“Spitzer resigns in disgrace over scandal”
News Article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080312/ap_on_re_us/spitzer_prostitution
Headline: “Spitzer resigns in disgrace over scandal”
Lede: “In a startlingly swift fall from grace, Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned Wednesday after getting caught in a call-girl scandal that made a mockery of his straight-arrow image and left him facing the prospect of criminal charges and perhaps disbarment.”
Political sex scandals have engulfed the news for several decades. When New York Governor Eliot Spitzer announced his resignation on March 12, 2008, two days after being linked to a prostitution ring, he joined a list of politicians whose careers have been destroyed because of sex Eliot Spitzer was one of many politicians who risked their careers for sexual pleasure. Spitzer, now former Governor of New York, is married with three children, but that did not stop him from spending thousands on prostitutes. He was caught during a phone tap arranging a meeting with a hooker named Kristen for $1000 an hour. The authorities have since discovered that he has spent over $80,000 on the prostitution ring. (http://politickernj.com/files/Top53SexScandals.pdf). Mr. Spitzer was threatened with impeachment and, as a result, took matters into his own hands and resigned. The main issues at hand are prostitution, infidelity, and possible impeachment and how they are so prominent in the history of politics.
The public seems to be attracted to the details of extramarital affairs, especially when it concerns political leaders. While much of the public also engages in such activities, the politicians have held the spotlight. This possibly is because the politicians are seen as leaders and when leaders mess up, it is exciting. The simple fact that the politicians are the ones messing up, keeps the public enticed with this type of voyeurism. Throughout history, we seen many politicians’ careers ruined because of their scandalous, sexual relationships. Many of these politicians have resigned and/or been impeached.
Eliot Spitzer’s case has been given a lot of attention because of its immense controversy. As Attorney General in New York, Spitzer promised to end corruption. He fought many cases against corruption and swore to the people of New York that he would do whatever he could to end this problem. As a result, he was elected to be Governor of New York in November of 2006. Consequently, he is now seen as being involved in a majorly corrupt legal battle. He himself, signed a law against human-trafficking to try to end prostitution. He changed the punishment for prostitution from a Class B misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor, which increased fines and jail time. According to the New York state law that he signed, patronizing a prostitute and promoting prostitution and sex trafficking are a Class B misdemeanor and Class B felony, respectively. (http://www.prostitutionprocon.org/newyork.htm). Before 1915, prostitution was illegal in the United States. Prostitution was made illegal in most states in 1915 because of the influence of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. WCTU was founded in the 1870’s and has since been an active feminist group advocating things such as alcohol, prostitution, labor rights, pornography and peace. With the help of the WCTU in 1915, prostitution was made illegal in most states. However, prostitution was not made illegal in Alaska until 1953, and is still legal in most of Nevada (http://www.wctu.org/issues.html).
Perhaps one of the more popular contemporary sex scandals in America is the Jim McGreevey scandal. What makes this scandal especially unique is that it is one of the only homosexual political sex scandals. Jim McGreevey, former governor of New Jersey, admitted to his constituency and the world that he is a gay American in 2004. Golan Cipel, McGreevey’s state homeland security adviser and lover, became the center of attention shortly after being assigned to his post. Cipel, being an Israeli national, fell into the public eye shortly after being appointed to the $100,000 position. The problem was Cipel could not get security clearance due to his foreign citizenship. Shortly thereafter, Cipel was reassigned to an “advisory” position, oddly enough at the same salary level. Reports state that McGreevey and Cipel became very close and were often seen travelling together. In 2004, McGreevey broke the news that he had been in an intimate relationship with Cipel and asked for the forgiveness of his wife.
