Married to the job?

We’re fortunate to live at a time when so many battles for women’s rights have already been fought. Women can vote, women hold prominent positions in society and women excel in equal numbers to men at institutions like Princeton. Moreover, many men and women manage to marry without sacrificing their careers.

But liberals have recently reopened the debate over married couples in powerful positions in a misguided political ploy. I suppose some members of our own generation would think it just as well that no one get married anymore. But for those of us who do see the good in marriage — a majority of college students, based on the most recent statistics — it’s time to stop listening to the frivolous ethical accusations against Justice Clarence Thomas and Ginni Thomas or Dr. George Will GS ’68 and Mari Maseng Will just because they share a last name and a line of work. True allegations would be another matter, but so far, no one has actually proven any wrongdoing.

Many critics of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas have called on him to recuse himself because his wife, Ginni Thomas, is a conservative political activist who opposes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as “Obamacare”). PPACA is, of course, before the Court this term. It’s entirely conceivable that the Thomases will one day face a case where Mrs. Thomas is party to litigation before the Court or her work gives them a financial interest in the outcome of a case. If that day ever comes, I have no doubt that Justice Thomas will recuse himself.

But in this case, no one has found any evidence of a financial interest. No one has suggested that Mrs. Thomas is a party to the case, either. In short, there is no reason to think that a member of our country’s highest court does not possess the integrity to separate what his spouse thinks from what he thinks and, more importantly, from what the Constitution says. To my mind, this is simply another unfair attack on Justice Thomas, long-mocked as a dunce by ideological opponents who don’t know any better.

There are other cases, too. The Washington Post’s ombudsman recently responded to accusations that columnist Will was biased because his wife worked as a political operative in the presidential race. Nevermind that Will disclosed his wife’s involvement with the Bachmann camp during one of his regular appearances on ABC’s “This Week.” And don’t pay too much attention to the fact that Will wrote a column berating Gov. Mitt Romney as the “pretzel” candidate, even though Maseng Will had been affiliated with Romney’s operation. The ombudsman suggested that Will ideally might have been more forthcoming in his disclosures about his wife’s activity, but he found no real wrongdoing.

In lobbing these allegations, the left is disregarding the gains made by American men and women who want to lead fulfilling lives together. The left would no doubt prefer that these two couples retire from politics entirely. There may even be an element of liberal astonishment that any woman could possibly support right-of-center positions. But it does us a great disservice to falsely put marriage and career at loggerheads.

Here at Princeton, our own marriages are probably the furthest thing from our minds. According to a study from 2010, however, marriage remains relatively common among college-educated individuals, despite an overall downward trend. So permit me, if you will, a thought experiment. You’re five years out of school and engaged. Both of you work in politics. It’s unlikely that either of you will want to give up your chosen field after many years of hard work at college and afterwards, though both of you may make some sacrifices to raise your children. It’s also unlikely that either of you will want to break off the engagement. You’re both ethical people who realize that there may be conflicts of interest, which you agree to handle as they arise. Until they do, you conclude, it’s unfair for people to accuse you of being unethical. And yet, if the same standards are applied to you as were applied to Thomas and Will, you would be subject to incessant accusations of misconduct.

There is nothing easy about living in a world where the careers of a husband and wife might conflict. Just ask James Carville and Mary Matalin. But I am confident that college students can understand that it is a challenge to be met, not a weapon to be wielded by one’s opponents. Whether you agree with the Wills or the Thomases politically, I can’t fathom endorsing these kinds of baseless political attacks.

As the cliche goes, couples will have to cross the bridge of a real conflict of interest when they come to it. If a political figure or anyone else ever commits a real ethical transgression, you will find no harsher critic than me. Until then, there is no merit, and much harm, in false charges of ethical wrongdoing for the purposes of political gain.

Brian Lipshutz is a politics major from Lafayette Hill, Pa. He can be reached at lipshutz@princeton.edu.