Men Who Cheat and the Media Who Report Them

Famous men who cheat on their wives bring down the morale of our whole culture. Each new broken marriage chips away at our collective belief that monogamy is possible. Each additional cracked marriage reported by the media chips away at the sanctity of marriage. Each new story about cheating men demoralizes women who want to believe in the honor of men. Each new story about cheating men lowers the standards for other men and lowers the expectations of women. Each sad story is leading our society to mediocrity.

Do wives cheat? Yes. But for now, wives are a separate topic because we don't turn on the television and constantly hear about wives breaking up their own marriages. However, we hear plenty about women who think it's okay to sleep with another woman's husband. Note to the other woman: The odds are almost zero that this man will leave his wife for you.

The media has torpedoed the concept of marriage. Entertainment news makes bundles of money reporting the downfall of men and the humiliation of the injured wife and kids. Unfortunately, it is not the reporting of facts that dominates air time. It's the hashing, rehashing, judging, and arguing about what the involved parties have done and what they might do. Now the media spends hundreds of hours relegating itself to philosophizing and moralizing on the mistakes of lying men and trusting women. Little of what we hear is actual news.

The position an individual takes on a story about cheating tells more about that person than the actual story. For instance, men who say that cheating is only a matter of opportunity are telling on themselves and what they have done or what they will do with opportunity. Women who say that all men cheat have quit looking for an honorable man--or they have convinced themselves that honor doesn't exist. This view allows them to tolerate their own marriage without standing their ground.

Each politician's wife who publicly stands by her man contributes to the low standards our society now tolerates. Think how different we'd all feel if Hillary Clinton had kicked Bill's ass to the curb. But she was too far wedged into the political system to put her personal feelings before her political future. The way things went down hurt the people of this country. Bill Clinton was a terrible leader of morality. What does this say about a leader who cannot be trusted with your sister or your daughter? What respect did Mr. President have for women, or for this country for that matter, to have such low regard for the First Lady of this country?

Tiger Woods doesn't owe us as much as Bill Clinton did--who actually fooled around in a building that is paid for by taxpayers. And if Bill Clinton fooled around with interns during work hours, he did so on taxpayer dollars. My guess is that Tiger Woods was a late bloomer who didn't really get much nookie until he became popular. And now he's like a kid in a candy store.

One quick word to the media about Sandra Bullock: If you like Sandra as much as you say you do, stop dragging her marriage through the mud. Stop looking for more "other women," and stop the daily mention of her failed marriage. Sandra is a strong woman, and in five years she'll either be enjoying her independence, or she'll be with a man who is too smart to cheat.

People who think cheating is wrong need to stand up and be counted. There's nothing funny about what Bill Clinton or Tiger Woods did. Both of them hurt many people. Men who cheat are not studs; they are people who don't respect themselves, and they put immediate gratification first. A cheater is someone who breaks a promise; a cheater can't be trusted. Those qualities are not sexy; they are sad. A cheating man is a sad person who has lost his way. Let's tell the truth and describe cheating accurately. As long as we wink and laugh at stories about cheating, we are collectively lowering the values of our culture.