American politics

[telerib]

Rep. William "In his freezer!" Jefferson: Still serving in the House
vs.
Gov. Eliot "Client-9" Spitzer: Liable to leave office

Frankly, I'd consider taking $90K in bribe money more politically damning than spending $80K of one's own money on call girls.

Comments

[devreux.livejournal.com]

Ah, but in the popular psyche, bribe money is just so unimportant amd boring compared with sticking your nose into other people's sex lives and getting all holier-than-thou to hide your own sexual jealousy, insecurity and/or repression. Pppbbth.

Honestly, why can't we, as a nation, just get over our collective, adolescent obsession with the sex lives of others? What does it really matter what consenting adults do in their bedrooms? C'mon, people. There are so many other things in this world that matter so much more than prying into your neighbor's sexual affairs! Grow up already!

[ariannawyn.livejournal.com]

I agree, except that there's an added factor here in the extreme hypocrisy Spitzer has displayed.

Larry Craig is the closest analogy I can think of (though he's still in office, it's not for lack of other people trying to propel him out the door). When a gay-bashing senator seeks gay sex in a men's room, the hypocrisy meter goes through the roof. Same with Spitzer, who crusaded against corruption including prostitution, and was an arrogant jerk in the process.

There are plenty of other guys who did the same thing Spitzer did (David Vitter of Louisiana comes to mind) and kept their jobs, but they didn't trumpet a squeaky-clean, sweep-corruption-from-government motto the way Spitzer did. His credibility is now in negative territory, so he has no chance of being effective in office any more.

[luscious-purple.livejournal.com]

What ariannawyn said. Plus, I don't think it's been conclusively established that the $80K came from his own pocket as opposed to public funds or campaign contributions (though Spitzer DOES come from a wealthy family). So there will still be some more investigating.

His three daughters must be SO mortified.

I think there is another issue here.

[hueffmea.livejournal.com]

This guy was a prosecuting attorney. He previously busted prostitution rings. He should know that you can get a hooker for a lot less than 4,300 for four hours. There's human weakness and then there's stupidity.