So there’s apparently this blogger who outs politicians. I’m probably the last person who’s heard of Mike Rogers and his blog, BlogActive. He’s gaining mainstream notoriety because he was the first to home in on Sen. Larry Craig for his anti-gay stances in this October 2006 post.
Some might say the personal lives of politicians are off limits, but those people probably live in trees in the Appalachian mountains. The public has a legitimate interest if these politicians are, say, bashing gays while leading homosexual lifestyles on the DL.
But does the same apply for corporate leaders?
I think of this as I view the car wreck that is Craig’s career. I don’t know or care about this pol; I just can’t help looking at the mess. He’s apparently wavering on the matter, but I think the smart money’s on him losing his job right quick. And that made me wonder: should a person lose his job over his sexuality? Does Craig’s outing–if indeed his declarations to the contrary are hogwash–mean he can’t do his job?
In Craig’s case, I think you’d agree that the issue here isn’t his gayness or straightness, but his jaw-dropping incompetence in dealing with this crazy episode. It’s Mark Foley all over again.
A corporate boss isn’t elected by the people, and his salary doesn’t come from the taxpayer till. Still, I might question the competence of, say, my own CEO if he were caught in some debacle like this and created a tabloid ruckus. No one cared that BP CEO John Browne was gay, although the fact hadn’t been public. He stepped down in July not because his gay lover had come forward but because said lover was about to publish allegations that Browne had misused company funds.
It’s all about doing the job, people. Color, creed, sexual orientation–no one gives a poop. Just keep it out of airport toilet stalls.