http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/12/10/071210fa_fact_paumgarten?printable=true
All,
Wow...This article certainly turned out to be prophetic. It was published in The New Yorker on December 10, 2007--just three months ago. The title?--"The Humbling of Eliot Spitzer" ...OUCH! When you read this piece it's 100% clear that the handwriting was on the wall for this guy even then and it was just a matter of time before EVERYTHING would come crashing down--one way or the other. It's too bad too because the guy for all of his insufferable arrogance, hubris, and bullying actually had some genuine progressive instincts and concerns if not ideas. He was certainly a political liberal--especially compared to damn near every other major politician in New York which as we all know is, like Texas, Nevada, Florida, and California, a notoriously corrupt state. I commend the man for having the sheer GUTS AND CHUTZPAH fo take on all the most corrupt and exploitive capitalist monsters in the country like the gigantic, unrepentant thieves of Wall Street, the Mafia, WAL-MART, rogue corporations like the pharmaceutical companies, as well as massive capitalist vultures like WorldCom, Merrill Lynch and so many others. Spitzer was in that sense a genuine crusader for social and economic justice and you got to at least admire him for that...Well all except for 'TrooperGate' that is--but that's ANOTHER story...
BUT this guy had absolutely NO SENSE OF PERSONAL PROPORTION OR AWARENESS OF LIMITATIONS AT ALL which obviously made him a reckless and random target for anyone who had enough power or simply vengeful anger to bring him down. But the pathetic part of it all is that it didn't take an actual real enemy for the destruction to take place. Like so many other ALPHA MALE JERKS he was hellbent and determined to destroy himself FIRST before anyone else could do the job.
SO in the end his overbearing and pious, self righteous tone and hectoring pugnacious style did him in precisely because he was not always personally or morally above indulging in that which he justifiably but hypocritically condemned. HUBRIS, EGOMANIA, and ENTITLEMENT is what ultimately done him in--like most arrogant politicians, criminals, and businessmen--but when you look at this cat's background you can easily understand why he thought he was somehow immune from the very law that he so effectively used to prosecute others. Such an old cliched story, isn't it? The fact that the man was destroyed by something as comparatively trivial as soliciting prostitutes is of course the final absurd irony in this whole sordid episode. Like Bill Clinton, the man was literally caught with his pants down--an utterly humiliating and embarrassing predicament for a man who had always publicly prided himself on being morally superior to just this sort of personal misbehavior. It would have been different if he hadn't always painted himself as the infallible White Knight and simply dealt with himself and others on a human scale level that acknowledged weakness, vulnerability, and flaws. But because he not only refused to do this and acted in public as though he was intellectually and morally superior to everyone he either worked with or against he created so many unnecessary enemies (in addition to all the ones he justly earned for responsibly doing his job) he left himself without a truly loyal base of friends and supporters in and out of government who he could count on to come to his rescue when things got tough or he was compelled to admit to human weakness. In other words he simply forgot or rather chose to arrogantly ignore the first rule of ethics which is to treat others with the same sense of justice, fairness, and mercy that you would like to see others treat you. Now Spitzer will not only NOT become the "first Jewish American president" but a mere footnote in the history of New York state politics (Note: No New York Governor has been forced to resign because of scandal since 1913!)...DAMNNNNN...What was YOU thinking Eliot? O I know: "I want some RIGHT NOW and why shouldn't I have it? I've earned some relaxation time. It's not like I'm a REAL CRIMINAL or anything like all the inferior assholes who hate me..." Right, Eliot?...Yeah, I thought so...
Kofi
All,
Wow...This article certainly turned out to be prophetic. It was published in The New Yorker on December 10, 2007--just three months ago. The title?--"The Humbling of Eliot Spitzer" ...OUCH! When you read this piece it's 100% clear that the handwriting was on the wall for this guy even then and it was just a matter of time before EVERYTHING would come crashing down--one way or the other. It's too bad too because the guy for all of his insufferable arrogance, hubris, and bullying actually had some genuine progressive instincts and concerns if not ideas. He was certainly a political liberal--especially compared to damn near every other major politician in New York which as we all know is, like Texas, Nevada, Florida, and California, a notoriously corrupt state. I commend the man for having the sheer GUTS AND CHUTZPAH fo take on all the most corrupt and exploitive capitalist monsters in the country like the gigantic, unrepentant thieves of Wall Street, the Mafia, WAL-MART, rogue corporations like the pharmaceutical companies, as well as massive capitalist vultures like WorldCom, Merrill Lynch and so many others. Spitzer was in that sense a genuine crusader for social and economic justice and you got to at least admire him for that...Well all except for 'TrooperGate' that is--but that's ANOTHER story...
BUT this guy had absolutely NO SENSE OF PERSONAL PROPORTION OR AWARENESS OF LIMITATIONS AT ALL which obviously made him a reckless and random target for anyone who had enough power or simply vengeful anger to bring him down. But the pathetic part of it all is that it didn't take an actual real enemy for the destruction to take place. Like so many other ALPHA MALE JERKS he was hellbent and determined to destroy himself FIRST before anyone else could do the job.
SO in the end his overbearing and pious, self righteous tone and hectoring pugnacious style did him in precisely because he was not always personally or morally above indulging in that which he justifiably but hypocritically condemned. HUBRIS, EGOMANIA, and ENTITLEMENT is what ultimately done him in--like most arrogant politicians, criminals, and businessmen--but when you look at this cat's background you can easily understand why he thought he was somehow immune from the very law that he so effectively used to prosecute others. Such an old cliched story, isn't it? The fact that the man was destroyed by something as comparatively trivial as soliciting prostitutes is of course the final absurd irony in this whole sordid episode. Like Bill Clinton, the man was literally caught with his pants down--an utterly humiliating and embarrassing predicament for a man who had always publicly prided himself on being morally superior to just this sort of personal misbehavior. It would have been different if he hadn't always painted himself as the infallible White Knight and simply dealt with himself and others on a human scale level that acknowledged weakness, vulnerability, and flaws. But because he not only refused to do this and acted in public as though he was intellectually and morally superior to everyone he either worked with or against he created so many unnecessary enemies (in addition to all the ones he justly earned for responsibly doing his job) he left himself without a truly loyal base of friends and supporters in and out of government who he could count on to come to his rescue when things got tough or he was compelled to admit to human weakness. In other words he simply forgot or rather chose to arrogantly ignore the first rule of ethics which is to treat others with the same sense of justice, fairness, and mercy that you would like to see others treat you. Now Spitzer will not only NOT become the "first Jewish American president" but a mere footnote in the history of New York state politics (Note: No New York Governor has been forced to resign because of scandal since 1913!)...DAMNNNNN...What was YOU thinking Eliot? O I know: "I want some RIGHT NOW and why shouldn't I have it? I've earned some relaxation time. It's not like I'm a REAL CRIMINAL or anything like all the inferior assholes who hate me..." Right, Eliot?...Yeah, I thought so...
Kofi
