

Rule Two: Give a soul searching apology only if caught.

Admitting to dalliances is obviously difficult. The admission of having lied, misled and stonewalled seems a lot easier.

That is the real indictment. Our politicians are more concerned about being caught dumb than being caught dishonest. In truth, dumb is not as bad as deceitful.