This blog explores the contemporary political and cultural trends from a distinct perspective
Why this obsession with sex is amusing
Published on March 11, 2008 By Bahu Virupaksha In Current Events

                                              

                                                                  New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, right, joined by Lt. Gov. David Paterson, expresses his displeasure over the election of Thomas DiNapoli to serve as state comptroller, at the state Capitol in Albany, N.Y. in this Feb. 7, 2007 file photo. The New York Times is reporting Monday March 10, 2008 that Spitzer has told senior advisers that he had been involved in a prostitution ring. On its Web site, the newspaper cites an anonymous administration official as the source and says Spitzer was meeting with his top aides.   (AP Photo/Tim Roske,File)

                                         Eliot Spitzer at the New York Ptrss Conference  

 

     From time to time USA oes through a self inflicted moral crisis. Pundits from across the political spectrum and talking heads from a whole spectrum of politically correct positions will appear on talk radios and TV channels to denounce the "villian" of the moment. Who is the latest victim of the game. None other that Hillary Clinton supporter, Eliot Spitzer, the Harvard educated Governor of New York. When doe a private indiscretion become worthy of becoming a political scandal. In fact, public figures while they must be made accountable for corruption and abuse of power, need not be prosecuted for private piccadaloes involving "consenting adults" and Elliot's indiscretion with Kristin falls squarely in this category. Client # 9 may be a Governor and a powerful political figure, but he is entitled to his private life, unsavoury though it may be.

   American presidents and politicians, and indeed politicians all across the world have had their share of private indiscretions turning into public humiliation. I think that Eliot Spitzer, from all accounts a good governor and a moralistic Attorney General of the Big Apple,had an affair with a woman called Kristin. In this he is no different from that great Bill Clinton whose affair with Monica Lewinsky led finally to his impeachment. If Barrack Obama can be questioned for his lionks with Ralph Roscoe, why cannot Hillary Clinton be made to pay the political price for Spitzer.

   All over the world people are following with abiding interest the story that is unfolding in New York.The call for the resignation of the Governor has been made and it is very likely that them Lt Governor will take over very soon, the third Black Governor since Reconstruction.

   The strong undercurrent of Protestant ethic is what leads to this upsurge of feigned morality from time to time. It is better to regard politicians as mere mortals and not expect of them a higher standard of morality.

 


Comments (Page 1)
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on Mar 11, 2008

Spitzer is a hypocrite plain and simple.  When he was attorney general of New York he went after the bad guys and made his bones as a bull dog. Now the dog is biting him over his behavior and deservedly so.

I don't care that he is a Clinton supporter.  I don't care that he had a relationship with a high $$ prostitute or agency of prostitutes.  I care that he was funneling money around through improper channels (which is how he got caught) and was guilty as sin of not living up to the public trust.

He should be burned in the same ways that the CEOs and corporate big wigs that he helped take down were, and his career should wind up in the same place theirs did.  What's good for the goose is good for the gander, and he deserves to reap what he sowed.

on Mar 11, 2008
I think that Eliot Spitzer, from all accounts a good governor and a moralistic Attorney General of the Big Apple,


Good? Hmmm...Spying on Joe Bruno - That is good? (That one took down a president in a different year)

Good? Hmmmm...Drivers licences to Illegals? That is good?

Good? Hmmmm...Right wing lynch mob? Then how was it HE broke the story of his involvement in the Prostitution ring?

You have a funny way of describing good.
on Mar 11, 2008

I guess you have to be named Clinton to get away with prosecuting people for sexual activities while taking part in them youself.

Any governor that would set himself up for something like this shows his own stupidity.  Maybe he thought that, since few Democrats ever lose their jobs over scandals, he would be protected?

on Mar 11, 2008
From time to time USA oes through a self inflicted moral crisis.


You make it seem as if we somehow believe we are immune to this kind of stuff. We may think the US is a great place but none the less it is still full of people who by nature make mistakes or do stupid things.

Client # 9 may be a Governor and a powerful political figure, but he is entitled to his private life, unsavoury though it may be.


People lose their privacy when they commit crimes and are hypocritical about that which they claim to believe in. In this case, a guy who put a lot of people behind bars for doing the same thing he is being accused of.

It is better to regard politicians as mere mortals and not expect of them a higher standard of morality.


You got this all wrong, we know politicians are mortals, we simply expect more from them just like we expect parents to be better role models for their children. When you are in a position that affects a lot of peoples lives, you are expected to act in a manner in which your actions do not affect those who's lives are affected by these same actions and trust in your judgment. While this kind of situation will be used politically, this is not about him, this is about the American people. When you are a leader and you fail, everyone fails.
on Mar 11, 2008
If you think this is about sex, you miss the point entirely. It's about trust, and nothing undermines it like hypocrisy.

