Should Silda Spitzer stand by her man?

All this makes me think of is French cardinals expiring in the arms of courtesans, and a certain former New York governor who died on West 54th Street.

Unfortunately, the governor doesn’t seem to know the difference between righteousness and wrong. If his wife leaves him, it should be for his hypocrisy, not his infidelity. Alan Dershowitz said something like, "In Europe, this story would be on page 26." Whether or not Silda Spitzer does or does not keep her family together is her business and no one else’s.

I wonder if there aren’t sado-masochistic impulses at play here that led to Spitzer’s act of self-destruction. Another thought: from now on, the poor wife should get a break and the hooker should have to stand by the man. Of course, someone will have to deal with her fee. 

I agree with what Carville said tonight, "This may have political motivations." BTW, do we know who holds the business license for The Emperor’s Club? All the time and money that will be spent to prosecute illegal sexual activity—-shouldn’t we be prosecuting war profiteering?

You know how death is familiar to us in the abstract but almost always a shock in the particular?  ‘Death exists.  It is part of life.  My God, John just died!’   That’s how I feel about the colorful sins adults commit.  ‘Sin exists.  It’s part of us.  My God, look what John did, is he crazy?’   

In Spitzer’s story there are some unusual elements.  First, no one seems sad, I mean no one in New York.  This is not partisan.  No one liked him.  Spitzer made himself famous as a moral avenger who targeted people and tried to ruin them.  He was a bully.  I am not sure he could help it, because I also think he was a little mad.  The one time I met him he had Crazy Man Eye Dance.  Now the moral avenger/bully has fallen.  He was already finished in New York — he’d done too many things that were excessive, intemperate.  Bullying.

Second, I think he will have to resign because his governorship is never going to work now.  It’s over.  I guess you can survive if you’re a bully, and you can survive if you’re a punch line, and you can even survive if most everyone dislikes you.  But you can’t survive in politics if you’re a despised bully who’s a punchline.  (David Letterman said in his monologue that Spitzer just gave a news conference with police tape tied around his pants.  Then he called him The Love Gov.)

On the subject of Mrs. Spitzer, who at this point has thoughts worth saying?  She’s just had maybe the worst moment of her life.  She doesn’t know if she’s coming or going.  She stood, stricken, on the stage with her husband at his news conference.  I don’t know her, or him, or their history or circumstances.  In general I would say a woman who stayed with such a husband might be demonstrating heroic qualities.  Maybe she’s heroic.

It is her decision whether she wants to stand by him in the long run — but for God’s sake — why must these women have to stand next to them when they confess their sins?

I really didn’t mean it to be funny. I think it’s painful to see these women, time and time again be dragged out to these press conferences to stand there by their man. I’d think more of Spitzer and any man who refused to make his wife stand there in humiliation with him.

Literally, no. The modern ritual by which a deceived woman now stands physically by her man, holding hands or arm in arm while he refuses to give us the juicy details, is highly unseemly. It amounts to a perp walk for the victim. Ladies, this is a time to stay home and decide for yourself whether you should let him back in. You don’t look your best.

Talk about wowOwow!!! Jesus. What a bombshell. So completely out of character for Spitzer. Such an aberration. I can hardly believe it’s true. As for Silda—whom I have always found to be so elegant, intelligent, and gracious—I don’t know what to think. And probably neither does she. It’s completely out of the blue. So unlike Hillary’s situation which was a constant pattern. It’s such a classical Conservative’s dilemma: The self-righteous caped Crusader self-destructing with juicy peccadillos. Are we to assume he’s toast? And the Lieutenant General Patterson?? Seems like such a substantial, worthy successor. As for Silda, she looked like she had seen way better mornings. God. What a thing to endure.

Silda should stand by her man if he would stand by her. She should ask him. He is — what many men and women in power are — dealing with a damaged frontal cortex. He is not risk adverse. Bet he drives fast, too. Give him a break, Silda. Go out and find yourself a guy — but less expensive.

Those smiles of death on Mrs. Spitzer, Mrs. Clinton, Mrs. Rockefeller, Mrs. Roosevelt and on and on. They used to bother me. But after the Clinton mess went on and on I lost interest. Men with tremendous egos use everyone around them every second of every day and wives and prostitutes and would-be prostitutes are just another fruit in the salad of life they were born to enjoy.

The lurid details of Eliot Spitzer’s fascination with prostitutes will no doubt be revealed with hypnotic syncopation over the next days. Maybe he will resign - but why will sex kill Eliot when it seems to have served, in the end, to enhance the popularity of Bill Clinton?

The real question today is: Why would a man who would spend $5,000 for a few hours of sex be the best choice to balance the budget of New York State?