Kynlíf, ást, auður og stjórnmál.

Við íslendingar erum ekki vanir að fjallað sé mikið um einkalíf stjórnmálamanna, alla vegna ekki nema að þeir kjósi það sjálfir, og ekki man ég eftir neinni grein um eða viðtali við íslenskan stjórnmálamann sem hefur komið inn á kynlíf hans eða elskhuga.

Sjálfsagt eru skiptar skoðanir um hvernig beri að fjalla um slík mál, en oft er ábyggilega betra að fjallað sé um slíkt í opinberum miðlum, frekar en það verði "eitthvað sem menn hafa heyrt".

En hér í Kanada er hefðin nokkuð önnur og kanadabúar ýmsu vanir (margir vilja halda því fram að "Trudeau tímabilið" hafi breytt þessu varanlega) og hér kalla fjölmiðlar ekki allt "ömmu sína" þegar kemur að þessum málum. 

Belinda Stronach er einn af þeim þingmönnum sem hefur vakið mikla athygli undanfarin misseri, bæði á pólítíska sviðinu og einkalífinu.  Hún skipti um flokk á miðju kjörtímabili sem þýddi sambandsslit við þingflokksformann flokksins sem hún yfirgaf.  Hún fékk að "launum" ráðherrastöðu, en sú stjórn féll skömmu síðar, hún hefur nýverið verið nefnd sem "þriðji aðilinn" í skilnaðarmáli sem vekur mikla athygli.  Ofan á þetta má bæta að hún erfingi stórveldis í bílaiðnaðinum, var forstjóri þess áður en hún sneri sér að stjórnmálum og sagði bless við u.þ.b. hálfs milljarðs árslaun.

En vefsíða Globe and Mail er með úttekt á Belindu í dag og er farið yfir feril hennar án allrar tæpitungu.

Ég er ekki frá því að stjórnmálin hafi haft gott af þátttöku Belindu, hún er vissulega umdeild, en er hreinskilin og óhrædd við að segja frá hlutunum eins og þeir eru.

Nokkrir bitar úr umfjölluninni:

"Belinda Stronach, multimillionaire divorcée and recent minister of the Crown, likes sex. She likes athletes' good, hard bodies. Acquaintances say she's partial to younger men. And, being a dude magnet, she appears able to come-hither any hunk who catches her eye.

Canadians, of course, have been down this road before with a public figure.

Pierre Trudeau, multimillionaire divorcé; prime minister, liked dancers, writers, academics, musicians, the odd U.S. heiress — who can forget Texas party blonde Lacey Neuhaus? — in fact, just about anything female and many years younger than himself.

It never deterred anyone in the country from labelling Mr. Trudeau an intelligent, serious public figure.

But welcome to post-gender equality in Canada: Never before have we had a woman politician playing out this narrative. "We're a young country yet," sighed a seasoned Liberal Party insider, who felt it wiser to speak off the record.

Ms. Stronach's three years in public life have been marked by a blizzard of gossip about her being a playgirl ditz, nightclubbing her way through champagne fountains and being dumb as a board with a breast job. (Come to think of it, there was a lot of talk about Mr. Trudeau having had a facelift.)

This past week, the 40-year-old, physically appealing, superbly fit and one-time Conservative, now Liberal, member of Parliament for the suburban Toronto riding of Newmarket-Aurora has been identified quaintly as "the other woman" in a divorce action against former Toronto Maple Leafs player Tie Domi, 36."

"As for sex qua sex, she tells her biographer, Calgary Herald columnist Don Martin, that she loves men and that sex is "great. Better than golf." She goes on: "What better thing is there? Let's face it. I don't sit at home and knit on Friday nights. I'm single. What do you expect me to be — a hermit?"

Exactly. But Canadians have to get used to hearing a woman in public life talk that way.

At which point, they will be able to discover there's a real Ms. Stronach — a person, a politician, attempting to contribute to Canadian public life — beyond the smirks and this week's lip-smacking media coverage of her revealed affair with a man reportedly caught sneaking in and out by the security cameras on his own house. Which admittedly is pretty funny.

And a real Ms. Stronach beyond the media's interest in her shoes (she was astonished and irritated to see a TV cameraman filming her feet as she was being sworn in as a cabinet member at Rideau Hall) and breast-adjustment rumours. Mr. Martin writes that, when asked to comment on the supposed "cosmetic improvements," she snapped: "Have you ever had a rectal examination?""

"She got herself elected as an MP in the election that year, then made an incendiary defection in 2005, choosing to sit in Parliament as a Liberal and torpedoing her love affair with deputy Conservative leader (and now Foreign Minister) Peter MacKay. Despite the Tories' rise to power in January, she was re-elected as a Liberal.

Away from politics, she is one of the global beautiful people, socializing with Hollywood movie actors, professional athletes, global rock stars, heads of state and a constellation of platinum jet setters such as model Linda Evangelista, Prince Andrew and former U.S. president Bill Clinton (with whom the weight of evidence suggests she has not had an affair, despite persistent gossip to the contrary). "

"And her political career? There's a consensus among people who know her well that she passionately enjoys politics, if not the politician's life.

John Laschinger, the master Tory strategist who ran her leadership campaign, told Don Martin: 'I've never seen anyone make such an improvement [in herself] in Canadian politics in such a short time since Pierre Elliott Trudeau."

Mr. Peterson says this success "is the first thing she's had to fight for in her life." He said Bill Clinton — whom she first met at a Magna fundraiser for Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children — has had a big in influence on her political life.

A puck bunny she may be, but she has accomplished a lot — and there's likely more to come. As for the gossip, Mr. Mills says, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.""

Umfjöllunina í heild má finna hér.