Marriage, family, career, reputation: These are all things that people and politicians in America claim they hold so dear. People get elected because they appear to have wholesome family values and are strong pillars of the community.

If this is the case, then can someone tell me why since the beginning of time men have been willing to throw all that they have worked for out the window for sex? And not just flings with interns, but prostitutes! Violating the very law that they claim to stand for. This has just really bugged me. I don’t want to pass judgment on anyone. I know that no one is perfect and that we all make mistakes. I have made more than my fair share. But is it just in man's nature to cheat? I am not saying this to make excuses for men, but I honestly cannot think of any other reason why these intelligent, experienced men would take the people who love them, the people who look up to them, and the people who donate to their campaigns and literally screw them over. By participating in these trysts, and illicit affairs, they damage the fabric of American society far more than two men or two women getting married ever will.

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer joins a long line of politicians who are “deeply sorry” for the pain that they caused when they decided to employ the services of a prostitute. Every news channel is covering this story as if it is something new. (http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/12/spitzer/index.html, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23572671/). Even Foreign press has gotten a hold of the story (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ny-governor-resigns-over-scandal-794716.html )

I am writing this not to just express my frustration, but to foster open and honest communication between men and women about cheating and sex. For years Europeans have thought that the severe stance that Americans took on the issue was childish and an unrealistic view of human nature. For years I disagreed, thinking that men who cheated were lousy scum of the earth who should be avoided at all costs, and the women who stayed with them were stupid with low self-esteem.

As I grow older and time after time I see sniveling politicians apologizing, I also see the women who love them right by their side, stating that they will stick by their man. Now these women are not stupid. They are far from it. Perhaps they know a secret that some of us do not.

As a single woman who is on the cusp of thinking seriously about marriage, I would like to know the truth before I take the plunge. Is it just in man's nature to cheat? And will his love for me ever be stronger than his love of sex, and new people to experience sex with?