Eliot Spitzer owes George W. Bush some serious props.
If it wasn’t for the war in Iraq, the collapse of Bear Sterns, the foreclosure crisis, the shaky state of Wall Street and all the other highlights of what, at best, can satirically be called the Bush “Administration”, the story of Mr. Client 9 and his high priced play pal would have had, what they ironically call in the trades…legs.
As it is, New York State has a new governor, the first black to hold the office, as well as the first legally blind person to hold the office.
And, of course, his “extra marital” issues have already been outed, sliced, diced and offered up on the salacious smorgasbord that is the “news”.
Yawn.
I don’t want to give the impression I condone or endorse any activity that goes against the basic code of right and wrong in the world.
Whatever the hell that is anymore.
Fact is, it’s not for me to say anyway, one way or the other.
And I suppose that reporting on the human flaws and weaknesses of those we select to lead us is inevitable in a world of flawed and weak humans.
So be it.
Is it just me, though, or do you find yourself less concerned with the “affairs” of those who conduct affairs of state than you are with whether or not it’s going to be Archuleta or Cook who becomes this year’s winner on American Idol?
Yeah. I thought so.
And again, it’s not so much because we approve of misbehavior, as it is we’ve become sort of resigned to it being the norm.
Judge not, lest ye be judged.
No moral of the morals story here.
Something to be said, though, for the fact that those things that were once surprising, even shocking are not so shocking, let alone surprising, anymore.
The case can certainly be made that the world is spiraling downward toward the unavoidable spiritual and moral Armageddon.
Which, of course, brings us to the question that has been asked since time immemorial.
What else is new?
I’m honestly not sure whether our moral decay is any more prevalent or rapid these days or whether technology has made the world so much smaller that we hear about every little crack in the mortar whenever and wherever it appears.
In the 1860’s, some people in California didn’t find out for weeks after the fact that Lincoln had been assassinated.
Today, the Jockey shorts are hardly pulled back up before Inside Edition has the latest details of the latest fall from grace.
Temptation and sin date back to the garden, if I remember my history correctly.
Eden. Not Olive.
See what I mean about what’s important to us?
And people of power and prestige, etc have been falling off their pedestals ever since.
Remember Aimee Semple McPherson?
No, she’s not the latest hottie reading the teleprompter on Fox News.
She was, eighty years or so ago, the hottest thing in evangelism.
By the mid-1920s, evangelist McPherson was packing them in at her Angelus Temple in Los Angeles, preaching hope and warning against the sinful life. But in 1926, she disappeared while swimming at a local beach. She turned up a month later with a fantastic story about being kidnapped and taken to Mexico. Unfortunately, the evidence said otherwise: It appeared Aimee had been shacked up with a married man. The evangelist was charged with perjury, but she stuck to her story and was eventually acquitted. Her popularity waned after the scandal, but you gotta hand it to her for chutzpah: instead of apologizing to her confused flock, McPherson bobbed her hair, bought some short skirts, and began dancing and drinking in public.
Or so they say…
Looking at her picture, though, I’m thinking of floating a rumor that she found her final fame playing Ma on The Sopranos.
Regardless, there is something to be said for somebody who not only admits their failings but changes careers to utilize them, don’t you think?
Maybe Spitzer will take a page from McPherson’s book.
And we’ll see him next season as the host of “Moment Of Truth.”
No comments:
Post a Comment