Oct 6, 2014 4 min read

The scandal that consumed former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart’s presidential campaign in 1987 has recently been exhumed in a book by journalist Matt Bai, who argues that the feeding frenzy surrounding Hart and the probability he had been caught having an affair irrevocably damaged political journalism, turning it toward personality and “character” and away from substance.

Reasonable people can agree or disagree with Bai’s thesis. But what stood out then about the Hart contretemps – and still stands out today – is the breathtaking lack of common sense Hart displayed in the episode. Given the persistent whispers about his marital fidelity, it would have been wise for Hart to conduct himself with monastic rigor until he had the Democratic nomination safely in hand. He didn’t, and his prospects were destroyed as a result.

Fast forward 27 years. There’s another scandal brewing involving sex – well, kind of – kicking up in Harrisburg. And like the Hart imbroglio, what stands out is less the legality of the behavior than it is the mind-boggling lack of common sense displayed by those involved.

So far, the discovery that several state officials were swapping pornographic emails with one another on state accounts has led to the resignation of Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Christopher Abruzzo and Glenn Parno, a lawyer within the DEP. More could follow. Admittedly, Abruzzo was probably going to be out of a job soon enough given the growing likelihood of Tom Wolf being elected governor next month. And Abruzzo will not really be all that missed – last year, in the midst of his confirmation hearings, he told the state Senate’s Environmental Resources and Energy Committee that he was unaware of “any scientific studies that would lead me to conclude there are adverse impacts” from climate change.

When he announced his resignation last week, Abruzzo asserted in true lawyerly fashion that while he had “no recollection of the specific accounts described by the media, I accept full responsibility for any lack of judgment I may have exhibited in 2009. I do not condone that behavior and it is not a reflection of the person or professional I am.”

And then there’s Seamus McCaffery, a justice on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, who, according to the Morning Call newspaper of Allentown, forwarded at least eight explicit emails to someone within the attorney general’s office. When approached about it, McCaffery launched into an aria of high dudgeon, telling a reporter, “Not only do I not have a comment, since when does the news media pry into personal emails?”, before telling the reporter to hightail it off his property.

Granted, McCaffery sent the email messages from his private account on his own time. But he sent them to the state account of a public employee, from which we can assume that the recipient would be looking at the messages while on the clock. Moreover, the fact that McCaffery felt comfortable enough to send such material to someone within the attorney general’s office suggests a relationship that is perhaps a little too chummy. As Chief Justice Ron Castille pointed out to the Morning Call, it certainly raises questions about McCaffery’s impartiality that could be used by defense attorneys in cases before the court.

Like it or not, pornography is not illegal. In fact, it’s a billion-dollar industry, particularly since it has migrated online. But it seems to us that high-profile public officials should be circumspect about the type of material they send via email, legal or not, particularly when they are using state accounts and these email messages can become a matter of public record.

Again, it’s all about common sense.