NY Governor Spitz(ers) on His Own Parade

With the resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer and the ascension of Lieutenant Gov. David Paterson to the governorship of New York, the state government moved quickly beyond former Spitzer’s spectacular fall from grace after the now former governor was caught indulging in regular services from a high-priced call girl affiliated with an upper-echelon prostitution ring.

What made the Spitzer saga so dramatic was that he had stormed into office as a reformer with a reputation for attacking corruption on Wall Street and the intention of cleaning up the state government in Albany. Spitzer had few friends, thanks apparently to an uncompromising attitude that was about setting superhuman ethical standards for colleagues as well as opponents.

The most ironic aspect of the whole thing was that Spitzer was caught because of flagged bank transactions — namely, withdrawals of several thousand dollars at a time — thanks to a highly intrusive database that tracks citizens’ banking activities, looking for evidence of suspicious activity. That database has reportedly become a prime tool of the U.S. government as it seeks to detect terrorist financing activity in the aftermath of 9/11. Spitzer was apparently a big advocate of the system. I guess we should all be gratified to know just how much deeper our government is digging into our private affairs based on the excuse of “national security.” (The system apparently tracks small as well as large transactions.)

At this point, Democrats and Republicans seem to basically be even on the scoreboard of illicit activity. While some in the press briefly speculated that Hillary Clinton would pay a perceptual price for Spitzer’s transgression because of his support for her, this story is less likely to have an impact beyond one man’s personal tragedy.

As we’ve seen with other public figures, the thrill of a double life more often than not ends in the agony of public and private humiliation. Hiding the truth from the light of day is a difficult balancing act for most people to sustain. What have we learned from the Spitzer story? There are always new ways to get caught. And, we would ask the protagonists in any of these scenarios: Was it worth it?

Yours Truly,
A.F. Cook