No sympathy for politicians (even if they're women): 3 cases

Rep. Ilhan Omar is under scrutiny for alleged misuse of campaign funds, although the FEC is unable to investigate right now. And it's revealed that her marriage history is complicated.

I suspect the complaint against her is politically-motivated by five factors, in order of importance:

1. She is a prominent, outspoken, and "far-left" Democrat.
2. She's Muslim.
3. She's an immigrant.
4. Despite her prominence, she does not have clout with or the support of Democratic leadership.
5. She's a woman, and not the "good" kind (see #1).

I presume she's innocent of campaign finance wrongdoing, but no politician wants or seeks their personal life under close scrutiny.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand dropped out of the Democratic Presidential race. It was doubtful she would go far anyway, but apparently there was noticeable lack of support among fellow Democratic leaders, who blamed her for "forcing" Sen. Al Franken to resign over #MeToo issues. The former entertainer had been an effective partisan fighter for the party.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the butt of jokes about her intelligence, or alleged lack thereof. Not a day goes by when I don't see at least one meme exploiting her wide eyes. Her youth, inexperience, and sudden rise to fame provoked quite the backlash.

If these three women were in other industries, I might feel sorry for them or be angry:

• If Omar is a corporate boss, do male CEO's get this much scrutiny over their personal lives and expense accounts involving professional associates?
• If tech executive Gillibrand took a stand for the #MeToo movement in her industry and was blackballed, wouldn't raise a concern about sexism?
• If AOC was an entertainer and the butt of jokes as she is now, isn't that just mean? What did she ever do to you? 

What did she ever do to you?

That's the difference between politicians, male and female, and people in the voluntary, non-coercive sector. The latter want to leave you alone. When they face unwarranted scrutiny, double standards, or ridicule, I sympathize or empathize.

But politicians run the government. They want to do things to you. As Pierre-Joseph Proudhon put it in The General Idea of the Revolution (1851),

To be governed is to be watched over, inspected, spied on, directed, legislated at, regulated, docketed, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, assessed, weighed, censored, ordered about, by men who have neither the right, nor the knowledge, nor the virtue. … To be governed is to be at every operation, at every transaction, noted, registered, enrolled, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under the pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be placed under contribution, trained, ransomed, exploited, monopolized, extorted, squeezed, mystified, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, despised, harassed, tracked, abused, clubbed, disarmed, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and, to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, outraged, dishonoured. That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality.

Politicians have a different morality. Their entire plan is to impose double-standards and unfairness on us, even if the Democrats, neocon Republicans, and Trump Republicans would do so differently.

As such, they are never the victims of unfairness or double-standards themselves. The injustice that an unjust person receives is of his or her own making.

James Leroy Wilson writes from Nebraska. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter. If you find value in his articles, your support through Paypal helps keep him going. Permission to reprint is granted with attribution.