It is this reporter’s opinion that my friend, Paul Slansky, author of “Idiots, Hypocrites, Demagogues, and More Idiots: Not-So-Great Moments in Modern American Politics,” tells it like it is.
"'After death and taxes, the next surest thing is that the discovery of sexual misbehavior by a public figure will be instantly followed . . . by a public apology . . . "so sorry . . . deeply sorry . . . profoundly sorry."' Of course they're sorry! They're sorry they got caught," he says in a Los Angeles Times article.
First there was the Clinton fiasco with Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office with Bill stating, “I never had a sexual relationship with that woman.”
Then the tapping on the floor by Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho in a Minneapolis Airport men’s room, tapping to a positioned police officer in the next stall. And now the revelations concerning New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, which caused the governor to resign.
And always, following these sordid relationships, these disgraced politicians issue a statement of profound sorrow and apology to the public.
There was the case of Rep. Richard Curtis, the anti-gay voter in the Washington State House who dressed as a woman and allegedly went to a hotel for sex with another man.
Take the case of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of Detroit who admitted to dozens of sexual encounters with his chief of staff. Or Louisiana Sen. David Vitter apologizing after his phone number turned up in the phone records of the “D.C. madam.”
Then, at a local level, the case of Rep. Ken Calvert of Riverside, Calif., caught in what was described as an extremely difficult situation performing with a prostitute in the rear of a parked car.
And you may recall, New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey apologized for an extramarital affair with a man he appointed as his Homeland Security adviser.
The case of Oregon Sen. Bob Packwood who expressed sorrow after a score of women charged him with unwanted sexual advances, Illinois Rep. Daniel Crane apologizing for having sexual relations with a 17-year-old female page, and Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank who admitted to having sex with a male prostitute.
Who can forget Gary Hart, a Colorado senator, apologizing for having spent the night in his D.C. home with model Donna Rice?
Widely suspected of philandering, Hart challenged the media, “Follow me around. I don't care. I'm serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They'll be very bored.”
The media took him up on the offer and they were not disappointed!
Always, they are sorry. They express a public apology and struggle to retain their jobs. They are sorry, all right. They are sorry they got caught.
It is only the tip of the iceberg. We discovered 10 years of sexual misdeeds on the part of Gov. Spitzer.
Spitzer had prosecuted at lease two prostitution rings while he was New York’s attorney general. He had built his reputation on being “Mr. Clean.” Known as the “Sheriff of Wall Street,” he was named “Crusader of the Year” by Time magazine in 2002.
Spitzer’s history of crime fighting earned him the nickname “Eliot Ness.” He vowed to stamp out crime and corruption in New York as governor in the same way he had taken on Wall Street executives as attorney general.
The same man who attacked political opponents with relish, Spitzer also proposed giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens.
And just as other politicians caught in the act, he apologized after being heard on the federal wiretap planning a rendezvous with a prostitute and haggling over the price — $5,000 for an hour!
And what about the families? Television showed Spitzer’s wife, Silda, standing beside her man as he spoke rather arrogantly of his misdeeds and his use of the prostitution ring known as the Emperor’s Club.
Spitzer first came under suspicion because of cash payments from several bank accounts to a standing account operated by the call-girl ring. The governor was the target of investigation and was tracked by court-ordered wiretaps arranging for a prostitute named Kristen to meet him at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Spitzer paid for Kristen to take a train from New York to Washington and to meet him on the eve of Valentine’s Day. And there he stood, this governor considered to be one of the most intelligent elected officials whose name was often mentioned as a candidate for president.
All of these trusted political figures who put their hands over their hearts and swore to represent the constituency, who swore to be trustworthy, honest representatives of the people, exposed as frauds.
Who was it that once described character as “doing what is right when no one is looking?”
This is one reporter’s opinion. We welcome yours.
Listen to George Putnam at www.CRNTALK.com.
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