Does the double standard exist?

Michael who blogs at Chasing the Wind opines:

So, on one hand a Democrat commits adultery, perjury, then fights to stay in office. On the other hand, a Republican suggests something kinky with his wife but doesn’t actually do anything and steps down from running for office.

If Clinton’s transgressions weren’t severe enough for him to step down, why was Ryan’s suggestion to his wife so bad? Is there a double standard here, or am I not understanding the seriousness of the charge against Ryan?

Yea I wonder the same thing Michael. I also wonder why the big need to unseal the records from his divorce, something both Ryan and his wife opposed for the sake of their child, unless it was to politically ruin Republican Ryan’s chances in the election.

This double standard exists in the blogosphere as well. Jeff Davis gets mad at me here for commenting on his piece about Vice President Cheney using the F word last week. Says that the administration said they were going to “change the tone” in Washington and that this little demonstration of public profanity is just another “lie.” Jeff states “John Kerry will restore honor and decency to the White House, and change the tone in Washington” I guess it really ticked Jeff off when I mentioned that John Kerry has also used the same profanity in public, and not in the heat of an argument, but in an interview for a magazine article.

Jeff says I don’t get it. He’s wrong. I see it very clearly. This election is going to be tight, the gloves are off, and anything goes. The standard is there are no standards and just because one side calls a foul doesn’t mean it’s above committing the same offense. And we haven’t even had the conventions yet.

It’s going to be a long 4+ months until November.

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