>
>The report is that he did not pay support and has denied the relationship.
>Combining lying with being a deadbeat dad moves this from personal conduct
>to public morality. If he secretly paid support, he will be fine I agree,
>but if the report is true of denial and no support, he will be hoisted on
>his own "responsibility" rhetoric and driven out.
I read the reports, though obviously not carefully enough, but I didn't catch this. Still, if he were the father then why didn't she have the paternity test done a long time ago? Prob b/c they paid her off, no? And besides, you think people are going to have some sort of sympathy with her against him. Of course, he's likely to deny fathering a child, she was a prostitute and, ostensibly, any number of men could have fathered that child. I'm not saying he's right; I'm just characterizing what I think public opinion is likely to be. Oh for awhile we'll have some heated conversations and then it'll die down as it has in the past. I just don't think that they'll get much out of this is all.
There was a case reported in Slate not too long ago. The author maintained that women who deceive their partners into fathering children are committing 'monetary fraud' Furthermore, the editor typed, as far as he was concerned this is the only type fraud that is regularly *rewarded* Yeah, that's right: A journalist could bring himself to say rather easily it appears that colleting child support from relunctant male parents is a form of monetary fraud. And when Brad de Long and I brought it up on another list--a list of relatively left leaning people--there were just as many mails in supporting this assertion as there were disgusted by it.
> Many have teetered at that spot in recent
>months and this will be the final push.
Maybe in the political arena. But in terms of public opinion I don't think it'll matter one wit. I think no one will be surprised after eveything that's come out. It may well, though, be enough to justify a push toward impeachment. But again, I think if they get too carried away tarring and feathering people are going to get sick of it really quickly.
K