Written by Michael Thervil
As you all should by now, we at VEDA Magazine don’t lean towards any one political party or the other. Now that we have made that point clear we want to talk about Virginia Democratic Candidate Susanna Gibson who is running for the Virginia House of Delegates, 57th District. According to her website she "is a mom, Nurse Practitioner and public health expert who has spent her career helping people and advocating for our families." Also according to her website. her areas of political focus and priorities are centered around reproductive rights, education and families, addressing gun violence, economy and small business, energy and the environment, protecting equality, advocating for seniors and mental health and substance abuse.
What makes her stand out to us besides the fact that she is running for a political seat within the state of Virginia is that the mass media and thus her political opponents have resorted to using an alleged leaked sex tape featuring her which has recently surfaced on the internet. This begs the question, should what one does in their personal life have any bearing on their ability to run for and administer governance within a political body.
For us at VEDA Magazine the answer is a clear and concise “No”. However, people around the world who follow politics may not share this same position. In a world where image seems to be everything – we are constantly bombarded with news and headlines of some “squeaky clean” politician, law enforcement officer, teacher, or anyone else in a position of public trust “misbehaving” being perceived as misbehaving themselves within the public eye. Some people will make the point that what one does and behaves in their personal life serves as an indicator of where their sense of character, work ethics, morals and values lie. But the challenging question of the day in contrast to that conventional logic is: “is that really the case?”.
Once again, we at VEDA Magazine will have to say: “No”. the reason for this is because when studying the job performance of people that have been convicted of a felony offense in America it’s been found by Harvard Kennedy School that:
“Those with a felony background show no difference in attrition rates due to poor performance compared to those without criminal records. Moreover, ex-felons are promoted more quickly and to higher ranks than other enlistees.”
Augmenting this position is a 41-page report written by Jennifer Lundquist (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Devah Pager (Harvard University), and Eiko Strader (University of Massachusetts Amherst) in a research paper entitled: “Does A Criminal Past Predict Worker Performance? Evidence From America's Largest Employer” – and the largest employer being the United States Military. The research conducted concluded that:
“Our research demonstrates that, given a holistic screening process, hiring ex-felons can result in adequate, and even advantageous, worker outcomes.”
Moreover, their findings stated that:
Now granted, Susanna Gibson is nowhere near of being convicted for a felony for appearing in a sex tape that allegedly features her and her husband in it. However, what these studies do show is that by her allegedly being seen in a sex tape with her husband; it demonstrates that her heterosexual sex life with her husband has absolutely no bearing on whether or not she is able to effectively and efficiently administer governance over the people in which she would be presiding over. In fact, to use this alleged sex tape to bar her from running for and or obtaining a position in any facet of the political system in this country is akin to engaging in a form of discrimination. This is especially true since it’s been established by reputable research provided by the Harvard Kennedy School and other scholars of Ivy League Universities that one's personal transgressions have little to no effect on their job performance.
Remember people are people and they have lives and other things that capture their interests outside of the professional/political environment. We think that its time everyone starts accepting that. So, with that said, we at VEDA Magazine wish Virginia democratic candidate Susanna Gibson all the best of luck in her political endeavors and we firmly believe that if elected by the people of Virginia who voted for her that she will do right by them. The same thoughts and wishes also shall be extended to any other person running for any kind of political office or not. It is time that America stops the systematic discriminatory practices within both their political and socio-economic systems and learn to embrace the very diversity that they push and often force other nations around the world to embrace. Susanna Gibson Instagram is: @susannasgibson and her website is: www.susannagibson.com
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