If one lesson in public life should have risen to the level of received wisdom, it’s this: Don’t publish naked or near-naked photos of yourself, ever.  Not on Twitter, not on Craigslist, and certainly not to your employees, especially those with spouses.    And yet … Judge Wade McCree of Detroit, Michigan, seems oddly proud of his picture — even after a television reporter shows up to ask him questions about it:

Court Bailiff: Detroit Judge Wade McCree Sent a Nearly Nude Photo of Himself to My Cell Phone: MyFoxDETROIT.com

A husband is upset after finding a photo of a nearly nude man on his wife’s cell phone. She says the photo came from her boss? What does she do for a living?  She’s a court bailiff. Who’s her boss? Detroit 3rd Circuit Judge Wade McCree.

Fox 2’s Charlie LeDuff shows the photo to Judge McCree.  The Judge seems quite proud of it.  “Hot dog, yep that’s me,” says McCree. Play the video to get the full report and to hear what the judge himself has to say about the photo.

LeDuff also talks to legal analyst Charlie Langton who says it’s possible McCree could lose his job over the photo.

Don’t miss the video, because what makes this story so special is the carefree enthusiasm of the judge over his own photo.  That’s not to say that McCree concedes everything.  He cross-examines reporter Charlie LeDuff as to whether his employee told him directly that McCree sent the photo to her.  LeDuff concedes that he only spoke to the woman’s husband, and McCree pronounces it “hearsay,” a technical term that probably won’t matter much in the court of public opinion — or in the court of His Wife, unless McCree wants to claim that his own wife distributed the picture clearly taken with McCree’s cell phone, with which the distribution almost certainly took place.

Remember, folks, that this demonstration of personal judgment has the authority to judge the actions of Detroit residents.  I’m sure they’re sleeping better at night in Motown after this.  The best part comes at the end, when the WJBK anchor reminds viewers that McCree often lectures people on the need to make the right choices in life, and seems on the verge of laughing out loud throughout.