Mar/08©Chris Farley
The Spitzer Ordeal
The whole Spitzer ordeal is really upsetting to me as a future voter, a New Yorker, and a person. Governor Spitzer had a difficult first year, often facing a lot of opposition inside the New York Legislature. (Though the New York Legislature doesn’t need any opposition to not be doing anything). But he was starting to turn around and get past the typical first year confusion (the first few months was trying to figure out how the phones worked). He honestly could have had an excellent career. It’s a loss and a failure on many levels.
Spitzer made a lot of enemies, mostly because he sued a bunch of corporations for illegal behavior. I will never understand huge corporations feeling victimized simply because they were conspiring to defraud the public. While corporations have a lot of influence, voters still get to vote and New Yorkers like(d) Spitzer quite a bit. In 2006, he was elected with 69% of the vote. What kills me about this scandal is that he could have had an extraordinary career. His name was already being kicked around as a presidential nominee in 8 or 12 years. As a future voter, I wish this whole scandal had never occurred. Had he proved to be a good governor, I certainly would have wanted to see him in the Oval Office.
As a New Yorker, I’m annoyed that Spitzer has betrayed the trust of the voters. New York overwhelmingly voted for him and he has not been a good caretaker of that trust. Spitzer was a great Attorney General, but now all of his actions are seen as hypocritical. He did a lot of very good things, but now all of the progress he made has been negated. Then there is the more local connection to Soon-to-Be Former Governor Spitzer. He was our Governor! His kids went to a nearby school. There will be a lot of questions in the next few days, but I certainly think that the Governor’s kids should be kept in mind.
As a person, I’m wondering how Spitzer could have been so stupid. Going to a prostitute left him open to black mail and all sorts of terrible things, one of which he is experiencing now. While I by no means want to divert attention from what Spitzer did, I am a little suspicious of the manner in which he was discovered. The latest news reports indicate that this discovery came out of an investigation of Spitzer’s bank records. I’m wondering if that investigation was politically motivated.
The thing that has me seething, however, is the press coverage of this. I have always hated, hated, hated the New York Post. It is a trash paper, written by shoddy journalists, and is essentially a tabloid living by low journalistic standards. I was furious when I saw a reported from the New York Post on NBC a few days ago. Their reporter was saying things like Spitzer “bought his way in” and even suggested that his wife was standing by him because she was forced to! I think that “newspapers” like the New York Post are causing a lot of problems by creating rumors where they don’t exist. I wish people wouldn’t buy the paper, but it’s apparently quite popular. Things like that drive me crazy!
I’m disappointed that it has come to this. Ultimately, this is Spitzer’s fault, but I certainly am sympathetic to his kids and family.
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4:16 pm on March 12th, 2008
I agree. This ordeal helped me realize how lucky I am to have a nice family.
4:34 pm on March 12th, 2008
This is very true.
4:44 pm on March 12th, 2008
I still like Spitzer. No one has any right to criticize me on that. That is the great thing about America.
4:44 pm on March 12th, 2008
I still like Spitzer. No one has any right to criticize me on that. That is the great thing about America.
6:05 pm on March 12th, 2008
Here's the thing- first off, Spitzer really messed up. If this whole ordeal did not happen, I bet he could have gone on in his political career possibly into presidency. Also, (in my opinion) he wasn't doing that great a job as Attorney General, much less as Governor. Basically what I am trying to say is- this REALLY messed Spitzer up.
1:42 pm on March 13th, 2008
On the bright side, we get to watch the highly amusing fallout courtesy Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Gawker Media.
6:56 am on March 15th, 2008
I am not a fan of most of the media but I do LOVE The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on WNET (channel 13, public television in New York). They try to steer clear of fluff and sensationalizing, and often wind up with in-depth, informative, and fair reports.
I agree with much of what you wrote about Mr Spitzer, though I think – perhaps – he was as "stupid" as he was because maybe – just maybe – he knew he had a problem and wanted help. And what better way to get help than to get caught. It's not as simple as that, of course, but I do wonder…
Lastly, politicians and power seem to go hand-in-hand. Some folks can deal with that power, but I think ultimately anyone in positions of "grand power" wind up being impacted by that power one way or another. I do not fault him for a problem that he obviously has; I do fault him for putting his family in this position. He is not the first politician to engage in sexual dealings; that's been going on for longer than you or I have been alive
What irks me, though, is that his daughters are not much younger than the woman he was paying for. Sigh. So that brings me back to my previous point – maybe he knew he had a problem and knew he needed help. Well, who knows…
9:55 am on March 15th, 2008
The thing is, Spitzer's behavior is not at all out of the ordinary. (Did anyone see David Brook's column today? By his standards, about half of the people I go to school with will be embroiled in sordid affairs in 15 years.) I think it's a little silly that people get all OMG SEX!!!1!! whenever anything like this happens. And I would also appreciate it if the media were not pouncing all over Ashley/Kristin, mainly because I do not want to be subjected to her atrocious single or her inevitable record deal, but also because I feel that she was a young woman who was actually behaving in an economically rational albeit dangerous manner and got way in over her head.
I think that there is definitely an issue here that needs to be examined, though, and that is the fact that we live in a society that results in men having such a high demand for extramarital sex. I have my own theories about madonna/whore complexes, antiquated notions of propriety, and traditional gender roles.
*looks around, realizes nobody is listening, and steps off the feminist soapbox*
2:07 pm on March 17th, 2008
My entire family is a huge fan of The News Hour. I'm a big fan of the analysis by Shields and Brooks. It's extremely rare to get that kind of insight these days on CNN and it never happens of Fox.
I agree that he might have had a problem. It seems odd that he would go to a prostitute. I'm sure he has tons of female interns and secretaries around him, so why did he go elsewhere? For better or for worse, he could have stayed in office if it had just been a simple affair.
2:12 pm on March 17th, 2008
Wow, Caprette, that was a little rant/tantrum. I agree that people shouldn't be pouncing on Ashley/Kristen, but I can understand why people are so shocked. We generally imagine (very unrealistically) that our public leaders live at a higher moral standard. And they should be held to a higher moral standard. And especially with Eliot Spitzer who was the last person anyone would suspect of behavior like this, there's a lot of confusion which leads to a lot of attention.
6:17 pm on April 7th, 2008
spitzer is a joke
6:20 pm on April 7th, 2008
because prositiuon is illegal so the prositiute would keep it hushed up anyway plus this way there is no risk…..I mean y would a prosititutte get themselves arrested. they dont care. as long as there gettin paid thats wat matters….if they cared enuf about morals i assume they would have a different job….i think spitzer was afraid that while an affair may b legal it is sooooooooo much easier to get caught since prositiution goes under the radar.