Cain

I guess a few words about the end of the Cain campaign are in order. What annoys me is not Cain's sexual history, which is not my business. I'm annoyed at my fellow Americans for caring about this man's private life.

Not many years ago, Americans used to kid themselves whenever a sex scandal erupted. Because we did not want to seem puritanical or prurient, we relied on a familiar euphemism. "It's not the sex that bothers me; it's the poor judgment." Remember that one? It was very popular during Monicagate and the Gary Hart affair.

Nowadays we are more honest. It is the sex. Nothing else. We are completely unashamed about our lurid and indefensible interest in what a candidate does with his weewee.

(Please understand that my sentiments here are directed at news accounts of political figures involved in consensual affairs. Allegations of sexual abuse belong in a different category. Such charges are a legal matter, and their veracity should be determined by a court of law, not by a cable news host. In the past, some feminists have become very angry at me for pointing out that a man is innocent until proven guilty.)

I don't care whether Cain had an affair, and neither should you. Only his political beliefs -- which I personally find odious -- should matter.

The intriguing question is why the alleged mistress came forward at this time. What was her motive? Clearly, Cain felt that he could depend upon her silence, or he would never have dared to run in the first place. It is telling that her story broke on Fox News -- which would never have pursued the story if the Republican party leadership wanted Cain to be the nominee.