Shortly after the scandal broke, the couple appeared separately on the Oprah Winfrey show. Oprah also received a statement from Cipel. In his statement, Cipel maintains that rather than being engaged in a consensual relationship with McGreevey, he was “sexually assaulted and harassed” (http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200705/tows_past_20070501_b.jhtml). He claims that he is a victim rather than a perpetrator. On his website, cipelgolan.com, he maintains that the relationship was forced upon him. In my humble opinion, it seems rather odd that he would stay on at his well-paid post given that he was being “victimized” by his boss. Even more strange, Cipel, an ex Israeli Naval Officer, did not fight back while being “victimized” on more than one occasion. There is no doubt that he would have known how to do so. Perhaps he was overcome with the fear of how McGreevey would respond.
Recently, the McGreevey scandal has made it back to the media but this time the focus is on Dina, Jim’s soon to be ex-wife. From the beginning, Dina maintained that she had no idea that Jim was engaging in the affair much less that the affair was a homosexual one. In fact, she told Oprah that she did not know that he was gay until two hours before the press conference. Now, McGreevey’s former driver has admitted to being involved in a relationship with both of them for quite some time. A report in the Daily News states that the 3 of them engaged in “sex parties” which they called “Friday Night Specials” before and after Dina and Jim were married. (http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/03/16/2008-03-16_former_driver_talks_mcgreevey_sex_partie.html). This comes as a sharp contrast to the statements that Dina has made since the break of the scandal.
Bill Clinton is another major political figure that was at the heart of sex scandal. The Clinton-Lewinsky scandal is possibly the most prominent sex scandal of the 20th century. In ’98, news of the scandal broke out on the internet on the Drudge Report website. Shortly after the break to the media, Clinton made his now infamous “I did not have sexual relations with that woman…” speech (http://youtube.com/watch?v=KiIP_KDQmXs&feature=related). Shortly after the story broke, Clinton was under investigation and subsequently impeached by the House of Representatives. Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern at the time, at first declined to discuss the affair or to testify in open court. After being promised immunity, she admitted to the affair and submitted into evidence a dress that was stained with President Clinton’s semen. Shortly thereafter, Bill Clinton admitted to having an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky. Clinton maintained that he did have sexual relations with Monica, claiming that his receiving oral sex did not constitute sexual relations based on the definition provided (http://youtube.com/watch?v=lJ1Z9Yw-VUg&feature=related). He was then held in contempt, had his license to practice law revoked, and fined (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewinsky_scandal). According to the law, a President can only be removed from office if a two-thirds vote is passed. In the Clinton case, the perjury charge was defeated with 45 votes for impeachment and 55 votes against. The charge of obstruction of justice was defeated with 50 votes for and 50 against. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Bill_Clinton). At the federal level, Article II, Section 4, of the United States Constitution states that “The President, Vice President, and all other civil Officers of the United States shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and the Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.” (http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h231.html). The House of Representatives makes all impeachment decisions while the Senate takes the proceedings to court. If convicted by the Senate, the impeached official is removed.
The issue of trust is always at the forefront of any politician’s career. It is because of this that many politicians in the wake of a scandal, namely sexual ones, choose to resign from their post. Granted, Clinton did not abdicate his throne, but maybe that is because he was found not guilty on charges, perjury and obstruction of justice. McGreevey, though not found in violation of the law, did resign from his post. Why is this? Perhaps it is because without the trust of his family, he cannot expect to retain the trust of the people he swore to serve. Some might argue that one’s personal life should have no bearing on how he or she is able to handle political responsibility. However, if a man is willing to lie to his wife what makes us think he is will be up-front with us? McGreevey used tax payer’s dollars to pay the salary of his pseudo-boyfriend. He may have done it legally, but, it doesn’t change the fact that he used his position of power to further his own ambition. Eliot Spitzer falls under the same category. Officially, he hasn’t been charged with a crime yet; however, he has still decided to resign from office. This stems from the now lost trust between him and his constituency. Scandal is at the heart of politics. Unfortunately, until we are able to separate the greedy urges from the realm of public service, this plague will continue to wreak havoc in the world of politics. With power comes an inevitable lust for greed. Although the sex scandals we read about are not much different than some of the marital problems we hear about in passing, it bears significance when trust is lost between self-proclaimed “civil servants” and the general public.
