This was a topic of discussion at a recent event and I would like to share it because it's been on my mind ever since I took my citizenship class:
I have recently come to the conclusion that our society has become way too harsh on our civil servants. What it boils down to is witch-hunt on a massive scale. I think that this results in fear from harsh public judgement, which is what is driving people away from being involved in politics in the first place. I would hate to always wonder if the decisions I made ten years ago are going to come back and bite me in the ass someday, but to have the entire nation know about it would make it infinitely worse.

We judge politicians so severely as if they were not humans beings but gods. I can tell you right now from all my knowledge of government and the way it works, that someone who has both pure intentions and is using only pure means of getting there won't get much good done. They'd get booed out of office before their term is even up. I am not asserting that politicians should not be held accountable to a higher standard than us mere mortals who are free to make mistakes and have weaknesses, but it should not be so high that it's nearly impossible to accomplish.

If you were unfortunate enough to pay attention to any of the political debates, you may come to realize that they bicker quite a bit about past voting records. This is understandable since that is the only empirical evidence that shows a person's conviction to their claims of holding certain ideologies and beliefs. However, I think it is over-emphasized when it comes to mistakes they made in the past. I think politicians should be allowed to change their minds on issues they gain new information about (such as the Iraq war) without so much cynical scrutiny over why they voted the way they did. I interpret it as Congress being misled and so were the American people during that time. End of story. On the one hand we expect them to make informed independent decisions based on their natural leadership abilities; on the other hand we only want that if it aligns with our opinions. If only they can somehow read our collective minds...

I feel particularly bad for Bill Clinton because of what he had to endure for fulfilling his only real weakness. No one should ever have to go through that for something so politically trivial. This is coming from someone who's extremely hard-nosed about fidelity in relationships too. I also think that he was forced into that situation where lying was the only instinctual way to preserve himself. I believe that sometimes policies must be bent or on the rare occasion broken in order to prevent arbitrary decisions from being made. Decisions that would harm society rather than help it.

I strongly dislike the idea of a single act defining how a person is viewed for the rest of their lives. That way of thinking closes the mind to all the acts before and after it that prove the contrary. I see people as always learning, always changing and evolving. If they refuse to learn/change and hold doggedly to their principles then I think that would be a good definition of a bad leader. The current president would fit that bill nicely, don't you think?