[Goose]

On the morality question, a 47 year-old with a 22 year-old could be considered a gray area, but it's definitely inappropriate when one person is the dean and the other is an active student. That said, I think the public shame and the likely loss of her careers in politics and academia are quite severe punishments for Ms. Lythcott-Haims.

While the "public shame" should IMO indeed cost Ms. Lythcott-Haims her political career, it is not clear that will be the case at all. We have significant evidence that much of the electorate (I fear probably most) does not consider personal morality, integrity or character at all in their political choices. If you appear to back the "correct" set of causes and are endorsed by the "right" people you are just fine, no matter what else you have done. It would be nice if that were not the case, but here we are. This situation is not confined to one party or political persuasion. It is demonstrably ubiquitous.

[Goose]

On the morality question, a 47 year-old with a 22 year-old could be considered a gray area, but it's definitely inappropriate when one person is the dean and the other is an active student. That said, I think the public shame and the likely loss of her careers in politics and academia are quite severe punishments for Ms. Lythcott-Haims.

While the "public shame" should IMO indeed cost Ms. Lythcott-Haims her political career, it is not clear that will be the case at all. We have significant evidence that much of the electorate (I fear probably most) does not consider personal morality, integrity or character at all in their political choices. If you appear to back the "correct" set of causes and are endorsed by the "right" people you are just fine, no matter what else you have done. It would be nice if that were not the case, but here we are. This situation is not confined to one party or political persuasion. It is demonstrably ubiquitous.