The more I read about the case of the recent Scottish finance secretary, the more bemused I was. I can understand that these days, a minister can't show an unrequited infatuation and get away with it. But many talked of Mr Mackay almost as of a child molester, while the worst that was reported was that he kept sending a 16-year-old frequent social media messages, including one in which he called him 'cute'.
I mean, come on. An ordinary teenager unable to block on social media somebody whose
messages he doesn't like receiving is a bit hard to imagine. Not to mention that we're talking about somebody who according to (not only) the SNP is old and mature enough to take part in a general election.
And then, presumably the youngster was indeed cute in the older man's eyes. So what? Next you'll be telling me that my not daring to even offer a handshake to somebody introduced to me if he's the least bit attractive isn't a result of having been growing up in a puritanical environment, but a desirable grown-up behaviour.
Mr Mackay is obviously no philosopher and nobody will order him to drink hemlock, but the accusations that he was 'grooming' the young guy do sound like a faint echo of the accusation that Socrates had been 'corrupting the youth'.
No comments:
Post a Comment