Nobody gives a rip if Larry Flynt gets blown by a hooker, that's just what he does, and he pretends to nothing. Spitzer engaging in interstate transportation of a woman for prostitution (he prosecuted prostitution rings when he was AG), after setting himself up as the moral arbiter for the state of New York - that's what people are pissed about. Kind of like Carrie Nation getting caught drunk in a speakeasy.

It's such a pathetic repeating scenario: "I somehow lost my moral compass. It used to be here somewhere, thought I carried in my back pocket. God Bless You, catching me with my head and a dildo up my ass has helped focus my search and lo & behold, it's just where it was all along, in the hands of my dear spouse, standing right back there. I can't thank you enough. Now, if you'll just excuse us, my family and I are going to spend some time together working on getting a refund for the dildo."
on Mar 12, 2008

Any governor that would set himself up for something like this shows his own stupidity
Any governor that would set himself up for something like this shows his own stupidity
I care that he was funneling money around through improper channels (which is how he got caught) and was guilty as sin of not living up to the public trust
 

The law that is being slectiveluy used against him is a statute on structuring of money that exissts on the law books in order to track serious mail order frauds and money laundering.  It cannot and ought not to be used against political opponents. If this is the issue then Bill Clinton did far far worse and did not pay for it.

I agree that Spitzer was stupid but that does not ,ake hiom criminally l;iable for what is at best a private disdemenour.

 

on Mar 12, 2008
It cannot and ought not to be used against political opponents. If


Like he did?

The law that is being slectiveluy used against him is a statute on structuring of money that exissts on the law books in order to track serious mail order frauds and money laundering.


Like he did?

As Daiwa and InquiringMind said, it is not about sex. The reaction would be the same if he was caught taking bribes after procesuting his opponents for doing the same. It is about hypocrisy, and how he seems to think that the laws are for others, not him.
on Mar 12, 2008

If public trust is the issue as many including Daiwa and others argue, then how is it that an affair with a hooker can lead to such torrents of moral outrage. All politicians are hycorites to a lesser or greater degree. We must jude political figure by their public actions not their bedroom antics.

on Mar 12, 2008
I agree that Spitzer was stupid but that does not ,ake hiom criminally l;iable for what is at best a private disdemenour.


Ask the people Spitzer prosecuted for the same offense, if it is just a "private misdemeaner".
on Mar 12, 2008
We must jude political figure by their public actions not their bedroom antics.

Noone gives a rip what Kama Sutra position he prefers, for cripes sake. Get real, Bahu.

I personally prefer the MLK approach - we should judge people by the content of their character. On that score, Spitz fails.
on Mar 13, 2008

The Federal wire tap whose legality itself is open to question, and the authorisation for which is to protect USA from foreign terrorists using the USA to transmit messages, is to say the least questionable. If prying on a Governor by the Federal agencies is not opposed then civil libertarians will have a hard time.

I am not defending Spitzer, I am just saying that wire taps on Spitzer was illegal and politcally motivated.

on Mar 13, 2008

I personally prefer the MLK approach - we should judge people by the content of their character. On that score, Spitz fails

I agree with this, but we are talking about a politician who is caught in a probably illegal wire tap.

on Mar 13, 2008
I'm afraid you are wrong, there, Bahu. This was a court-authorized tap, based on evidence obtained from banking sources required to report suspicious activity, apparently triggered by Spitzer himself when he attempted to get his name removed from a series of transactions. It had nothing to do with FISA or terrorism monitoring. It was a local banking fraud investigation which had no idea what the money was going for until they determined that the account to which Spitzer's transfers were going was the account of a prostitution ring. While Spitzer had plenty of enemies, the laws under which his activities were discovered are the same laws he used to prosecute others.
on Mar 14, 2008

While Spitzer had plenty of enemies, the laws under which his activities were discovered are the same laws he used to prosecute others.

Do you not for a moment think that the Federal agencies were trackinmg his movements knowing that if caught he will have a huge political impact.

on Mar 14, 2008
Do you not for a moment think that the Federal agencies were trackinmg his movements knowing that if caught he will have a huge political impact.

I admit I'm a cynic, but apparently not as big a cynic as you.
No, I don't think that. Based on what's been disclosed so far, he might never have been caught had he not tried to cover his tracks & tickled the bank fraud detector's radar in the process. I, for the moment, assume that the actual facts & justifications surrounding the process leading to the wiretaps will at some point be disclosed in open court at which time the cynics among us can choose whether to believe or not.
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