[QUOTE=Frank]
Jim McGreevey of New Jersey, just for starters. Hell, I’m old enough to remember Wilbur Mills. There is nothing new under the sun.
[/quote]
I’m voting this is still a more spectacular flame out. 15 months ago Spitzer took the governor’s office having been won won in the largest landslide in New York State history. Approximately 70% of the voters pulled the lever next to his name.
Today his loyal base is considerably more limited.
[QUOTE=Marley23]
Mind if I offer my take?
Few people believe the apologies. But I think the public wants them anyway. People love having the opportunity to forgive or condemn each other, and that goes double for famous people. Maybe triple if the famous person has the kind of reputation Spitzer did.
You may be onto something. Vitter didn’t have to quit.
Maybe so. Then again, maybe the guy found it hard to confront what he was doing and what the knowledge of his actions would do to his family.
[/QUOTE]
Hell, Vitter’s wife didn’t even cut his dick off like she had earlier threatened to.
I think the press must have found out that Spitzer must have gotten a blow job from said prostitute. Intercourse is one thing, but once the media find out there is oral involved, they never let it go.
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
Then why did McGreevy have to resign?
[/QUOTE]
McGreevy resigned for many reasons. It didn’t have anything to do with being gay or cheating on his wife. I’m not politically connected and *I * knew he was gay and running around on his wife months before it came out in public.
[QUOTE=Loach]
McGreevy resigned for many reasons. It didn’t have anything to do with being gay or cheating on his wife.
[/QUOTE]
Why the timing, then? He resigned due to a threatened sexual harassment suit from his former lover - as far as I know. If you’ve more information, please, feel free.
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
It may sound counterintuitive but I actually DO think it would work if any of these politicos had the balls to call this stiff for the salacious, hypocritical bullshit that it is and refuse to be apologetic (esoecially since no one ever believes their artificial contrition anyway). They should stop always acting like they’ve been caught in some horrific crime and just shrug it off as a minor embarrassment. The crying routines just feed the false impression that this stuff has any credibility.
[/QUOTE]
It worked for President G.W. Bush.
I completely agree that we live in a society riddled with hypocrisy. Popular culture is saturated with sexually charged messages and then imposes moral judgment on a behavioral response to those messages. Unfortunately, Spitzer broke the law while he held a job intended to preserve, protect, and enforce the law. His dilemma is legal and moral.
Not to sound too paranoid but his name was picked up in a wiretap. I wonder if it was one of those warrantless wiretaps.
[QUOTE=Frank]
Why the timing, then? He resigned due to a threatened sexual harassment suit from his former lover - as far as I know. If you’ve more information, please, feel free.
[/QUOTE]
Do we have to go through this again? I know there were threads about it years ago.
That lawsuit never happened did it? Then why the resignation? He was forced out by the members of his party because they did not want to lose the governor’s mansion at the next election. There was a ton of dirt on McGreevy that he barely survived without being indicted. Look up John Lynch, McGreevy’s mentor, jailed for corruption. Look up the code word “Machiavelli”. There was rumors of corruption. There was proof of corruption. And much of it pointed straight to the governor. He resigned because if he didn’t he would get hit with all the dirt thats was being held back. Otherwise he could have stayed on and been the first gay governor. Either a hero or a martyr during the next election. Either one would have done great things for his career. Instead he left the office in disgrace.
He did learn one thing, the State Police Protection Detail does not keep their mouths shut like the Secret Service. Especially if you treat them like dirt. So when something happens like you break your leg walking on the beach with your boyfriend and they have to scramble to get your wife to your side so no one will notice, it doesn’t take long for that story to get around.
[QUOTE=Frank]
I disagree. Prosecutors make decisions all the time on whether to press a prosecution or not. That he did makes him a hypocrite.
[/QUOTE]
Yep–and, as others said, it’s not like attorney general is an inherited position. He chose a job whereby he’d use police power against people doing exactly the same thing he was doing. That’s pretty much the definition of hypocrite, except that “police power” doesn’t appear in the definition.
I think frequenting prostitutes is scuzzy, but should not be illegal, any more than being a prostitute should be illegal. I think it’s highly hypocritical to have other folks go to jail for something you’re doing yourself. It’s not the visiting of a prostitute, nor the arresting of prostitutes, that should lead to his resignation; it’s the combination of the two.
Daniel
[QUOTE=Loach]
Do we have to go through this again? I know there were threads about it years ago.
[/QUOTE]
I asked an honest question; I had hoped for a bit more than hand-waving in response.
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
Do I detect sarcasm?
It may sound counterintuitive but I actually DO think it would work if any of these politicos had the balls to call this stiff for the salacious, hypocritical bullshit that it is and refuse to be apologetic (esoecially since no one ever believes their artificial contrition anyway). They should stop always acting like they’ve been caught in some horrific crime and just shrug it off as a minor embarrassment. The crying routines just feed the false impression that this stuff has any credibility.
[/QUOTE]
Aside from issues of law, he has to do an apology catwalk, and maybe a whole apology tour of the talk shows to apologize to his wife and children, whether he believes it or not. Part of his squeaky clean image is as an upstanding family man.
Now if he was a single guy, and he could show a picture of an incredibly hot prostitute, and say, “Now c’mon, who wouldn’t tap this?”, he’d be applauded by every straight guy in America.
[QUOTE=Frank]
I asked an honest question; I had hoped for a bit more than hand-waving in response.
