Reader comments
Personal life irrelevant
10 comments | Read story
Get today's headlines via email
Afternoon edition
Deseret News Family Deals
In Opinion
Across Site
- Jay Evensen: On second thought...
- Readers' forum: No nuclear waste in Utah
- In our opinion: New nuclear plants...
- Readers' forum: Price of freedom
- Robert Bennett: A brokered...
- Frank Pignanelli & LaVarr Webb: The...
- Readers' forum: A changing Constitution
- Michael Gerson: Egypt's craziness is...
- George F. Will: Is it bribery or just...
- Mackenzie Eaglen: Obama's proposed...
In Opinion
Across Site
- Robert Bennett: A brokered...
- In our opinion: Editorial: Protecting...
- Charles Krauthammer: The Gospel...
- Frank Pignanelli & LaVarr Webb: The...
- Evangelicals and Mormons: Can we talk?
- In our opinion: New nuclear plants...
- My view: The climate is right to tear...
- Readers' forum: A changing Constitution
- Readers' forum: Price of freedom
- George F. Will: Is it bribery or just...
In Opinion
Across Site
- Letters: Bush's failed policies
53 - Letters: A changing Constitution
42 - Editorial: Rights of conscience
40 - Letters: Teachers not overpaid
32 - Editorial: New nuclear plants
28 - Letters: Home equity loans
28 - The Gospel according to Obama
27 - Letters: Rights of conscience
26 - GOP no longer leads on defense
24 - Letter: Taxing our children
22












You and I totally disagree. A person's character and a person's integrity are more important than how a person does his/her job - especially when that person is a public official. Public officials work for us. They represent us. Their conduct reflects on us.
An individual who cannot or will not control himself/herself to abide the laws of our society has no business representing himself or herself as one who is qualified to uphold our laws and to prosecute members of our society in court.
We do not live in a two-tier society where the 'elite' dictate to the rest of us how we should live, and hold us accountable, while they ignore those laws themselves.
Corrupt personal behavior by a public official must not be allowed. We do not live in a kingdom where we have to tolerate lack of ethics and lack of integrity. We live in a democracy where we choose the best and brightest of us to represent all of us.
We can finally quit going over every nuance of what Barack Obamas' pastor said. No charges were laid. It doesn't affect how he does his job.
I can continue to have some 'animal house' antics at my house. Like so many things, they're wrong in Utah, but none of anybody else's business.
Character counts!
Another "famliy values" bizantine in our midst. As long as the R is there, she's holy.
So... Were you being this rabid when President Clinton's supporters were saying his personal life didn't have any bering on his ability to be President?
Were you the first to call for his resignation at the first accusation of inpropriety?
Did you expect his resignation when the investigators started finding dirt?
Did you demand his resignation when he committed purgery to cover up his inproprieties or when he was impeached by Congress?
Seems to me you are being hypocrits. It seems like the big blue D is what you need to call off the self reightous "Impropriety Police".
You might say that ideally, the character of a person elected to represent citizens shouldn't matter; people should select candidates based on their positions on the "issues." Unfortunately, it's simply impossible to identify, ahead of time, each "issue" that will come up before an official and demand a decision. For better or worse, we have to be able to predict how a representative will exercise her discretion when faced with an issue that none of us specifically anticipated -- and her character *is* absolutely relevant to help predict how she is likely to react.