The elected executive carried on a steamy adulterous affair with a female subordinate, and lied about it under oath in the very public trial of a lawsuit the could have been settled more cheaply out of court. The charismatic leader's loyal supporters vilified and attacked his accusers. Suddenly, irrefutable evidence surfaced: his denials were lies.

No, this isn't a stroll down memory lane for devoted fans of the presidency of William Jefferson Clinton. This is the very current scandal that has enveloped Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick's sexual relationship with his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, was the key allegation in a lawsuit against the city brought by two former police officers, who said the mayor had fired them because of their role in an internal affairs investigation that could have uncovered the mayor's secret. Both Kilpatrick and Beatty denied everything under oath, accusing the officers of trying to extort money from the city with false claims. The lawsuit ended up costing the economically-strapped city nine million dollars in damages and attorney fees. Then hubba-hubba text-messages between the mayor and his chief of staff surfaced that left little doubt about the nature of their relationship.

Is Detroit bitterly divided, with angry supporters of the mayor arguing that the scandal is "just about sex" and that it only involves "personal misconduct" that should be irrelevant to his high office? Strangely, no! Oh, here and there are silly letters to the editor arguing that the attacks on Kilpatrick are based on his race, or that he has been so effective a mayor (actually, he hasn't been) that the sex scandal shouldn't bring him down. But most of the public reaction has echoed the Detroit Free Press editorial that said in part…

"…The mayor's actions only add to the negative perception much of the nation has of the city. Instead of national television and radio broadcasts talking about the city's resurgence and potential, it's the butt of jokes. Detroit and the state is in economic distress. His continued leadership could be another reason for companies and individuals to bypass investing in the area when considering locations to do business and live. Character counts… [Kilpatrick] has done a terrible disservice to the city by putting his personal interests above what was best for the city. Mr. Kilpatrick owes Detroit an apology and his resignation. If he loves the city as much as he professes, he'll give both, soon."

Yet what in Kilpatrick's conduct makes him unworthy of his office, while a majority of the country and an entire national political party maintained that Bill Clinton's conduct was excusable? Both leaders lied under oath, violating the laws they had sworn to protect. Both had illicit and adulterous affairs with subordinates, a cardinal management sin, and Clinton's was worse: it had all the elements----disparity in power, age, position and prestige---of per se coercion and sexual harassment. Both affairs were expensive, and ferreting out Clinton's cover-up cost more than nine million dollars. Both caused the leaders involved to be the objects of jokes and ridicule, though in the case of President Clinton the ridicule was national, nightly, and lasted for more than a year. Both diverted a government's attentions from public matters and the needs of the people to legal maneuvering, and unless you think that Detroit is more important than the United States of America, it is obvious which scandal did the most damage to a community's welfare. Both leaders placed their "personal interests above what was best" for the citizens who had entrusted them with their welfare and security. And Clinton's frenzied efforts to stay in office created a massive political polarization in the country that has warped political discourse ever since.

So…what is the difference between these two blatant examples of unethical political leadership? Easy: Clinton's was far worse, and he got away with it.

Today a full forty percent of Americans who support the candidacy of Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination say that admiration for her husband is one of the reasons. These citizens, every last one of them, desperately need to re-examine the standards of honesty, trustworthiness, selflessness, accountability and leadership they require, not only of their elected leaders, but of themselves and everyone they know.

Because the Detroit Free Press was absolutely right. Kwame Kilpatrick has disqualified himself to be a mayor, just like Bill Clinton disqualified himself to be president.