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Sex, Politics, and Ethics: Who Gives a Shit? by Alex Hanna | | New York Governor Spitzer | http://www.theseminal.com/ As lgs said to me in a conversation yesterday, I sure came to New York at an interesting time. Everyone is absolutely a-twitter chatting about Governor Spitzer's prostitution snafu, and I can't help but seeing some variant of this damn picture everywhere I look. The wordless Spitzer, biting his lip, with the haggard wife standing near by. Spitzer, known for his straight-shooting, ethnical stance when it comes to Wall Street, seems to have hit quite the roadblock in his political career. But even though this guy was supposed to be the new Force of Good from which evil ran, who really cares that he hired a high-class escort? I overheard a woman with an archetypical Brooklyn accent during breakfast today remarked, "Men will always hire prostitutes, but he shouldn't have done it as Governor." Okay, so from her original premise, men will always hire prostitutes, an affair that is personal and ought not to have any political impact (unless he's giving subsidies or passing legislation in its favor). However, she concludes that he should not do this because he is in the public eye and a political figure. This logic doesn't follow. The man was engaged in some sex in a private location, making little to no impact on his public life. One may say, "But this impacts his credibility as a crusader of ethics?" Does it really? I see a major difference between trying to root out corruption between government officials and financial backers, and getting some poon-tang on the side. One has real consequences for the economic interests of the people of New York state, the other should probably just upset his family. I hope savvy members of the Left and the blogosphere will see that as long as we keep on talking about the politics of "family ethics" and expect our lawmakers to be either married or celibate, then we're falling into discussing issues that have no place in politics. MSM does enough with that by taking pictures of both Spitzer and his wife, and also discussing his family situation. Enough. We are giving it credence by reprimanding Spitzer for it, as well as Bill Clinton (although we can chastise him for the perjury), and hell, all those DC Madam Senators. But not Larry Craig, particularly because it was majorly tied into his politics (his anti-gay sentiments, support for anti-gay legislation).
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