would it be too much work for the media to actually talk about who politicians are

[ProfessorPlum]

There have been so many times in my life where I've been following some political story, and then two-three years later I read something more in depth that describes who a politician is married to, or who their father-in-law is, or what their brother does for a living . . .

. . . and all of the scales fall from my eyes. Their motivations become clear, based on who the power base around them is, and their family ties.

For example, Mitch McConnell is a horrible human being. His actions seem to be quite evil. And some of that might be explained by the fact that his wife (who coincidentally happens to be our secretary of Transportation, and prior was a most surprising choice for secretary of Labor by W), is worth at least $24 million and happens to be the daughter of the chairman of one of the most powerful shipping companies in Taiwan, with large interests in the US and China. No conflict of interest there, then, for the Transportation Secretary.

Bill Frist, a Republican senator who was pretty miserable on health care and health insurance issues when he was in the senate, turns out to the be the son of the man who founded a for-profit hospital system called Hospital Corporation of America.

Susan Collins' husband is a lobbyist for a group that represents the health industries.

Ted Cruz's wife works (or worked) for Goldman Sachs

W Bush's various family members profited from his presidency in a variety of ways

etc etc

The media present these people as if they exist in a vacuum, and very rarely, if ever, mention their family interests and ties. How can we battle corruption if it is constantly swept under the rug?

[jberryhill]

1. There are a couple of reasons for that

One is that if every woman were to be defined in terms of "who is her husband", that would not be an acceptable situation either.

[ProfessorPlum]

2. that's not what I'm calling for at all

but every politician's family conflicts of interest should be presented clearly, not hidden from the public.

[jberryhill]

4. Potato Potahto

Questions raised about Geraldine Ferraro's husband's financial dealings were deemed "sexist".

[LiberalLovinLug]

5. Well......uh....that is absolute BS

Not you, the premise that spouses connections or conflicts of interest being disclosed is "sexist".

The immediate family should be included in any deliberations about holding a particular office. Didn't Cheney just dump his Halliburton control shares to his wife when he got into office? Then sealed down a few non-bid Iraq construction contracts for them, made billions off of tax payers for.....his wife.....and then when he left office regained his shares?

This issue should be used by our side. Lord knows they use anything they can against us. Even though there are probably a few Democrats in the same boat, (when they are in power) But since its Republicans that have the advantage of having most of the billionaires dark money donations etc... we could use a law to curb the abuse of office by Republicans especially. It might reduce to some degree the politicians that enter a race specifically to make a killing while he or she or their spouse owns some company that they could help with legislation.

[DemocracyMouse]

6. I thought we all covered this concept 40 years ago

Feminism isnt about elevating women above men. It's about equality between the sexes.

That includes equal scrutiny of politicians' ties.

This progress thing ain't that hard people.

[bigbrother05]

8. It is only sexist if a man got a pass on his wife's dealings

There were people that had issues with Hillary's legal cases on being on Walmart's board, but that was after Ferraro's time.

Clearly laying out Trump's connections, failures, and shady dealings would have offset his public persona if it had gotten any traction in the MSM. They were more concerned with they novelty of his bloviations.

[ProfessorPlum]

3. Just for fun, here's a 1984 NYT article with the laughable headline

"SCRUNITY OF POLITICAL FIGURES' SPOUSES INCREASING"

https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/18/us/scrunity-of-political-figures-spouses-increasing.html

[Sherman A1]

7. Apparently it is

The media is about filling airtime between ads for drugs that you didn’t know you needed. Don’t expect too much out of them.

[jberryhill]

9. Your cynicism may be the result of a rare, but treatable, condition

There are new treatments available for cynicism. If you've been experiencing bouts of cynicism, but had previously given up hope, you should speak with your doctor.