The Plight of Sam Adams
In the US, we are fascinated with the private lives of our elected officials. It is probably healthy that we have a curiosity in such matters. When this curiosity becomes the means with which we try to drive those officials out of office, it becomes a serious problem. This problem has come up again, this time in the matter of the sex life of Portland Mayor Sam Adams.
While Adams was running for mayor last year, he was asked whether he had in the past had a sexual relationship with the then 18-year-old Beau Breedlove. Beau had worked as a legislative intern, starting when he was 17, and had been in contact with Adams during that time. Sometime during the summer after Breedlove had turned 18, Adams, who was 42 at the time, and Breedlove were sexual partners. According to a report in Willamette Week, Adams had denied the relationship when questioned during the recent election, and had continued to deny it until evidence surfaced this week that it had occurred.
Now that this information has come to the surface, opponents of Mayor Adams have been coming forward to encourage the mayor to resign. The similarities to this case and that of President Bill Clinton who in 1998 was accused of lying about having a consensual sexual relationship with an intern. In both cases, the allegations had nothing to do directly with carrying out the duties of the elected office. In both cases, opponents of the accused called for the ouster of the politician. In both cases, the loudest voices for getting rid of the politician were from those who had opposed them in the election. In both cases, other than the outcry caused by those obsessed by the fact that their elected leaders might have sex outside of marriage, there was little or no direct effect on the duties of the office.
The depth of this obsession became clear on Wednesday, when this local story became national news. Everybody loves a good sex scandal. But it is now time for everyone to get over their obsession and get back to work.
It is notable that when originally questioned about the situation, the question was posed in a way that suggested that Adams may have had sex with an underage person. Unless additional information is found that shows that this is true, we know so far that this is simply a consensual relationship between two adults. It is quite understandable that Adams would deny a relationship with an underage minor, especially since that didn’t happen. It is also absurd that we should care who the mayor had sex with three or four years ago, even if he didn’t admit to it.
Troubling is the comments of the head of the Portland Police Union. He is an opponent of Adams, has a grudge against him, and would take any opportunity to see Adams leave his post. In this article, we see that the Union head has a grudge against Adams, and in earlier comments made to radio news sources (Oregon Public Broadcasting), he simply accused the mayor of having sex with a 17-year-old. He and others are simply doing what they have to do to get rid of a political enemy. Predictably, the people who are upset about this are those who have political differences with Adams, and those actively supporting him are politically in his corner.
Lying about one’s sexual partner is probably not the most ethical choice, but the underlying question of whether he had sex with someone is not exactly Earth shattering news. Some will question whether the election results would have changed if he had not lied and admitted to having consensual sex. Probably not, considering the landslide by which he won. I would further suggest that someone would be pretty shallow to change their vote on who should be mayor based upon the revelation that a single candidate might have had sex with someone they were not married to. Horrors!
Apologies have been made. This has been discussed to death. Investigations are being done to determine whether Adams’ former sex partner was underage at the time the event occurred. Presuming that is not the case, since we have no evidence at this time that this accusation is true, it is time for Adams to get back to work doing the business of the City of Portland. At this point, most of the people who he will work with, with the notable exceptions of a few who would like to see him out of office anyway at any cost, have come forward to say that they are still willing to work with him.
I wish and expect Sam Adams to be back at his desk working by Monday Morning. Let’s put this behind us now.
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