Yet another disappointment

 California Assemblyman Michael Dobbins Duvall resigned from office last Wednesday after a scandalous tape aired on television. 

The video clip, which caught a personal conversation between Duvall and his colleague during a committee meeting, explicitly revealed two alleged sexual affairs he had during his stay in Sacramento. And as if one was not bad enough already, he denied having
any sexual relations with the two women even though he was recorded boasting about them.

On his Web site Duvall is quoted, "I want to make it clear that my decision to resign is in no way an admission that I had an affair or affairs. My offense was engaging in inappropriate story-telling and  I regret my language and choice of words."

As a representative of Orange County, including Fullerton, Anaheim and Yorba Linda, Duvall was awarded the Ethics in America Award by Chapman University in 2000 for "demonstration of the highest standards of ethical integrity" and also received a 100 percent score from the Capitol Resource Institute for protecting family values. Now, he has lost all credibility as both a politician and husband.

The reveal of hypocritical politicians is not a new phenomenon. What is remarkable in this case is that the subject, Duvall, was unaware that the camera was still rolling.
And it was this technology that put him in his place off the pedestal where he should remain for the entirety of what is left of his "career."

It is safe to say that everyone agrees America is happy to have found the true identity of the well-disguised family man. That means there is one less fraud controlling our government and, therefore, our lives. Who, or what do we have to thank for this act of justice? A visual and audio recording device. 

Although many have abused the technology of a video camera by taping people making love or filming our pets playing musical instruments and uploading them onto YouTube, we need to come to terms with our enemy and realize that it can be good for us all. 

There are already cameras in the committee meeting halls. Should there be cameras in all rooms in government facilities monitoring all actions of our government officials? As much as we honor the idea of individual privacy, it would not hurt to be aware of what our politicians are doing with the time that we, the citizens, pay for. Surely, we have greater issues at our feet, but should we not take action to punish, correct and prevent such unacceptable and disgusting behavior for the good of our community?

The idea of a security camera may be ridiculous to some, but what is even more appalling is the fact that Duvall's mistress "came here in her underwear, Thursday." Setting up cameras in lawmakers' offices would only prevent such actions from occurring. It may be a trespassing of their privacy, but they work for our government and take our money, which we work long, exhausting hours to earn. At the least, we deserve to know who we are working so hard for.