I wonder what’s worse for the wife in these situations. The humiliation and hurt of being cheated on with a prostitute, or having to stand by the asshole behind the podium and look all supportive while he turns on the waterworks and pretends to be sorry for what he’s done. Being used as a prop to sell that this is a basically good family man who slipped up, that this is somehow an accident or a mistake and it’ll never happen again honest please don’t throw me in jail and please reelect me.
I guess if you marry a politician you agree/accept that it’s your fate to be trotted out like a show pony to show how familly-friendly and electable he is and know that’s what you’re in for going in, but still, you’d think there’d be a final straw at some point. And that this would be it.
But apparently not.
Because if he used state money, then my* tax dollars paid for this liason.
Ergo it’s like I paid for that prostitute.
Ergo, I should be hitting it too.
I don’t care that he uses prostitutes, but if I’m footing the bill he damn well better SHARE. Or I’m not voting for him again.
Actually that might be the one way he can still save his reelection prospects. Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours? AND THEN SOME. It would be a creative way to raise campaign contributions, I must admit.
(*just imagine I’m a New Yorker for the sake of this post.)
Because if he used state money, then my* tax dollars paid for this liason.
Sil, if you are honestly, honestly saying that you think that it should be part of a government’s budget to pay for a man’s nookie, then I seriously have lost all respect for you.
You elected him to do this job, right? You already pay for his house, his food, his transportation. Your “tax dollars” (whatever that really means) already go toward paying hundreds of people to take very special care of this guy. The state obviously has a vested interest in providing all manner of comforts to him, so that he can focus on the job and do it well.
Why the FUCK shouldn’t The People provide for arguably his most basic of needs?
The NY Times today carried a biographical sketch of this courtesan involved. She has an apartment in Manhattan and lives in relative comfort. She is attractive, though apparently middle of the road in the company’s scale of beauty ($1000/hour). It’s a far cry from the kind of sex smuggling the governor fought against as an attorney, anyway. So we can probably do without the necessary cries of “Hypocrisy!”
I can’t believe your actually supporting the belief that we should allow someone to indulge in whatever “creature comforts” they need to do their job when that money is supposed to be going to the infrastructure of the state, to the schools, to anything they would benefit the public good.
It’s not like he doesn’t get a good salary already more than likely. Plus, there’s the fact that he’s also using the money to put himself in a position ripe for blackmail. Are you seriously okay with that?
The expression “tax dollars” refers to the funds that the state takes out of your check so it can be used to fund entitlement programs, education, parks, etc. For an elected official to use the that money so extravagantly for his own ends isn’t ethical. People get in trouble here for using public funds for going on jets and vacations, let alone prostitution.
No, he’s still a hypocrite; the cries of hypocrisy in this case are quite necessary. Prostitution is prostitution; whether it’s done by girls on the street or it’s high class call-girl. You can spin it around all you like but the media and the people of New York don’t seem to be buying it. Plus, he’s still a hypocrite for going after money laundering and engaging in it himself. The man was called the Eliot Ness of his day, the “sheriff” of Wall Street. Folks on Wall Street cheered when he was taken down, that’s how notorious he was for straddling against corruption; now it turns out he’s corrupt. That’s a borderline epitome of hypocrisy.
I am confused. Did Spitzer redirect money from other programs to pay for his sex romps, or did he pay for it with his governor’s salary (and various associated allowances)? If it’s the former, then that is a gross misuse of power. If the latter, while he did engage in criminal activity, it is really his money given that it’s a salary.
I’ll disregard the discussion about whether sex is needed or not. but I WILL point out the guy is married. Theoretically, he has a perfectly legal way to get sex. And if you want to tell me that sex is required to do his job right, well, then maybe he shouldn;t have been such a great advocate against the very thigns he practiced.
I’m going to back off on this point, because I got carried away and broke a cardinal rule; I didn’t check the veracity of my sources. There are plenty of allegations that he could have used public funds, but the federal investigators aren’t saying anything about it. They might never have to reveal whether he did.
He still committed a crime beyond the scope of prostitution when he concealed the funds and according to the NY Sun, there’s three different ways they could prosecute him. There’s always the chance, according to the article, that he could have made a deal to resign for some quid pro quo in order to not be charged criminally.
Lunaris just reminded me of another reason – anti-GTA crusade – why Spitzer deserves the “Hypocrite” title.
Speaking of crusades and titles, Spitzer earned the “Crusader of the Year” tag from Time magazine in 2002, as a fighter against malfeasance on Wall Street. The multi-billion dollar fines/settlements paid by investment dealers and money managers left a scar on the financial community.
Unsurprisingly,the Guv’s fall from grace provoked a certain feeling of glee around trading desks; and suddenly, the “hot IPOs for escort agencies” jokes have replaced the “covered calls vs. naked puts” gags.
Actually, it does matter. She lost a superdelegate vote. Paterson, the new governor was already a superdelegate, so instead of two votes, Clinton will only recieve one from New York.
I understand how easily that can be marginalized, but with a tight race like this, each vote matters; more importantly, if this resorts to the old backseat politics to determine the nomination, having Spitzer there in pre-scandal form could have changed some minds; that dynamic can’t be discarded.
I did not realize that he had jumped the videogame bashing bandwagon until now. That said, the timing couldn’t be better what with GTA IV coming out next month.
I encourage all to read an article in the New York Times Science Times section today, about how common “extramarital” sex and prostitution are in the animal kingdom, especially among animals usually considered monogamous. Apparently, even the female dung beetle becomes greatly incensed when her male partner tries to cheat on her. Isn’t it time humans moved beyond this insectile biological prejudice? Ladies?
That’s funny, the press is trying to cover up what he did. This article is hilarious! It’s just too great. He probably bribed the press, then slept with them. I hope the guy left by now, my parents are going to have to pay for this guy with taxes. We can barely support ourselves.
I don’t think so. No extramarital sex guarantees that my marriage stays “clean”. That is, my husband won’t be bringing home some nasty disease to pass onto me, and I consider that very important.
I certainly wouldn’t be up there on that podium, either. I’d tell him to hire an escort for the day!
I’ve passed that NY Times article and I don’t see how it relates to this. Human beings are a higher species and more is expected of us.
You don’t squander the emotional investment in a relationship. I’ve seen what happens when a man does so; it can break people, it can shatter the spirit. Whether it be through an affair or neglect, it’s not a pretty sight. When your in a position of authority, and having an affiar through certain means highlights hypocrisy in your administration, it blows such a hole in your presumed character that for you to remain in office is often unacceptable.
I kinda like Hilary more though.