The first horror movie I ever saw was "The Blob". For weeks afterward I had this creepy crawly feeling on my skin, and nightmares about being swallowed by a giant red glob of goo.News from the political front this past week has left me feeling the same way...with creepy crawling skin and nightmares that our country is going to disintegrate under the weight of a glob of sleaze from which we cannot escape.
As I wrote in this week's column, the self-destruction of Eliot Spitzer was probably the longest fall from grace we've seen in politics since a blue dress didn't get sent to the cleaners. The man had it all and he threw it away. I'm sure some psychologist could explain it, but from my perspective the guy behaved like a creep who lived in his own fantasy world of power. How this all plays out in the Spitzer household is their business, but how it affects the perception of those we elect to lead us, is our business.
Exit Spitzer; enter his Lt. Governor, David Paterson, who, based on initial press reports was the political "second coming". Descended from an old and admired family with deep roots in Harlem, Paterson had overcome the handicap of being legally blind to become a lawyer and the first African American minority leader of the New York State Senate.
Paterson hadn't been sworn in as Governor 24 hours before admitting that HE had extra-marital affairs, that's plural, with an "s". Apparently, the Paterson marriage hit a rough patch a few years ago and both the new Governor and Mrs. Paterson decided to see if the grass was greener somewhere else. The only comforting aspect to this news is at least Michelle Paterson had a little fling of her own. I keep hoping some great looking hunk is going to show up on the front page of the New York Post with a story of how he and Silda Spitzer have been burning the midnight oil together for the past few years; but I digress.
Just as the Paterson's were publicly explaining the intricacies of their marriage, here comes the story that the sweet little blond aggrieved wife of former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, Dina Matos McGreevey not only knew all along that he was gay, but was involved in a menage a trois with the Gov and another man. She's denying it, the other two of the trois are swearing it happened.
Are you kidding me? If you put this stuff in a Hollywood movie, no one would believe you. These are people we have elected to office; out of thousands of possibilities how could we not find anyone more worthy of our trust than this bunch of self-centered, cheating, liars?
These last fews days of being slimed by politicians not worthy of our trust has led me to ask two burning questions: Where the hell was the mainstream media when these guys were running for office? What ever happened to investigative journalism?
Posts
9 comments:
Pam, I know of several local pols who cheat or have cheated on their wives, so I imagine you and the MSM do as well. But I don't think one's personal life is relevant unless it is contradiction to something he publicly claims.
Pam -
I understand Bernie's point, and I think many of us are hesitant to criticize politicians' personal lives since no one is perfect.
However, I do think that the issue is relevant. EVERY politician makes promises - a bond between them and the voters - to those they want to serve.
If married, they also make a promise or bond to their spouse. I would hope that the bond of marriage is more personal than the bond between the politician and the voters.
If politicians are willing to break that very personal bond of marriage, you can imagine how important the bond between them and the voters is.
I think there is also relevance to when the cheating occurred. Was it in office or did it happen in the distant past?
If it happens in office particularly, I believe there is a recklessness in that elected official that voters deserve to know about.
The media does a disservice to the voters by hiding the facts in those cases. If (as some reports suggest) the Spitzer "situation" was ongoing for several years, I think the people of New York would have been better served if the issue had been brought to light before he was elected Governor.
Infidelity is morally wrong and not something I would support. However, I would lean towards what Bernie has said about it being in the personal life category, these things may very well effect my opinion of the individual, but at some point they are personal matters.
Hiring prostitutes is illegal, and having an affair with an employee opens one up to all sorts of legal and other problems. These kind of things are not in the personal life category and I think they are very relevant to the persons ability to lead.
BernO,
In Spitzer's case it's more than the personal issue of cheating on his wife. If soliciting a prostitute is considered engaging in criminal activity, then isn't that relevant enough and a contradiction of what he publicly stands for? Plus he's a former AG. top law enforcement official.
Mrs. Dottie,
No, I agree that Spitzer was a fair target for exactly those reasons. But I would not post a list of every public official in the LV who has cheated on his wife at one time or another.
It is no small thing to cheat on one’s spouse. It demonstrates a lack of control, commitment, honor and trust. I think these are qualities voters have a right to expect from those who seek to hold, or hold on to public office.
Scott Armstrong
This whole issue is a double edged sword, and a double standard, that one encounters in public life.
Bernie, I agree in principle that just because someone is in politics that doesn't mean they are not entitled to some privacy.
However as Bill and Dottie point out, several of these incidents involving the politicians I've mentioned were not just private affairs between two consenting adults; Spitzer's involved illegal prostitution, Paterson's an inappropriate relationship with a state employee.
If you really want to be slimed, the Village Voice has an online account of one of the McGreevey's romps, that I gaurantee will prevent you from ever eating barbeque sauce or sour cream, again. It may not have been illegal, but I don't want anyone that depraved in control of my tax dollars or my future.
In the final analysis, I agree with Scott and Anon 10:15: When you run for public office you are asking people to believe in you and trust you. Voters have a right to expect that you are worthy of that trust.
"Bernie O'Hare said...
Pam, I know of several local pols who cheat or have cheated on their wives, so I imagine you and the MSM do as well. But I don't think one's personal life is relevant unless it is contradiction to something he publicly claims." If he/she cheats, next its lies, next it bribes, etc. Is that who you want to vote for? Thats like voting for Al Copone!
"Bernie O'Hare said...
Pam, I know of several local pols who cheat or have cheated on their wives, so I imagine you and the MSM do as well. But I don't think one's personal life is relevant unless it is contradiction to something he publicly claims." Bernie come on, what about mcgreavy? He put his boyfriend in charge of NJ homeland security. He not only wasn't qualified, HE WASN'T EVEN A UNITED STATES CITIZEN!!!! McG just stuck him there to keep his mouth shut. And now there is talk about more sex scandles in NJ. All this is an easy target for blackmail. Also, your knowing of local pols of cheating can be only hearsay...unless you are the actual cheatee. :):):):):):) Thanks bro RIVER
Post a Comment