Office Diaries

An insider's guide to success in the workplace

by Donna Flagg

The Trend in Straight but Really Gay Politicians

Hinkle et al. cannot be that stupid.

Published on August 14, 2011 by Donna Flagg in Office Diaries

Ah jeez, here we go again. Another politician who is backing anti-gay legislation turns out to be gay himself. Are we surprised? Sadly, no. Indiana State Representative Phillip Hinkle was caught soliciting sex for hire from a man on Craigslist. And yet again, another "married" politician is outed after lurking around in the not-so-inconspicuous shadows of the World Wide Web. It really is getting tired.

What is it with these guys? I know multiple personality disorder gets a bad wrap, and schizophrenia, even worse. But frankly I'm seeing similarities and have long wondered how close the base mechanism is between the men whose behavior is trivialized by not being able to "keep it in their pants," and real, bona fide split personalities. Consistently, we witness their two lives emerge once their covers are ultimately blown. They are one person to their friends and families and someone else all together privately. They are split between who they are pretending to be and who they really are, managing two different people operating independently, one separate from the other. So could it be part of the same continuum? If so, we're in trouble and it's unlikely to get better any time soon since power generally, and politics specifically, seems to attract this breed of fractured and conflicted individual.

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It's difficult to sort out the rage from the pity, but c'mon, enough is enough. When are we going to see that the motivation behind many "anti-anything" campaigns is fueled by a desire to actually conceal the truth about the individual often advocating for it most? Why, just last week, I wrote about the insanity of people in power and questioned the mental health of our leaders, insights we only access after it's too late (and they're in office) due to their masterful ability to disguise and deceive the reality of who they are. Then we vote and are stuck with them. Where are the politicians drafting legislation that fires anyone guilty of dragging the entire country into their personal dilemmas? Yes, many go away - eventually - maybe - but only after they subject us to denial after denial after denial, and then apology after apology after apology once the inevitable and indisputable proof surfaces. Please, save us the lip service and drama and do something more productive with the media space.

That aside, what really boggles the mind beyond all matter of reason, is how they get caught. Now, in the age of the Internet, one would think that these guys would find another way to find dates, sex, companionship, or whatever it is they are looking for, especially considering the ease with which their efforts can be tracked via technology. Emails, text messages, voicemails, Craigslist, Twitter, Facebook, they're no mystery. There are no secrets, not as far as their permanency and reach go. So I ask, do these individuals lack such control of themselves that they lose their ability to think - literally? Or deep down is something in them trying to be free by getting caught? Maybe it's the ultimate battle within of good versus evil, truth over lies as the veracity of who they are yearns to come forward. I want to believe this to be the case because frankly, I can't bear to think that the people running this country could actually be that stupid.

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