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Goodwin: Excusing Affairs Only Way To Get 'Best People in Public Life,' Like FDR & Clinton
Newsbusters ^ | November 12, 2012 | 17:22 | By Kyle Drennen

Posted on 11/12/2012 3:38:03 PM PST by drewh

Appearing on Sunday's NBC Meet the Press, liberal historian Doris Kearns-Goodwin pleaded for the American people to excuse extramarital affairs of public figures like David Petraeus: "What would we have done if FDR had not been our leader because he had an affair with Lucy Mercer?

Think of the productive years that Clinton could have had if Monica Lewinsky hadn't derailed them.

We've got to figure out a way that we give a private sphere for our public leaders.

We're not gonna get the best people in public life if we don't do that."

Kearns-Goodwin lamented how public officials today are held to moral standards: "I wish we could go back to the time when the private lives of our public figures were relevant only if they directly affected their public responsibilities.

This man was a great general, a great leader, and for his career to come to an end because of a private matter that affects his family and him and evidently doesn't have national security concerns."

The Washington Post's Bob Woodward then completely dismantled her argument: "Unfortunately, for the CIA Director, he has special status and he's got to be clean.

He can't be blackmailed or threatened or even deal with the anxiety, 'My God, are they gonna find out about her?' And he did the right thing."

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kyle-drennen/2012/11/12/doris-kearns-goodwin-excusing-affairs-only-way-get-best-people-public-#ixzz2C3QX0783


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons; Politics/Elections; US: District of Columbia
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1 posted on 11/12/2012 3:38:08 PM PST by drewh
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To: drewh

Doris Keans Goodwin isn’t exactly an upstanding citizen herself. She is an admitted plagiarist. Had to quit being a commentator on PBS (though she is now back on NPR). As long as you’re sufficiently left wing you can get away with murder.


2 posted on 11/12/2012 3:42:38 PM PST by La Lydia
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To: drewh

FDR = huge disaster for America

Clinton = disaster for America


3 posted on 11/12/2012 3:43:14 PM PST by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both)
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To: drewh

Well, it certainly helped Barb Walters’ rise to power.


4 posted on 11/12/2012 3:44:21 PM PST by Fido969
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To: drewh

I seriously doubt much anyone knew about FDR’s affair. That was an age when the media didn’t thrive on personal scandal, and stuck to real news. Hell, I believe most folks didn’t even know about his handicap.


5 posted on 11/12/2012 3:44:27 PM PST by KoRn (Department of Homeland Security, Certified - "Right Wing Extremist")
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To: drewh

Depending on how high your rank is - the level of allowable crime increases. In DKG’s world the president should be allowed to commit murder with impunity.


6 posted on 11/12/2012 3:46:15 PM PST by jakota (jakota)
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To: KoRn

True it was a closely held secret back then that POTUS could barely stand on his own.


7 posted on 11/12/2012 3:46:21 PM PST by drewh
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To: drewh

Therefore we need to get the best adulterers money can buy and put them in leadership positions. Sheesh!


8 posted on 11/12/2012 3:47:21 PM PST by SERKIT ("Blazing Saddles" explains it all.......)
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To: SERKIT

I nominate Tiger Woods. As long as we have a prez who golfs more than he attends security briefings, we should at least have one who’s good at it by now.


9 posted on 11/12/2012 3:49:30 PM PST by TurboZamboni (Looting the future to bribe the present)
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To: drewh

“True it was a closely held secret back then that POTUS could barely stand on his own”

But the winkie must have been spared?


10 posted on 11/12/2012 3:50:31 PM PST by Cyman
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To: La Lydia

She ought to know since she was banging LBJ.


11 posted on 11/12/2012 3:50:48 PM PST by Andy'smom
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To: drewh
...Like FDR & Clinton

Two commie criminals. Nice examples.

12 posted on 11/12/2012 3:52:23 PM PST by TigersEye (Who is John Galt?)
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To: drewh

I didn’t know Monica Lewinski derailed Bill Clinton.

I thought he derailed himself,beating off in the White House sink while using a cigar for a dildo.

I know that’s a pretty crude description, but how else can you describe it? It’s the facts.

Oh “ We could probably dress it up a little, but that is the problem now too many people want to dress up the facts.
Make it sound more palatable, but how sick is it for a grown man, the President of the United States to use an impressionable young woman for a humidor.At least Patreaus picked a woman and had sex with her, nothing like sicko Bill.


13 posted on 11/12/2012 3:53:30 PM PST by Venturer
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To: drewh

What the want is to have it both ways. Would she have looked the other way if GWB were fooling around? Not on your life. If they want to run the country, they will at least have to keep their pants zipped.


14 posted on 11/12/2012 3:55:14 PM PST by beef (Who Killed Kennewick Man?)
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To: drewh

Lying is OK.
Cheating is OK.
Stealing is OK.
Plagiarizing is OK.
I suppose Doris the plagiarist thinks Biden is so highly qualified, it’s worth ignoring his own plagiarism.
She probably had a lot of great excuses for Teddy, the Lion of Chappaquiddick, too.


15 posted on 11/12/2012 3:56:07 PM PST by rfp1234 (Arguing with a liberal is like playing chess with a pigeon.)
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To: drewh

did the plagiarizer mean that to be hilarious?


16 posted on 11/12/2012 3:57:02 PM PST by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
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To: Venturer

Trying to prevent a private citizen, Paula Jones, from pursuing a legitimate lawsuit didn’t matter. Dem lawlessness is now the new norm. Their lawlessness is laudable and necessary for a just society. When the cause is noble (staying in office) criminal acts are noble. 0bama is the most noble of all.


17 posted on 11/12/2012 3:58:12 PM PST by TigersEye (Who is John Galt?)
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To: drewh
Think of the productive years that Clinton could have had if Monica Lewinsky hadn't derailed them.

First of all, Lewinski didn't derail them, Clinton did.

Secondly, the advent of Ecommerce and Y2K and the jobs they created would have occurred regardless of who was in the White House. Likewise, the need for techs to set up the servers for Ecommerce and remedy the mainframes for Y2K would not have continued once these tasks were finished if Clinton was still in the White House. In fact, it didn't, and the tech bubble bust started a year before Clinton left office.

Clinton came in when the economy was already growing for a year and nine months, and after the end of the Cold War had opened world markets to facilitate the advent of Ecommerce. He had nothing to do with any of this, and none of this would have continued if he had kept his pants on.

18 posted on 11/12/2012 3:59:43 PM PST by TwelveOfTwenty (Ho, ho, hey, hey, I'm BUYcotting Chick-Fil-A)
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To: drewh
Earth to Doris: IF THEY ARE HAVING AFFAIRS, THEY ARE NOT THE BEST PEOPLE!! There ARE still a few moral absolutes, woman.
19 posted on 11/12/2012 4:00:40 PM PST by TXBlair (What the crap is wrong with you, America???)
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To: drewh
Eisenhower would still be a lieutenant if he hadn't been screwing Roosevelt's daughter!
20 posted on 11/12/2012 4:04:09 PM PST by dalereed
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