Hookers
With a guy like Elliot Spitzer, you figured maybe an enemy would bring him down, or perhaps a mistake born of hubris. But hookers? No, I did not see this coming.
Of course Spitzer is far from the first politician to get busted for going to a prostitute. There's a reason they call it "the oldest profession." But brutal irony of protsitution charges leveled at the law-and-order prosecutor who got elected New York governor on his promise to clean up government corruption can't be lost on anyone.
Certainly not our 7pm producer April, who says the thing she can't fathom is the wife standing loyally by his side. She points out that from Bill Clinton to Senator Larry Craig--the wives seem to hang in there. "Why do they do that??" she asks.
She, we should add, is very single. Nonetheless, she has a point. And I don't have an answer.
Nor can I fathom how this country really feels about such things. If Spitzer was a good governor, is it really worth it to end his career over this? Some will shout, "Yes, he's breaking the law." But I'm thinking the person who really ought be mad is Mrs. Spitzer. And as was just pointed out, she's hanging in there for now.
The interesting thing about this service is that not only was it high-end, but you could choose just how high you wanted to go. The Emperor's Club website (since taken down) advertises a woman rated at 3 diamonds would cost you a thousand bucks for an hour; while a 7 diamond companion would run $3100. and the bottom is it says and I kid you not: inquire about our multiple-hour package rates!!
So then we are left with several big questions, and I hope you've got answers. First, what is it about men? Why do members of my gender do this stuff over and over again, even as we've seen so many careers taken down in flames? Second, the wives. Why do they seem to hang on regardless of the humiliation? Is is just loyalty? Or doe they know they can make them suffer more by staying than by going? And of course the most critical question of all: What the heck was he getting for 2 or three grand an hour???
Talk about buyer's remorse......
posted by Derek McGinty @ 3:50 PM
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5 Comments:
I was surprised by this but maybe not as much as some others. I mean he is not a local politician, and scandals like these seem to happen all the time with some frequency.
Senator Craig's plight was fun to joke about (tap dancing), and if I'm not mistaken you used my joke on Bush recently during airtime banter.
I'm interested to see how this plays out, if he can somehow avoid criminal charges and retain his elected position. It seems he did break laws and some are serious charges; not just prostitution, but across state lines.
Before I read your blog, I sent you a mailbag regarding the hypocrisy of it all. How it seems a prerequisite for public office these days. This has to change...
As far as the wives (and the family) of either Craig or Spitzer? I can't tell you where the loyalty comes from. Maybe it comes from what they both had when they met each other, or the years of familiarity. Maybe it is more embarrassing to be seen 'not' standing by your man. Or maybe now that he has hit rock bottom, they see a better chance to rebuild and fix the mistakes of the past.
I do feel the families are the real victims in these scandals. That part I'm sure is not lost on either Craig or Spitzer.
We all have a soul, and I believe it begins as an innocent one. Yet life has a way of twisting and bending some of us, that we become so manipulated by our environment that we lose sight of the truth and begin living a lie somewhere along the line. And for what?
I think the only tool left is constructive consequence. He has no more credibility now, he needs to resign and reevaluate his relationships and his life.
My spare change...
I wonder how much of the repeat offender behavior of this sort among public figures is to some degree *because* the wives will stand by them? Would they make the same choices if they knew that not only could they potentially lose their jobs, but be kicked to the curb in front of the whole world as well? And as to why the wives are there, how much of that is forgiveness and love vs. doing what's necessary to preserve their own status and lifestyle by virtue of proximity to their powerful husbands? I'm not really saying it's one way or the other, and it could be either depending on the circumstances, just asking...
If I cared any less about this Spitzer thing, I wouldn't be human. There's the key word... human... as we all are (you don't have steel and wires running throughout your body, do you?). I love how the opposing party is trying so hard to nail him to the wall. Did they forget the tolietbowl adventures of Larry Craig? Of course they did, it makes them look bad and they don't want to think about it. If some dude cheats on his wife with a prostitute (ICK!!!), then that's between him, his wife and the doctor at the free clinic that'll end up treating him for crabs or shrimp or whatever the little trollup might have passed on to Spitzer. Is he a hypocrite? Yes, in my opinion, he is. But so is everyone else in the political arena regardless of party affiliation. The Republicans really need to get over themselves. It's only a matter of time before another prominent, so-called Christian, Right-Wing conservative juggernaut gets caught fondling an intern or toe tapping in an airport restroom.
Long-term marriage and true partnerships are just that, partnerships. If your partner falters, you step in and hold him or her up, and vice versa. So I do get why the wives stand loyally by their husbands. Years of planning and goal setting, not to mention loving your partner and family would dictate that you do not run at the first, second or third sign of trouble. Well, may be the third time as in “three strikes you’re out”. I take the point that there may be fear of loss of lifestyle, family or heck, your husband. However, being one who still believes in marriage, true friendship and partnership (although, I am very single), I can’t help but believe that these wives are extremely loyal-- maybe to a fault. Partnerships are more personal and complicated than anyone outside of the partnership can understand. One just prays they will never have to be tested. If you are, then you hold your head up high and do what needs to be done at the time.
I believe Spitzer’s career should end. Plain and simple, he broke the law and he must go. What he did while breaking the law is a matter between Spitzer and his wife. But the fact that he broke the law is a matter between his elected office and his constituents.
Only one comment about the Emperor’s Club services….if you build it, they will come (no pun intended).
He must resign for the good of his family and his state. Let them without sin be the first to thrown stones his way. I doubt most could really afford that, remember when Bill Clinton was impeached, all those folks who railed against him only to find out they had some really deep sins they had committed.
I applaud his wife, she is following her marriage vows and not running away at the first sign of trouble. Too many now days do that with just a wisp of trouble. Thus, the high divorce rate and destruction of families.
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