-Caveat Lector- Sex Scrutiny Casts Pall Over U.S. Public Office WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The closer scrutiny of politicians' sex lives is making private acts increasingly public as a sex magazine publisher Tuesday threatened to expose more lawmakers over alleged transgressions. The year of one sexual revelation after another has taken a toll on both the Democratic White House and Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives. The impact on public life and those who seek it can only be negative, analysts said. ``It's hard to imagine a greater disincentive to enter public life,'' said Thomas Mann, director of governmental studies at the Brookings Institution. The year was marked by the release of graphic details about President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. That was followed by some House Republican critics of Clinton admitting to extramarital affairs when it became clear that details of the affairs were going to be published. Consequences for both sides have been harsh. Clinton became only the second president in U.S. history to be impeached. The charges against him stemmed from attempts to cover up an affair near the Oval Office with the former White House intern. The incoming House speaker, Bob Livingston, a Louisiana Republican, took the most dramatic step by resigning on the morning of the impeachment vote last Saturday. That came two days after he publicly admitted to extramarital affairs. The message, Rep. Barney Frank said after Livingston's announcement, was: ``Be careful.'' The Massachusetts Democrat noted that among the Republicans recently admitting to affairs, Livingston was the only one to resign. Frank said that suggested that ``the higher up you go, the more careful you've got to be.'' It was the higher-ups that Larry Flynt, publisher of the sex magazine ``Hustler,'' was chasing with his $1 million bounty. The monetary offer made in early October was for stories from people who proved they committed adultery with members of Congress or other high-ranking government officials. ``We've offered up to a million dollars. And I tell you, Livingston is only the first,'' Flynt said on ABC's ``Good Morning America'' Tuesday. ``There are more shoes to fall ... It could be as many as a dozen. Investigations are ongoing now,'' Flynt said, adding that the magazine intended to publish names. Some people said the exposures have resulted from a desire to unveil hypocrisy in the ranks of lawmakers sitting in judgement of the president. ``We just wanted to expose the hypocrisy in Washington. They should not have any skeletons in their closet,'' Flynt said. Exposing politicians' indiscretions would give pause to people in public office, analysts said. ``For people who are in office, I suspect there are a number of sleepless nights,'' said Norman Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. It would also be a hindrance to those considering public office. ``It has to do with what by any standards would be private things, suddenly becoming public,'' Ornstein said. The under-the-covers investigations had been political tit-for-tat by Democrats and Republicans, some analysts said. ``Now we're in an arms race. It's ugly, it's destructive,'' Mann of Brookings said. He said it was unfortunate that Livingston resigned. ``The only way to defeat it is to stand fast and fight it out,'' Mann said, adding he was not criticizing the lawmaker, because in the end ``these are personal decisions.'' It would be a negative development if the current climate resulted in essentially a band of government officials whose main criteria were never having sinned sexually, Ornstein said. ``There are other criteria that ought to be more dominant ones for who should be in public office,'' he said. ================================= Robert F. Tatman [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Remove "nospam" from the address to reply. NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml POSTING THIS MESSAGE TO THE INTERNET DOES NOT IMPLY PERMISSION TO SEND UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL E-MAIL (SPAM) TO THIS OR ANY OTHER INTERNET ADDRESS. 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