Spring Break
The tryst heard 'round the world
Luci Storelli-Castro
Issue date: 3/25/08 Section: Opinion
Dear Mates,
Don't expect to see any "Eliot Spitzer Is My Homeboy" t-shirts in Ghana anytime soon. The former New York Governor's fall from grace with the discovery of his involvement in the Emperor's Club, a high-priced prostitution ring, joins a long line of sex scandals heard 'round the world.
Spitzer, victim of his own indiscretion, has become the subject of many conversations on campus at the University of Ghana, with students finding about as little sympathy for him as most New Yorkers.
Many have questioned Spitzer's sincerity in apologizing for his misconduct and suspect that he feels more regret for getting caught than for the mere fact he was soliciting sex from someone only four years older than his eldest daughter.
His two press conferences since the ordeal began have not helped his cause, either. In the first, he admitted wrongdoing, but didn't elaborate on what his wrongdoing entailed.
His address was so utterly ambiguous it was like he was saying: I did it, but I didn't. His resignation announcement was even less impressive.
As Allan Chernoff, a CNN correspondent covering the event wrote, "the words from Gov. Spitzer were there, but the emotion, the body language was not. It was virtually the same determined tone he almost always presented to the media."
Chernoff concluded, "[Spitzer] had apologized, had abdicated the state's highest post. Yet he had not conveyed a sense of true contrition."
Of course, whenever a public figure is embroiled in a scandal of this magnitude, the question always arises whether considerations about his or her private life should have any bearing on his or her governing capacity. This argument is reminiscent of the Monica Lewinsky affair that lead to the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton in the House.
Supporters of Clinton maintained that, even though he had an affair while in office, Clinton's presidency was one of the most successful in U.S. history.
Don't expect to see any "Eliot Spitzer Is My Homeboy" t-shirts in Ghana anytime soon. The former New York Governor's fall from grace with the discovery of his involvement in the Emperor's Club, a high-priced prostitution ring, joins a long line of sex scandals heard 'round the world.
Spitzer, victim of his own indiscretion, has become the subject of many conversations on campus at the University of Ghana, with students finding about as little sympathy for him as most New Yorkers.
Many have questioned Spitzer's sincerity in apologizing for his misconduct and suspect that he feels more regret for getting caught than for the mere fact he was soliciting sex from someone only four years older than his eldest daughter.
His two press conferences since the ordeal began have not helped his cause, either. In the first, he admitted wrongdoing, but didn't elaborate on what his wrongdoing entailed.
His address was so utterly ambiguous it was like he was saying: I did it, but I didn't. His resignation announcement was even less impressive.
As Allan Chernoff, a CNN correspondent covering the event wrote, "the words from Gov. Spitzer were there, but the emotion, the body language was not. It was virtually the same determined tone he almost always presented to the media."
Chernoff concluded, "[Spitzer] had apologized, had abdicated the state's highest post. Yet he had not conveyed a sense of true contrition."
Of course, whenever a public figure is embroiled in a scandal of this magnitude, the question always arises whether considerations about his or her private life should have any bearing on his or her governing capacity. This argument is reminiscent of the Monica Lewinsky affair that lead to the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton in the House.
Supporters of Clinton maintained that, even though he had an affair while in office, Clinton's presidency was one of the most successful in U.S. history.
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