Oy
Well, we now know who won’t be the first Jewish President. Mr. Rectitude, Elliot Spitzer, has fallen off his high horse with quite a thud. It is a classic tragedy, with the mighty brought low by human flaws. The assorted miscreants of Wall Street who Spitzer targeted so effectively over the years get the last laugh, while the rest of us can lament over what might have been. His Governorship had gotten off to a rocky start, yet he was back on the upswing in the polls when this happened.
As for the crime itself – frankly, it doesn’t matter to me who he has sex with, although I assume his wife will have a different opinion. There does seem to be an element of recklessness here which is dangerous in a political leader, although hardly uncommon, as sexual dalliances seem commonplace among Presidents of the last half century. Unfortunately, he didn’t just have sex with an intern, or some lobbyist, he broke the law, and that is a bad thing. Whether this kind of prostitution should be illegal is debatable, as it seems, considering the rates, to be the ultimate victimless crime. It is still illegal and there may well be organized crime links involved with the service itself, so Spitzer can hardly get a pass on this one.
Assuming Spitzer resigns, his political future is over – not that it wouldn’t be effectively over if he tried to tough it out. At 48, he would have to find something else to do, probably involving TV, so we can look forward to seeing him on MSNBC next year. After his resignation, NY would inaugurate Lt. Gov. David Patterson, a legally blind African-American as Governor. Blind David Patterson sounds more like a blues singer from the Delta than a Governor of NY, but it would be cool if he was referred to that way.
Meanwhile, here on the left coast, Arnold Schwarzenegger can only be glad that Heidi Fleiss wasn’t being wiretapped and that her “little black book” never became public. Maybe he would have gotten a pass on using hookers since he was an actor, not a straight-laced pol, but he can still pose as a wonderful family man, which is more than Spitzer can do this morning.
As for the crime itself – frankly, it doesn’t matter to me who he has sex with, although I assume his wife will have a different opinion. There does seem to be an element of recklessness here which is dangerous in a political leader, although hardly uncommon, as sexual dalliances seem commonplace among Presidents of the last half century. Unfortunately, he didn’t just have sex with an intern, or some lobbyist, he broke the law, and that is a bad thing. Whether this kind of prostitution should be illegal is debatable, as it seems, considering the rates, to be the ultimate victimless crime. It is still illegal and there may well be organized crime links involved with the service itself, so Spitzer can hardly get a pass on this one.
Assuming Spitzer resigns, his political future is over – not that it wouldn’t be effectively over if he tried to tough it out. At 48, he would have to find something else to do, probably involving TV, so we can look forward to seeing him on MSNBC next year. After his resignation, NY would inaugurate Lt. Gov. David Patterson, a legally blind African-American as Governor. Blind David Patterson sounds more like a blues singer from the Delta than a Governor of NY, but it would be cool if he was referred to that way.
Meanwhile, here on the left coast, Arnold Schwarzenegger can only be glad that Heidi Fleiss wasn’t being wiretapped and that her “little black book” never became public. Maybe he would have gotten a pass on using hookers since he was an actor, not a straight-laced pol, but he can still pose as a wonderful family man, which is more than Spitzer can do this morning.
Labels: Arnol Scwhwarzennger, David Patterson, Elliot Spitzer, hookers
posted by Barry Rubinowitz at 9:46 AM
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