[/QUOTE]
I have no idea what that means. I answered your question. He resigned because of the corruption in his administration and life. The affair was the excuse.
[QUOTE=Marley23]
Voters wouldn’t approve.
Yeah yeah, very world weary and clever. So say when you go on a date with a non-prostitute and give her some candy- after you’ve done the deed and left, does another guy come in, take 90 percent of the candy, slap the shit out of her and then make her go on another date to get some more chocolate? 'Cause if that doesn’t happen, I gotta say, I see a significant difference between dating and prostitution. Legalized prostitution might be different, but I see some daylight between buying a girl stuff in the hope she’ll sleep with you, and paying a girl money to do it because it’s how she makes a living.
For my next Great Debate, I will argue that the chicken didn’t actually cross the road to get to the other side. 
[/QUOTE]
Well, I have never kept it particularly secret, but I was engaged to a violently abusive man, and tolerated him hitting me for the 3 months it took me to covertly sneak the money out of what pay he left me out of my paycheck to afford to bail out. So there you have it, go out and earn money, get slapped around and most of my money taken away, and sent back out the next day to punch a timeclock to make more money. Only real difference is he was very restrictive, and I only had sex with him.
[QUOTE=Loach]
I have no idea what that means. I answered your question. He resigned because of the corruption in his administration and life. The affair was the excuse.
[/QUOTE]
You haven’t given me anything. I’m not from New Jersey, nor am I familar with New Jersey politics, nor am I familar with corruption in McGreevey’s administration other than hiring his lover. You’re simply telling me that the corruption is a given, and I don’t know what you’re talking about.
John Lynch is a safety for the Broncos.
[QUOTE=Frank]
You haven’t given me anything. I’m not from New Jersey, nor am I familar with New Jersey politics, nor am I familar with corruption in McGreevey’s administration other than hiring his lover. You’re simply telling me that the corruption is a given, and I don’t know what you’re talking about.
John Lynch is a safety for the Broncos.
[/QUOTE]
That’s only because this isn’t a thread about McGreevey and it was done before. That’s why I didn’t feel like getting into it again. Took me about 10 seconds to Google John Lynch. And yes there also is a John Lynch in the NFL. But the one I was talking about was the NJ Senate Majority (and then minority) Leader. He was also the mayor of New Brunswick which is the county seat of Middlesex County. McGreevey was a mayor in the same county. He was one of Lynch’s boys and was just as corrupt. Maybe it wasn’t advertised that he was gay but many people knew it. I heard it from multiple sources before he was even elected governor. I heard it from people who lived in his town when he was mayor. I heard it from several people at work who happen to be gay. It was common knowledge in the gay community. He did not resign because of the affair. It was known by many people.
This makes him just as big a hypocrit as Mark Foley or Larry Craig. What an idiot.
For $5500 an hour I’d expect a mink lined hoo-ha that cooks me a steak dinner afterwards and shoots out cold Coronas for the rest of the night.
Boy, did I pick the wrong line of work.
[QUOTE=Loach]
But the one I was talking about was the NJ Senate Majority (and then minority) Leader. He was also the mayor of New Brunswick which is the county seat of Middlesex County. McGreevey was a mayor in the same county. He was one of Lynch’s boys and was just as corrupt.
[/QUOTE]
OK, that’s a connection, and given what I do know about N.J. politics, I’ll buy it. I still doubt that he would have resigned if not for the hiring deal (given what I do know about N.J. politics 
), but I suspect we’ll have to agree to disagree on that.
Thanks.
[QUOTE=Biggirl]
For $5500 an hour I’d expect a mink lined hoo-ha that cooks me a steak dinner afterwards and shoots out cold Coronas for the rest of the night.
[/QUOTE]
From CNN’s latest update, a potential employee’s comment on her friend’s reference:
I, for one, am not paying $5500 an hour to watch her eat a Blooming Onion.
[QUOTE=Frank]
I asked an honest question; I had hoped for a bit more than hand-waving in response.
[/QUOTE]
Sorry, Frank. The man was pretty well known to be really in deep shit locally. He was also semi-known to be gay locally, before he came out. The news stations pretty much all played it as, ‘He’s quitting before they come after his ass’ in the deeper commentary, as I remember things.
Spitzer. See, I’m wondering… would it be better or worse if he wanted the lady as part of a threesome for his wife? Or as a ‘gift’ for someone else? What bothers me the most about this is the ‘cheating on your wife’ thing.
At that level, I’m pretty sure the ladies are not being slapped by pimps at all. This isn’t your common streetwalker.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9807E7DD133FF935A2575BC0A9629C8B63
The Freepers have an archive of the Machavelli bribe code word thing.
Anyone got a better link than this?
[QUOTE=Frank]
OK, that’s a connection, and given what I do know about N.J. politics, I’ll buy it. I still doubt that he would have resigned if not for the hiring deal (given what I do know about N.J. politics ), but I suspect we’ll have to agree to disagree on that.
Thanks.
[/QUOTE]
Lynch is not the only thing going on. This is what I meant by Machiavelli. And there was more that I can’t remember right now.
[QUOTE=Paper Pusher]
Not to sound too paranoid but his name was picked up in a wiretap. I wonder if it was one of those warrantless wiretaps.
[/QUOTE]
Actually, his name was picked up because a bank reported him for structuring currency transactions. It’s all part of what banks have to do since 9/11.