by Abdul-Hakim Shabazz

(Warning, this blog post contains language and themes that might not be suitable for more sensitive readers.)

My parents raised five boys and when we were old enough to start dating, they gave us some frank, blunt advice, “don’t let the little head do the thinking for big one.”   For most of us it worked and we never gave them grandchildren sooner than they were ready for them.

Indiana lawmakers need to remember that too, especially in the digital age.

By now you are well aware of the sex scandal involving former Indiana House Majority Leader Jud McMillin and his cell phone.  By the way, I was one of the people who received the first text that his phone had been stolen while he was Canada.

I’ve known McMillin since he came to the legislature in 2010, we’ve always had a good relationship and I always thought he was a sharp guy.  But sometimes, our private parts can get the best of us.  Just ask State Representative Justin Moed and former State Rep. Phil Hinkle.

And while a politician and a sex scandal is nothing new (see David and Bathsheba) it’s even worse for Republicans in an age of same-sex marriage debates, HJR-3, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the upcoming debate over adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s civil rights code coupled with camera phones and social media.

Republicans, rightly or wrongly, have been labelled the party of “morality and family values” so it doesn’t help when the family values we’re talking about look like the Kardashians.  This is part of the reason why encourage my GOP friends to leave that “family values” nonsense alone and focus on jobs and the economy which are much better at building strong families than holier-than-thou rhetoric.

But I digress.

I am not going to make a judgment call over what led McMillin to what he did. That’s for him and his family to work out and I hope they do.   I will make a judgment call over the fact that whatever the act was, it ended up being recorded.  He should have known better.

And this episode should be a lesson to all lawmakers and anyone in the public eye.  When you’re getting your kicks below the waistline, don’t be shocked if you end up getting bitten in the rear.  Of course, for some folks that might actually be a fetish.

Abdul-Hakim Shabazz is the editor of IndyPolitics.Org.