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A little bit more…

Anne

Sorry for one more Spitzer/Paterson article, but this gets at the heart of the comment I just left regarding Jill’s previous post on Spitzer. Where do we draw the line on what is considered private versus public information? And if it goes beyond the illegal (prostitution, soliciting sex, etc) who gets to judge?

Does Alfred?

Alfred Harris, a deacon at the Samuel’s Temple of God in Christ Baptist Church at Park Avenue and 125th Street, who said that the new governor, like the old governor, should step down. “There are enough righteous men for these positions, but we just haven’t found them yet.”

(note the use of the word MEN here.)

Does Shelley?

“You wonder, if you dug into a lot of governors’ or senators’ lives, what you’d really find,” said Shelley Sue Reig, “I don’t think it’s really fair to dig, but they have always been held to a higher standard, just like C.E.O.s of companies. They’re held to a higher standard, too.”

(Just curious, but exactly what kind of ‘higher standard’ do we hold CEO’s to? I have never heard of a CEO being asked to step down because s/he had an affair…)

I personally think if it isn’t illegal, and it does not impact your job, then the moral judgments should be left to those who are actually impacted.

18 thoughts on A little bit more…

  1. Oh I gotta add one thing to the not illegal, no job impact part- and if it doesn’t make you a raging hypocrite.

    But otherwise, who you sleep with is a problem for your spouse, not me.

  2. Paterson’s not going to be called on seriously to step down, and I’ll tell you why: because the next guy in line for the office is Joe Bruno, Senate Majority Leader, and Joe Bruno would rather be Senate Majority Leader, where he can control the flow of legislation and wield an enormous amount of power from his very safe, non-term-limited seat, than he would want to be a term-limited governor who might just get voted out by people who’d love to get a chance to get back at him for his antics over the years.

    There will be ritualized huffing and puffing from the likes of Alfred, and ritualized locker-room humor from the Post, and then we’ll all forget about it and move on to the budget.

    Without the protection of Bruno not wanting to be governor? There might have been a problem. But I’m still inclined to think that more people in the state think like Shelley than they do like Alfred. But then, I’m the kind of person who’s more shocked that Jim McGreevey and his wife allegedly took their third out to T.G.I.Friday’s before the threesome than I am that they might have had a threesome.

  3. That’s a laugh. A CEO being asked to step down because of a misdemeanor, even something like paying for sex, or because of an affair?! What? CEOs are asked to step down because of financial improprieties or mishandling of stockholder money or embezzlement or incompetence. Probably if they got caught snorting coke, even with their own money, but even then… I’m sure that’s happened any number of times and been covered up.

    As for some of the arguments over Spitzer — I think there’s some schizophrenia there about whether buying sex work “really is” a crime or not. Of course strictly speaking it’s illegal, but there are a lot of people who buy into the “victimless crime” idea or believe it should be legalized, etc. (and of course, many of them are missing some pieces of the bigger picture or oversimplifying too) Which is why there have been a number of editorials from different sides about that recently.

    Adultery, on the other hand — even though it’s technically illegal in New York, and not really a “victimless” crime… I doubt you’d find many people arguing that it should be prosecuted and punished under the law.

  4. (Just curious, but exactly what kind of ‘higher standard’ do we hold CEO’s to? I have never heard of a CEO being asked to step down because s/he had an affair…)

    Actually, Boeing did it a couple of years ago. The fact that it was big news tells you how unusual it is.

  5. Wait, did I miss something? Was secret nefarious deed discovered about the new governor?

    And also:

    “There are enough righteous men for these positions, but we just haven’t found them yet.”

    Okay, fine, let’s take those words at face value. No women are to be considered for any political position, only so-called ‘righteous’ men. Alf says we haven’t found them yet — so how does he propose the government function in the meantime? Lay off all the lying liars and crooked crooks and then…?

  6. Oh I gotta add one thing to the not illegal, no job impact part- and if it doesn’t make you a raging hypocrite.

    Word. When you spend a good deal of your time trying to pass anti-gay legislation and then you’re caught foot-tapping in the men’s bathroom, I’d say that deserves to be news, if only for the schadenfreude factor.

  7. Wait, did I miss something? Was secret nefarious deed discovered about the new governor?

    He and his wife admitted up-front that they had marital troubles a few years ago and they both cheated. They decided it was better to just put it out there immediately — I think it was even before his swearing-in — than to let the tabloid media discover it and drag it out. Very smart move by the Patersons, IMO.

  8. I’m pretty sure a CEO at a publicly traded company having sexual relations with an intern would result in termination.

  9. Wait, did I miss something? Was secret nefarious deed discovered about the new governor?

    What Mnemosyne said, though he didn’t reveal anything before the swearing-in. But he and his wife did hold a press conference in which they answered questions about their infidelities, with the express purpose of making sure he couldn’t be blackmailed. In fact, apparently, the reason that Spitzer didn’t resign until Monday apparently had a lot to do with Paterson needing to figure out how to handle this.

  10. CEOs are asked to step down because of financial improprieties or mishandling of stockholder money or embezzlement or incompetence.

    Ideally, yes. But look at how many companies are looted by their executives, when there’s no reasonable way they could have hidden their activities from others inside the company.

  11. I’m pretty sure a CEO at a publicly traded company having sexual relations with an intern would result in termination.

    unless s/he is an underage intern i doubt it. I can’t be sure, and obviously every case is dif., but I know at a top law firm in New York paralegals have relationships with lawyers and/or partners at the firm – and while each individual case may or may not be frowned upon – it definitely will not lead to the termination of anyone.

  12. Johns hardly ever get arrested while sex workers get locked up and raped (by police in addition to others) on a daily basis. Give me a goddamn break.

  13. CEOs are asked to step down because of financial improprieties or mishandling of stockholder money or embezzlement or incompetence.

    ASKED TO STEP DOWN, yes. Thrown in jail for life? No. If they were black and poor and stole that much money, they’d never see daylight again.

  15. note the use of the word MEN here.

    Let’s be careful here. While I certainly would agree that we need to go beyond this whole “virtuous MAN” (note my slight change of words to etymologically illustrate what’s going on here — the tying of moral goodness to manliness — and to class … to those who can afford to be virtuous — is an inherent feature in “virtue” ethics) thing, it isn’t as if women don’t have affairs too. This blog would be the last place (or one of the last places) I’d expect to see “men can’t keep it in their pants, but women can” gender essentialism.

    IIRC, not only was the governor un-faithful, but his wife was unfaithful as well — we’d still be having this conversation if a woman was the governor if that woman was the current NY gov’s wife, e.g. Of course, given the sexism of the media, you’d imagine it would be even worse.

  17. CEOs are asked to step down because of financial improprieties or mishandling of stockholder money or embezzlement or incompetence.

    CEOs generally get rather nice severance packages when they are forced to step down for those reasons (and there’s often a nice statement of support for them made to the public and the employees to maintain their dignity and alow them to go on to ruin another company)

  18. I believe issues like spousal infidelity should be kept private. It’s really none of the public’s concern. While I feel Paterson probably did a pretty good move, considering the state of the press at the time, I don’t think it’s really any of our business what he and/or his wife did when they were having marital problems.

    However, I do feel that it’s in the public’s interest to know when a political figure/CEO/celebrity/John Q. Public is doing something illegal. First of all, if you’re in a position of power or influence, others have the right to see you as you really are. So if you’re a hypocrite, we’ll know not to vote for you. Or if you could be putting others in danger, well… yeah, I would like to know if my next door neighbor is a sex offender.

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