For myself, meself, I do not hold them to a higher standard, but I certainly hold them to the same high standard I hold for myself. I know Dani very intimately, and can also say that she lives by very high standards herself. It is not that we expect people in positions of public trust to exceed our expectations of ourselves. It is that we reasonably suppose and expect that those in positions of public trust, human as the rest of us, to be responsible with the public trust they have pursued and acheived.

In that I am a social worker and psychotherapist, I am very mindful and judiciously consider the ethics involved in my work. I have a duty to strive to be impeccable in upholding the ethics of my profession and public service, and to maintain very rigorous boundaries.   That is irrespective of whether I am talking about my private practice or my practice in public mental health.   I live and practice in a small rural community where there is likely to be some overlap in the personal and professional. This is all the more reason that I am obligated to strive for impeccable standards and boundaries.

Years before I went back to school for my master's degree to become a psychotherapist, I was still in State government and was a public servant. I have always ascribed to, and strived to live by standards that warrant the public trust. It is reasonable to expect the same of elected officials as I expect of myself. I am not a saint or a paragon of virtue, but I take my personal and professional responsibilities very seriously, and see no reason why others are incapable of the same.    I don't make a judgement on the personhood of people who cheat or lie, but I do make a judgement on the behaviors., and am quite comfortable condemning those behaviors. I think condemnation and social stigma for dishonest behaviors more socially constructive than destructive.