Fellow Ladera Ranch Residents,

Every time you turn on the news these days, there’s another scandal involving a high elected official, the latest involving now deposed New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and his use of an escort service. Even his successor, former Lt. Governor David Patterson, announced the day after he was sworn in as Governor that he and his wife had both engaged in multiple affairs. Talk about a preemptive strike!

I’m not trying to come across as a moralist. Quite frankly, as long as their dalliances don’t affect their ability to govern, these extramarital activities are really between the spouses and shouldn’t involve the public. What’s upsetting, however, is that Spitzer and his running mate campaigned as "reformers." Time magazine had named Spitzer "Crusader of the Year" when he was Attorney General of New York . . . when he was breaking up escort services and putting people in jail for the very same things he was doing all the while. He’s not alone.

U.S. Senator Larry Craig from Iowa not only voted against all gay rights legislation but was a staunch anti-gay crusader in the Senate, all the while doing a tap dance in airport men’s rooms. Florida Congressman Mark Foley passed legislation punishing pedifiles when, in fact, he was chasing after underage male congressional pages. Despite forensic evidence to the contrary, former President Bill Clinton denied having had relations with a White House intern and got himself tangled up in the definition of the verb "is" as a defense. For the record, regardless of their ages, interns and pages who serve in Washington, D.C., do so under the legal concept of "In loco parentis," a Latin phrase meaning "in place of a parent," refering to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the functions and responsibilities of a parent.

President George W. Bush called Congress back from recess for a special session to pass legislation to prevent the husband of Terry Schivo, who had been brain dead for years, from taking her off of life support. He then pompously declared that his administration supported a "culture of life," while sending American men and women off to a trumped up war in Iraq that so far has resulted in the deaths of 4,000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis. So much for his definition of a "culture of life!"

Dozens of U.S. Congressmen of late have been sent to jail for corruption, and dozens more are currently under investigation. With this kind of moral turpitude among our highest elected officials, it’s little wonder that survey after survey shows a high percentage of college and high school students are cheating to get through their courses. It appears the practice is now filtering down to the intermediate and elementary school levels.

It’s not enough just to set high moral standards at home. The behavior of people in high places helps to set the pace for much of the moral standards of our society. If we keep electing and reelecting officials of low moral character, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

                                             Jim Schmitt, Editor and Publisher