Texas Congressman Joe Barton will not be seeking reelection in 2018. His decision came as no great surprise, certainly not as great as his arrogance and frankly, his stupidity. Joe Barton, now an almost ex-congressman, decided to do some “good old-fashioned” sexting.
He allowed a photo of himself naked to be circulated online. How or why it happened, a frontal nude photo of Barton, his genitals blurred out, got broadcast over websites like Twitter. When it first happened, Barton said the photo was indeed him, and he said it came about as a lapse of judgment during one of several extramarital affairs before his second divorce.
He has admitted to “sexual relationships with other mature adult women.” Along with the image were sexually explicit comments. His comment on the decision to broadcast his picture: “I am sorry that I let my constituents down.”
He may have let his constituents down, but nowhere as much as he let himself down through his incredibly bad choices. Perhaps that is at the core of the problem; he is clueless.
Fighting all the way
Ellis County, just south of Dallas, while not densely populated is influential in its commerce. Texas Congressman Joe Barton has held the seat as the congressman since 1985.
He has been known as the unofficial dean of the Texas delegation. His voice was the voice of a respected politician. When the scandal broke, the 68-year-old politician at first attempted to fight it all of the way. The pressure mounted against him and ultimately, he conceded that, “it is time to step aside and let there be a new voice.”
Barton repeatedly attempted to brush aside his behavior by proclaiming his loyalty to his constituency, “As a young Congressman, my slogan was ‘listening to you in Texas, working for you in Washington. For me that was never just a saying, but a commitment – a way of life.” He was not about to go down without a fight. He repeatedly met with public relations firms to construct a crisis communications plan and to save his reputation. There are things a public official can do that are very difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. In a Conservative district, like Ellis County, Barton’s actions, much like Anthony Weiner’s actions in a Liberal district of New York, cannot be easily excused.
At every turn, Barton’s fellow lawmakers expressed their embarrassment at his private lifestyle of debauchery. Republican Party Chairman Randy Bellomy said, “His lifestyle is inconsistent with Republican ideals, and he has brought disgrace not only to Ellis County and the 6th Congressional District, but also to the people of Texas and this great nation.”
Whether Republican, Democrat or Independent ideals are not the issue here, what is in question is highly unethical behavior and his inability to make clear decisions.
Texas Democratic Party Executive Director Crystal Perkins in speaking of Barton’s soon to be vacated seat said, “Serving in elected office is one of the highest honors bestowed on a citizen. Texans are right to believe that public servants (on both sides of the aisle) should be held to the highest moral and ethical standard.”
But what are the ethical standards? More importantly, who teaches these ethical standards?
Arrogance and egotism
The arrogance of Texas Congressman Joe Barton, came as a result of a lack of oversight or at least a lack of ethical checks on his behavior. Elected again and again as a “Conservative Republican” in a Conservative county, all Barton apparently had to do was to convey a public image and carry increasing amounts of power and ego.
At 68, Barton was hardly a victim of teenage indiscretions. He was a fully grown “man” displaying the poor choices of a child. Ignoring his immature, even emotionally ill behavior, we are still left with the fact that he knew that as long as he could separate his public persona from his private indecency, he had the opportunity to get away with whatever he wanted. For a while, he did.
How or why his picture and explicit texts went from a private phone to the internet we will never know. It may have been due to jealousy, pay back or sheer stupidity. In any case his arrogance and ego at believing he was above reproach – because he felt he could, has caused his downfall.
I sincerely doubt his fellow politicians were clueless as to Barton’s private life. There was no one to raise an ethical flag, and no one in place to even teach how good ethics were supposed to look in Ellis County.
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