There is a certain irony to the current row over Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s alleged tryst with a woman at the Grove Park Inn prior to speaking at the Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast in Asheville earlier this month.

It is understandable that some may feel Kilpatrick’s indiscretions — if they indeed happened — with a woman other than his wife tainted the annual celebration of King’s legacy.

However, it is worth recognizing that King himself was known to carry on extramarital affairs — often in hotel rooms during his extensive travels.

King once famously defended his trysts as a form of “stress-reduction” for a man who spent far more days away from his wife than with her.

While one may find fault with his logical justifications, one thing is clear — King’s sexual improprieties did not stop him from making a profound contribution to society.

As a culture deeply rooted in puritanical mores, we tend to ascribe great significance to the sexual choices of our leaders and role models — perhaps too much significance.

Consider, for instance, the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998 on charges of perjury related to his extramarital affair.

One certainly could make the case that the current administration has shown brazen dishonesty on matters of far more dire consequence than what Bill Clinton did with his interns (or his cigars).

But somehow, lying about sexual conduct seems to enrage many Americans far more than, say, less-than-honest statements about leaking the identity of a CIA operative or whether Saddam Hussein was seeking uranium from Africa.

Still, the fact remains that Clinton lied about his affair, and hence had to pay a steep political price.
This, too, is the reason why Kilpatrick may soon be charged with perjury; his statements under oath denying his sexual affairs seem to be contradicted by highly explicit text messages he sent to his chief of staff and alleged mistress, Christine Beatty (who resigned Monday).

Surely, if he were alive today, it would not be Kilpatrick’s sex life that King would find fault with; it would be his dishonesty, and perhaps the long list of other scandals, indiscretions and abuses of power that have plagued Kilpatrick’s time in office.

Meanwhile, we think that it might be wise for the prayer breakfast’s sponsors to do a little more background checking on their speakers. While some sexual promiscuity might be less relevant in the case of a man like King, in Kilpatrick’s case there is a long list of concerns that a couple of minutes on Google would have quickly brought to light.