Editorial: In this new era must politicians be saints?

Tuesday, Dec. 22, 1998 | 10:45 a.m.

Livingston's move created a chaotic situation for House Republicans, who already had seen Speaker Newt Gingrich decide to step down after the Republicans' dismal showing in November. Livingston made his decision after he discovered that Hustler magazine had information he had had extramarital affairs.

Sadly a pornographer now acts as a power broker, in effect calling the political shots in our nation's capital. While what Larry Flynt did was disgusting, let's not get too carried away, suggesting he started all this. Nowadays it's difficult to discern the ethical standards between some of our nation's most respected media outlets and that of Hustler when decisions are made to investigate the private lives of public officials.

But not all the blame can be placed on the media. In some ways these revelations shouldn't be too unexpected, considering the level of vitriol in our nation's political debate. There no longer seems to be a sense of civility when debating issues. Anything is fair game.

While it is too bad this is what it has come to in American political life, the unfortunate reality is that this coarsening of public life likely is here to stay, at least until voters respond decisively that such private-life behavior has no bearing on elected officials' decisions.