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Jewish World Review Oct. 4, 2012/ 18 Tishrei, 5773 'Total reprobate' By Cal Thomas
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
"You can't run from your mistakes. You have to confront them." -- Believe it or not, there was a time when people didn't go on TV to confess their sins. That was back when most understood what sin is, before everything became excusable, especially for celebrities and the politically powerful. Former On "60 Minutes," in USA Today and elsewhere, Schwarzenegger acknowledges affairs with women not his wife and the son he fathered with their housekeeper. He calls it all a "mistake." No, a mistake is something far less consequential. Claiming you've been to "all 57 states," as President Obama said during the 2008 campaign, is a mistake. Does "mistake" best describe Arnold's behavior? For certain readers, definitions may help. Dictionary.com defines a "mistake" as "an error in action, calculation, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, insufficient knowledge, etc." Let's pick another word -- "fornication" -- and consider its definition: "voluntary sexual intercourse between two unmarried persons or two persons not married to each other." It's an old-fashioned word that has fallen out of favor, but doesn't it describe Schwarzenegger's behavior better than "mistake"? If you prefer a definition with some moral force, it is "sexual immorality in general, especially adultery."
Perhaps the saddest moment in the "60 Minutes" interview with One of the criticisms of the Republican Schwarzenegger when he became governor was that he quickly moved to the left from his mostly conservative-sounding campaign themes. He blamed the Democratic majority in the Schwarzenegger's interviews reveal a man without a moral center. He didn't admit to fathering his housekeeper's son until after he left office, reportedly during a session with a marriage counselor. Does he care nothing about his children and the message he has sent them? Apparently not, or he would have behaved more responsibly. Next up is
The cultural condemnation for this behavior long ago went into retreat. Still, if you want to support fidelity while showing disapproval for Schwarzenegger's behavior, don't buy his book, or Monica's. Schwarzenegger's book might have been more accurately titled, "Total Reprobate." Reprobate: "A depraved, unprincipled, or wicked person."
JWR contributor Cal Thomas is co-author with Bob Beckel, a liberal Democratic Party strategist, of "Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That is Destroying America". Comment by clicking here.
© 2011, Tribune Media Services, Inc.
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