THE SCOLDS RETURN

Well at least Larry Kudlow is honest. The economics writer for National Review weighs in this morning on the Condit case. His argument? Condit should resign already because he has committed adultery. In fact, anyone who commits adultery should resign from public office. For Kudlow, there is no distinction between private and public life – and immoral people have no right to have any privacy at all. “Judeo-Christian religions teach that marital fidelity and faithfulness are the building blocks of a civilization and society,” Kudlow writes. “Without them, there can be no stability. This is not a trifling point. It is a major point. It’s not merely that he covered up the affair, but that he had the affair.” He goes on: “Flimsy distinctions between private and public behavior ignore all this and serve merely to muddy the waters of proper conduct. Those Ten Commandments should govern our behavior at all times. There is no difference between public and private actions; they are all of the same piece.” Wow. Kudlow even looks kindly on a law in the District making adultery a crime. Doesn’t that make this public? Presumably, Kudlow supports outing anyone he disapproves of if they are gay, especially if they live in states with sodomy laws. The fact that a leading conservative writer can see absolutely no necessity for a public-private distinction in a liberal democracy shows how degenerate some conservatism now is. Give me an adulterer over an ayatollah any day.