So Attorney General extraordinaire, now Governor of New York Elliot Spitzer, has been caught in a prostitution scandal and once again we have the spectre of hypocrisy and a powerful man thinking somehow the rules don't apply to him.
After Bill Clinton's sex scandal, most of the scandals have come from the Republican side: Mark Foley, David Vitter, Larry Craig, Ted Haggard, Newt Gingrich, etc.
But we cannot attribute this behavior to any one party. Both Democrats and Republicans all too often get caught doing something of a sexual nature that they once condemned. There may be a lot of psychological explanations for this sort of thing, but it doesn't really matter.
Wrong is wrong. And the worst thing about it, after you deal with the betrayal of the public and one's supporters, is what this does to the spouse and the children. This is what gets my blood boiling. How dare these egotists do this to their "supposed" loved ones and then expect them to stand loyally by their sides as they apologize publicly!
The political irony of this situation, however, is interesting. Here we have a Governor of New York, Hillary's home state, and a supporter of Hillary, engaging in infidelity and lawbreaking, reminiscent of what Hillary's husband did when he was president. To the extent that it reminds us of Bill Clinton's capacity to cause trouble in the White House, we should all pay heed.
I feel sorry for Spitzer's wife, as I once felt sorry for Hillary, who as it turned out, did stand by her man. But I don't feel sorry for Hillary now. She decided to stay with her husband in spite of his public humiliation of her, not for love I think, but for the promise of power. There is no guarantee he will not humiliate her again, just as there is no guarantee Spitzer or Foley or Craig or Gingrich will reform and spare their spouses more humiliation.
Women who opt to marry powerful men beware. They often have a sense of entitlement when it comes to women, and one woman is usually not enough. And voters beware. Men who get caught doing this sort of thing once have probably done it many other times when they didn't get caught. And they will do it again. We probably haven't seen the last of Bill Clinton's infidelity, and the distraction that will bring to his wife if she is president, and for that reason alone he should not be allowed anywhere near the White House. We have big, big problems to solve in this country, and that is reason enough not to take a chance on a president who may likely have to deal with an unfaithful spouse. Fool me once.....
I'll tell you one thing. If Hillary had walked out of the White House in 1999 and divorced Bill, then run for the presidency some years later, I would be a lot more inclined to support her, as she really would be her own woman and would show both good judgment and independence.
However, this Spitzer scandal just reminds me how pitiful it is when a politician's wife stands by her man even after he has humiliated her. How on earth are women ever supposed to be taken seriously when they stick by a husband who has wiped the floor with them?
