Why would a man do such a thing, especially a man with a private fortune who
could have gone off and lived a quiet life of luxury anywhere he chose?
It's as hard to imagine a political figure doing such a thing in these times
as it is to explain why he would do it. Call it a sense of honor within - an
understanding that there is no real acceptance of responsibility without
making some personal sacrifice.
In 1975, John Profumo, OBE was advanced to CBE in recognition of his good
works. As Valerie Profumo would later say of her husband, summing up in a
few plain words what Sophocles was trying to tell us in all his Oedipus
plays, "It isn't what happens to a man, it's what he does with it that
matters."
John Profumo never complained, he never explained. He didn't write his
memoirs to counter Christine Keeler's attempt to live the rest of her life
off the Profumo Affair. He had nothing to say about the TV docudramas that,
for dramatic effect, added a lot of fiction to the bad-enough facts. Through
it all, the man just Went On.
At a dinner on her 70th birthday, Margaret Thatcher made a point of seating
Mr. Profumo next to the Queen. "His has been a very good life," said Lady
Thatcher, and who would dispute her? How strange: The Hon. Gentleman turned
out to be an honorable gentleman.
On his death earlier this year, the Yorkshire Post would contrast "Mr.
Profumo's 40-year silence with the nature of ministerial resignations
witnessed in the modern era. Far from accepting responsibility, disgraced
ministers, both Labor and Conservative, have sought to exploit their
misjudgment for financial gain before, in some cases, resuming their
political careers. This is why voters hold politicians in such low regard,
and why there was much to commend in John Profumo's quiet dignity."
In this country, politicians may accept responsibility, too, but only in
words. It's the political equivalent of confession without repentance. And
certainly without atonement. That is, worthless.
Donald Rumsfeld is still secretary of defense long after Abu Ghraib and a
whole tragic chain of miscalculations both strategic and tactical - even
though by now nothing might honor his office so well as his leaving it.
Dennis Hastert is still speaker of the House after the Foley scandal and
continuing disgrace. (More is surely to come.) At this point it's not clear
which is worse - that the speaker knew what was happening on his watch or
only should have known.
He's now offered to fire any staffers responsible for not blowing the
whistle on the errant congressman when somebody should have, but he isn't
about to give up the speakership himself.
There's a principle in the military: A commander is responsible for whatever
his unit does or fails to do. It's a matter of honor. What a pity the
principle has never caught on among politicians. Which helps explain why our
military is generally more respected than our political class.
Amid all the claims - but only claims - of responsibility in this unfolding
scandal, this much becomes clear: An American political party hasn't so
richly deserved to lose control of the House of Representatives since, well,
the Democrats in 1994. |