It must be infuriating for batters to see the strike zone
expand, giving pitchers the opportunity to get outs they don’t deserve. Last
week we saw David Ortiz get a strike called on a pitch that was not even close
and the pitcher ended up with a out he did not earn. A Big Papi-style temper
tantrum ensued, the dugout phone was the recipient of a few home run swings and
Ortiz was ejected from the game. In the end, the expansive strike zone not only
got the pitcher an out he didn’t deserve but managed to rid himself of David
Ortiz for the rest of the game.
Lately we have also seen the strike zone expand in politics,
particularly around the area of inappropriate sexual behavior. My view is that
bad behavior will change only when acting badly will affect one’s future
success but since we promote a “just say you’re sorry and we’ll forgive you”
path to redemption, the door is wide open for the pervert caucus to continue to
grow.
Back in the olden days (which is the 80s according to my
daughter) Gary Hart’s presidential hopes were blown out of the water because he
was accused of an extra-marital affair. Today the media would be slower to
report “allegations” and might even consider Hart’s “Monkey Business” a private
matter between him and his wife, Lee. The Clinton administration may have
desensitized us a bit—we had a president who was charming and by all accounts,
really liked women. While his wife was clearly not okay with his behavior, they
were able to separate his fidelity issues from their marriage and their life
goals, so maybe it was none of our business. And even the Monica Lewinsky
scandal—which I always thought of as sexual harassment in the workplace—was
muddied by the fact that Ms. Lewinsky seemed a bit like a hunter in her own
right.
Today’s perverts in public office make Hart and Clinton seem
like gentlemen. Senator Hart and his paramour, Donna Rice, did a sing-along
together in Bimini and President Clinton bought Monica a poetry book. They may
have acted outside the norms for a traditional marriage, but they didn’t break
the law while doing it. The spate of elected officials who have used
prostitutes and been forgiven enough to be re-elected (Congressman Barney
Frank, Senator David Vitter) has now led former Governor Spitzer to believe
that he too deserves another bite at the (Big) apple. Readers may remember that
he avoided being charged because the $80,000 (!) he spent on prostitutes came
out of his own pocket. I have to believe that some of that money was spent on government
time, booked on a government phone, or facilitated with a government car, but
the reality is that even flagrant (yes, $80,000!) criminal activity seems to
get a pass these days.
And while there may have been perverts like San Diego Bob
Mayor Filner and former Congressman Weiner in the olden days, they would have
at least had enough shame to step aside when they were caught. Our new strike
zone gives these predators a second chance so rather than step down, Filner
seeks “intensive therapy.” I guess he doesn’t think that the residents and
taxpayers of San Diego deserve a mayor who can focus on running their city, not
the women jogging through it. He's even asked the city to pay for his legal fees reasoning that it's the city's fault he didn't get sexual harassment training. And almost as an aside in his campaign for Mayor of
New York, Anthony Weiner shows little remorse, trotting out his wife in a press
conference while admitting that he’s been sending obscene texts to multiple
women… in the time since he stepped down from Congress for sexting. I kept
waiting for, “So, Mr. Weiner, how many women have you sexted today?” Don’t New Yorkers
deserve better?
While I certainly don’t condone Ortiz’ assault on the dugout
phone, I share his disgust for an ever expanding strike zone. We need to hold
our elected officials to a higher standard—and societal norms should be the
baseline. Mayor Filner couldn’t be a letch if he worked in a pizza parlor and
Mr. Weiner would be fired if he worked in a bank. The voters in New York and
San Diego have the chance to voice their concerns at the ballot box and maybe
someday we’ll be able to shrink the strike zone back to a place where only the
candidates who can demonstrate decent behavior will consider themselves
eligible for office.
