Should our politicians be expected to be a better person than we are?

Question

Do the users here at yahoo have any reasons to expect accountability out of politicians? Most here take no responsibility for their actions,yet expect it from a politician.

Why do people always assume that they were falsely reported? Where is the personal responsibility,the accountabilty for ones actions. I can honestly admit i deserved the violations i have gotten. It is time to stop blaming others for our actions. How can we expect our politicians to act any better than most of us do ourselves? Take a little time people,look through your questions and answers,then ask yourself if you are always contributing towards making this a better place. If you are capable of seeing your own mistakes it will make you a better person.

Niel,this is my third account. I don't blame others for losing the other two. I don't post and blame others when i get reported. A simple search here will show you how many times questions have been asked. Try it. E-mail if you need to know what to type in the search.

Answer 1

I believe that once you commit yourself to a life of politics, you are also committing yourself to living in a glass house. You'll be scrutinized from all sides. Running for office is a choice, not an obligation. Yes, I expect high accountability from those that I elect into office because they are elected based on their words and they represent you, me and everyone else.

I confess, I've received some violations in the past that were indeed deserved. Like so many others, I can be a smart aleck. I've also received violations that were well within TOS guidelines, IMHO. I have a few right now that I submitted for review several weeks ago, and have yet to hear anything from Yahoo.

Their guidelines on certain things are iffy at most, and it's honestly hard to tell sometimes as to what is and what isn't a violation especially, if you've submitted an honest answer.

The truth of the matter is, there are many people here who don't like other people, and they purposefully look for things to give violations for. I can see cursing, name calling, stalking, cloning as being violations, but the occasional joking around, shouldn't be. Yet people continue to turn each other in.

Just within the past few days, I've had two friends receive suspensions and they haven't been given a reason as to what they did to get those suspensions. If you're simply suspended and don't know why, how do you not do whatever it is that they might have done, again?

Perhaps this new system will help clean things up. I'll remain optimistic. I also hope that none of our politicians ever come to this forum. They'll be ruined for life. haha!

Answer 2

Our elected officials are suppose to be better than us, but should they. I don't know we obviously need to take in account that they are human and make mistakes too. Like the deal with president Clinton and Monica Lewinsky come on, I was so tired of hearing about that who cares, if anything pity the wife. I take accountability for my actions as well, heavens knows I have made plenty of mistakes. The only way you can't take accountability for your actions is to completely deny you have done anything wrong. Difficult to do when you know you wrong. I think most people don't take accountability because they want to shy away from the punishment and guilt.

Answer 3

I see your point your making but there is another side to your opinion and that is the fact that when we elect our congressman and our senators into public office, they have responsibilities to all of us as Americans, whether or not we all take responsibility for ourselves the way we should or do what we always should do, we arent electing them in office to feel that they can just do whatever because our society as a whole may be lazy, irresponsibile, and the like, their job is what we as citizens elected them to do, and that is to make things the best they possibly can for us all & leave America in a better place then when they took office. It is a very serious position and responsibility to uphold, and I expect anyone I elect into office to do what they say they are going to do, and if they dont, or "flip flop" you can bet yourself I do whatever it takes to have my voice heard, and bring attention to it. Everyone should.

Answer 4

I am a product of the (ever so slightly) older military. Being in a position of authority meant that I was always held to a higher standard. Teenagers love to point out the hypocrisy of their parents (or those above them). I tried daily to hold myself to a standard higher than was required -- for me to make a mistake meant that people would die. The end results were a number ulcers, great respect from those around me and seen as the world's biggest SOB by my kids.
Today's breed of politician is severely lacking.

Answer 5

Yes they choose to run for public office.No one forced them.They come to us declaring they are the best men or woman to do that job so yes I think we can hold our elected officials to a higher standard.

On the bigger point you make I say Amen.You are absolutely right.Most violations are deserved and when you truly get an undeserved violation appealing it does work.That has also improved since I started participating here.In the beginning I received some violations that I know would get reinstated under the current circumstances.

Answer 6

Only if they CLAIM to be better people.

As Republicans often try and take the moral "high ground," then more is expected out of them. Democrats are expected to be dishonest, and never claim anything else, so when they break their word, they suffer no consequences.

Example:
GHW Bush "No New Taxes" Pledge. Broken. Not re-elected.

Clinton "Middle Class Tax Cut" Pledge. Broken. Re-Elected.

Mark Foley - R "Page" Scandal. No actual physical contact. Resigned in disgrace.

Gary Studds - D "Page" Scandal. Sex with underage male page (after getting him drunk). Re-elected.

Tom Delay - R "Corruption" Indicted, then cleared, in Campaign Finance Scandal. Resigned. Did not seek re-election.

William Jefferson - D "Corruption" Found $90,000 in marked cash in his freezer. Re-Elected. Appointed committee chair when Democrats took over Congress.

Need I go on?

SO I guess the answer is - if you're Republican, you darn well better be "better" than your constituents, but if you're Democrat, it doesn't really matter.

Answer 7

Yes, I expect more out of our politicians than I expect out of the average whiney teenager on YA. When someone seeks the responsibility of public office, they also accept the responsibility of upholding a high personal standard and representing that office well.

Answer 8

If they have at least 14 pigeons, 14 crocks, and a pair of slip and slide sandals, i would expect them to be!
But, that really doesnt change anything. There are a lot of people that match those requirements. I would expect them to have a deck with a nice natural finish, and no raised nails. If their carpenters did the job right, they should have used screws, to hold down the wood, instead of nails.

Good question. I like to see open minds on here.

Answer 9

I do think it is a good expectation that our politicians be heroes and champions of the people. We would love to view them that way, but sadly heroes in real life barely represent their counterparts on the big screen. I do expect accountability, but politicians of today seem to have a "don't ask don't tell" policy when it comes to being honest.

Answer 10

Politicians should be a grade above everyone else in terms of their conduct. After all, they are elected officials that represent entire districts or states!

As for some of the answers. I think Yahoo just eliminates any answer that gets reported. I've had many answers that violated absolutely no guidelines, and answered the question entirely and respectfully, yet have been deleted. Of course I have had others that violated guidelines and were justly deleted. It's the ones that were deleted for no apparent reason, other than someone disliked my answer and reported it, that upset me.