Sex and the Politician

Is there something in the water in the Tri-State Area that some of the politicians are drinking to cause the sudden rash of sexual revelations?

Just one day after being inaugurated the first African American and legally blind governor of New York, David Paterson told New York Daily News that both he and his wife engaged in affairs during a rough time in their marriage several years ago. The revelations come after rumors started circulating over the weekend that he was unfaithful with his wife, just like his suddenly-departed predecessor Eliot Spitzer.

I respect Paterson for being upfront about his infidelities at the beginning of his tenure to save face; however, is it really my business to know about other people’s private lives?

I really could care less what consenting adults do behind closed doors. It only becomes my concern when there is a sense of hypocrisy or illegal and shady activity happening.

Paterson’s news also comes as the wife of former New Jersey governor and “gay American” Jim McGreevey denies being involved in three-way sex orgies with her ex-husband and their former driver. Again, these are consenting adults we are talking about here.

What offends me about Gov. McGreevey is the fact that he hired his inexperienced boyfriend, Cipal Golen, to be the state’s homeland security advisor, which is what forced him to resign in the first place.

And then there is former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has a history of having affairs with women he would eventually marry. He started dating Judith Nathan before he finalized his divorce with second wife Donna Hanover. According to reports, beginning in the summer of 1999, costs for his New York Police Department security detail during weekend visits to her in the Hamptons were charged to obscure city agencies. In early 2000, Nathan began getting city-provided chauffeur services from the police department.

And then there are the hypocrites, and you know who they are. They are the politicians who get on a pedestal and wag their fingers in your face about what morality is and that hell will freeze over if you don’t straighten out.

Eliot Spitzer made a career out of doing this. Before becoming governor, he had success as an attorney general chasing others for fraud, corporate white collar crime and mafia-related activities. Meanwhile, as he was doing all this, he was using his off hours with high-priced ladies of the night, spending an estimated amount of at least $80,000 for these trysts.

Lest we forget the ultimate hypocrite – Larry Craig. The US congressmen has spent nearly thirty years in his position voting on the most horrific legislation that makes life harder for gays and lesbians in this country, and have the audacity to criticize Bill Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky on national television. Meanwhile, he has allegedly carried out relationships with other men for years. The culmination of these allegations came out this summer when he was arrested in a Minnesota airport men’s room for soliciting sex - wide stance, anyone? My only advice to him and others like him – don’t be a closet gay and a public homophobe at the same time. It always comes back to haunt you eventually.

My point here is that we need to stop caring the bedroom activities of politicians. It is totally a waste of time, and there are more important issues we as Americans should care about.