Fuck You Friday...
Good afternoon, all. ...As though there are enough people reading this to call them "all."
I'd like to send out a special fuck you today to former New York governor Mr. Eliot Spitzer. I'm sure I don't have to tell you what's up with him; the media has done enough. What irritates me the most is not that he was involved in a prostitution ring; it is that he is a Democrat. Let me be clear; I hold no silly notions that only Republicans can have scandals, or that Democrats are better than others. It is merely that it almost always is the Republicans (except, you know, Bill Clinton). They have well-publicized scandals; the Democrats...well, maybe they're just better at hiding their skeletons, because I'm certainly not about to put any politician on a pedestal. But Eliot Spitzer just went and shot that straight to hell. It also annoys me that he was so bent on cleaning up crime and busting prostitution rings. Come on, buddy. Try for some credibility. Mr. Spitzer does not just represent himself or even his family or state. He represents the Democratic party, which now has a lovely little spot on its recent record.
Another thing that concerns me (though, admittedly, to a much lesser extent) is Spitzer's image before this story broke. He was largely viewed as someone who staunchly upheld his principles with true integrity and as a congenial person. Thanks to him, nice guys everywhere have taken a hit. People who trusted in given politicians before may now be more closely scrutinized (unkindly). People who may have absolutely nothing to hide are going to have to deal with voters trying to find something suspicious in their pasts. Barack Obama comes to mind. Now, I don't believe for a second that someone is about to discover something utterly horrible about the man, but people might start questioning his motives and his integrity. I know this seems a bit out there, but the media will seize on anything if it garners an audience. I can only hope that David Paterson will be able to arrest prostitutes without sleeping with them.
1 comment:
Haha, bent on busting prostitution rings, except, of course, when it comes to his own. That one he can just overlook, lol. You're right though, this does not look good for the party. What's worse is that already most of NY's most admired politicians are republicans...this doesn't help matters anyway. I don't know that this is really changing anyone's faith in politicians as a whole. I say this only because, aside from some crazy conservatives who would swear by Bush's every word, almost everyone who gives a darn about politics has seen this all before and it's nothing new. By now I'd think people are pretty used to being disappointed by their elected officials. It might be just me, but half the time I'm just sitting around waiting for the next scandal to hit the papers. It seems almost inevitable, like priests molesting little boys. It's by no means everyone, but there are so many politicians (and priests), that there's always going to be someone getting exposed.
As for it's effect on the current race, at least btwn the democrats, I think we're pretty safe. It seems that people are already trying to drag out every skeleton they can find, and that crazy pastor dude didn't help matters any, but both candidates still have solid ground to stand on. It might change when it comes to the real race, but I hope not. After the Gore and Kerry problems, I'm really hoping for a nice, somewhat clean win.
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