I have refrained from this topic as it is being pushed in everyone's face by the media but I feel it needs to be addressed here at least once. We haven't discussed Eli Spitz at all since this huge, alleged "high-end" prostitution ring (we know it happened but how high-end can whoring yourself out really be?) Here is my answer, not about top-tier hookers, but about why Spitz is getting my cold shoulder.
We live in New York and this is a glaring blemish for our state so I, for one, would love to see Spitzer resign from his role as governor, which he did effective this Monday, and then I would love to forget about that, scrub my entire body vigorously and absolve myself of the whole ordeal.
This man enrages me. Having done some illegal things myself in the early days of my youth, I understand that I can't go around arresting people, let alone fining them, suspending them or preaching to them about some of those topics until I've gained a significant amount of proven wisdom. Spitzer prosecuted prostitution rings just a few years ago and here he is paying top dollar for tricks.
Maybe Wall Street is right to clamor so joyfully at his resignation; Spitzer doesn't understand economics. If he wanted to pay less for sex outside his marriage, he wouldn't have spent so much time driving out the competition. We all know that when you have more suppliers, you have lower prices.
Not only is this bad for New York, but it is bad for the democrats and even worse for Americans. This, undoubtedly, made international headlines only to reinforce our country's current global image of hypocrisy (I say this with disdain but unfortunately I believe our importing habits, the policies of the IMF/ World Bank and President Bush's foreign policies have made this a reality). The sooner it is out of the papers... and out of blogs, the better. After Monday I never want to hear Spitzer's name again unless you're talking about a bar at the corner of Ludlow and Rivington.
3 comments:
Since we've opened the blog up for discussion, we have to chat about this topic. Should Spitzer be prosecuted? If it was his money he was spending I don't think he should. When most Americans are caught with a prostitute they just spend the night in the drunk tank and get a slap on the wrist. I am not a Spitzer supporter, but I don't think he should be prosecuted purely based on the prostitution. Same thing with Mike Vick. I don't condone what he did, but most dog fighters are given a fine and a slap on the wrist....
I completely agree. When we tackle the war on drugs we don't prosecute the drug-users, we go after the drug-peddlers, those in organized crime. The same should apply here. I believe that Spitzer will get a fine or he will have some backroom deal with prosecutors and will not be tried to the fullest extent of the law. Prosecutors should go after the owners and operators of the prostitution ring if they really want to defend the law, not make headlines by prosecuting a powerful politician/john.
I agree with you on both issues! I don't think Spitzer will be prosecuted but I do believe that Mike Vick got a bad wrap.
My opinion on the Vick matter is on the fence though. I think that the decision to punish him so heavily is almost a backlash of pressure from the public to reign in the criminal behavior of athletes and role models.
Recently you have had numerous role models, celebrities and athletes alike, that children look up to, behave in embarrassingly criminal ways. The list is appalling (just to name a few: Lohan, Hilton, Vick, Bonds, Clemens, Bryant, and Spears)
So... I am torn between doing the reasonable thing when a man sleeps with a prostitute, the one night in jail with a fine, or making an example out of Spitzer and punishing him to the full extent of the law. Didn't this same thing happen last year with the governor of New Jersey (I believe it was adultery on his wife with another man).
Politicians need to be taught a firm lesson, they are the leaders of our country and we cannot tolerate these indiscretions no matter how slight, but at the same time, we need to be reasonable.
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