The US-China Trade War 4 – Democracy, Sex Scandals, and Tariffs
Have you ever wondered why politicians in democratic countries are removed for ‘scandals’ that have nothing to do with their position in office?
Why does democracy publicly punish politicians for being human? Why do voters demand politicians have perfectly clean records when most people in the world have something hidden in their own closets?
Does anyone remember the Republican outcry during the Monica Lewinsky fiasco? I was surprised to see she gave a TED talk recently that was quite redeeming. After the scandal broke all I remember seeing on TV for months and months was Republicans talking about moral values, family values, ethics, impeachment, etc.
Fast forward 20 years to the current Stormy Daniels story and a lot of those same critics are remaining silent.
Client 9
The documentary ‘Client 9’ focused on the rise and fall of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, where he was described as the type of politician who comes along only once in a generation. He didn’t care about the painful consequences or repercussions of doing what’s right, and he was willing to do whatever it took to get the job done. Believe it or not, he took on Wall Street along with some of the world’s largest banks – and won!
Spoiler alert – he was eventually brought down by a prostitution scandal by seeing an escort named Ashley Dupré. It’s quite odd how the FBI got involved, and it’s more than likely someone who was being negatively affected by his policies gave the investigators clues to follow. There’s no way he should have been pressured to resign over his private life no matter what they found. Sure there were accusations of misusing public funds for hotel rooms, but in the end, he was never charged with any wrongdoing.
Samak Sundaravej
In 2008, Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was forced to resign after the Constitutional Court found him guilty of conflict-of-interest for hosting a cooking show. He had hosted that show for the previous seven years, but for some reason, it became a big deal when he refused to call elections. Coincidence?
Rob Ford
There’s nobody in the world who has a 100% clean record and hasn’t succumbed to any vice or addiction at one point or another. A former mayor of Toronto was a known drug addict and videos of his drug use were regularly shown on TV! He was allowed to stay in his position and was even up for re-election until his health forced him to pull out. Unfortunately, Rob Ford passed away shortly after leaving office.
If someone doesn’t have any skeletons in their closet I wouldn’t want them in office because they’re not a normal human being.
You’re probably wondering by now how all of this is related to tariffs and the current trade war. I’m about to tie it all together. Click here to continue to Part 5
References
The price of shame | Monica Lewinsky TED Talk
The Sheriff Of Wall Street
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer (2010) Official Trailer #1
Thai PM forced out after cooking show appearance
Rob Ford on drug use: ‘You name it, I pretty well covered it’
Thailand and the US-China Trade War – 5 Part Series
- Will Thailand Survive?
- The Real Truth Behind Trump’s Tariffs
- The Race to the Bottom
- Democracy, Sex Scandals, and Tariffs
- How to Prevent Future Trade Wars
