Elliot Spitzer’s next role: Tartuffe.
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In the French play Tartuffe, the protagonist is the ultimate hypocrite whose moral failings mirror those that he crusaded against and on whose backs he ascended to power.  The play’s message is that feigned virtue will make you a target of friend and foe and it is hypocrisy that will bring you down. It sounds to me as if Moliere was writing New York’s disgraced governor, who, like Tartuffe, was detested for counterfeit piety, wanton ambition, and dubious probity.  Some have suggested that Governor Spitzer’s dalliances with the ladies of the night should remain a private matter of issue only to his wife and children. In most cases I would be apt to agree, only Eliot Spitzer spent years crusading against the very prostitution rings that he was patronizing and that just won’t do.   According to The New York Times:
Mr. Spitzer gained national attention when he served as attorney general with his relentless pursuit of Wall Street wrongdoing. As attorney general, he also had prosecuted at least two prostitution rings as head of the state’s organized crime task force. In one such case in 2004, Mr. Spitzer spoke with revulsion and anger after announcing the arrest of 16 people for operating a high-end prostitution ring out of Staten Island.
Interestingly, the Clinton campaign has sanitized their website of any reference to the Governor, who also happens to be a Super-delegate that was backing Hillary. You have to figure Clinton will do her best to persuade Spitzer to resign quickly, as the longer he remains in office the more it will conjure up memories of her husband’s impeachment scandal, a definite distraction when the campaign wants to be talking about 3AM phone calls. Will she still have the backing of New York’s Lt. Governor, David Patterson? And though Eliot Spitzer is a Super-delegate supporting Hillary, Lt. Governor David Patterson, an African American Democrat from Harlem, supports Hillary as well, so there would be no net loss of delegates. In fact, if Spitzer were to step down, David Patterson would likely become Hillary’s most prominent African American supporter.
Here is what Hillary said when questioned by a reporter:
“I obviously am sending my best wishes and thoughts to the governor and to his family.”When asked whether Gov. Spitzer could survive politically she said, “Let’s wait and see what comes out of the next few days. Right now I don’t have any comment. I think it’s appropriate to wish his family well and see how things develop.”
