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Eliot Spitzer Joins the Club of Self-destruction
He was called the Sheriff of Wall Street for his dogged pursuit of rule breakers in the mutual fund industry as the Attorney General of New York. He would later use the favorable publicity of a compliant media as a springboard to become the elected governor of the state of New York in 2006. His rapid political rise had many people projecting him as a serious potential candidate for the Presidency in 2012.
Therefore, the lurid details behind the recent resignation of Eliot Spitzer due to his involvement in a paid prostitution ring is a national shock. Our shock is intensified by the fact that the story combines all the sordid elements that the current tabloid news media loves to exploit; the hypocrisy and scandal of a government official, adultery, lurid sex, young call girls, family tragedy, and potential criminal behavior.
If you somehow have not yet heard, Spitzer was referred to as client number 9 in a government case against the Emperors Club Escort Service. He is said to have paid the club's VIP agency $4,300 to arrange for sex with a prostitute named Kristen on Feb. 13, 2008 in Washington's Mayflower Hotel. Published reports indicate it was apparently the latest episode in a repetitive pattern of behavior that went on for months and involved tens of thousands of dollars.
The sad fact is that Spitzer's legal problems may have only just begun. Based solely on the known facts, Spitzer could potentially face criminal charges concerning an attempt to hide monetary transactions, soliciting prostitution, tax evasion, and violation of the Mann Act concerning a payment for a call girl's interstate trip. Court documents and published reports indicate that perhaps as much as $80,000 was transferred from Spitzer's account to a trio of dummy companies that were really fronts for the Emperors Club escort service.
The amazing thing is that as a former Attorney General, Spitzer knew the risk in being involved with the Emperors Club. In fact, only four years earlier (April 8, 2004), he announced that authorities had arrested 18 people on prostitution and related charges in the investigation of another New York escort service. At that time, Spitzer said: "This was a sophisticated and lucrative operation with a multitiered management structure. It was, however, nothing more than a prostitution ring, and now its owners and operators will be held accountable."
The defendants in that escort case were charged with money laundering, enterprise corruption, promoting prostitution, and falsifying business records. The aspects of that case and investigation are very similar to the charges and investigation involved in the Emperors Club that soon may lead to many of the same criminal charges against Eliot Spitzer.
The sad truth is that we have often seen this type of public hypocrisy and self-destructive behavior before. While sometimes surprising, it is unfortunately really nothing new or unique. Surely Jim Swaggart and Jim Bakker must have understood the risk of their private sexual exploits while in their prominent public position of American televangelists. Every day on their televised broadcast they would preach against some of the very sins that that were, in fact, privately committing.
Jim Swaggart would expose peer televangelist Jim Bakker's adulterous sexual indiscretions on the Larry King Show. Subsequently, Swaggart would be found with prostitutes on a couple of different occasions. Both men would experience a dramatic fall from prominence for their hypocrisy and self-destructive behavior. In addition, Bakker would spend years in jail for a series of finance charges concerning his ministry.
It is still hard to understand exactly why otherwise intelligent men become members in this club of self destruction. Some say it is the power in their celebrity that leads them astray. Others contend that it is a malfunction in the cortex of the brain that disconnects them from reality and its consequences. Arrogance and various character flaws are also mentioned as possible causes.
However, regardless of the reason, members of the club of self-destructive behavior all have one thing in common. Their behavior not only claims their personal career and respect, but, like a scorched earth policy, destroys everything they love and touch. Family and friends experience the pain of broken trust and public humiliation. It is a pain that changes lives and can last for many years.
The ultimate irony of this sad story is that the next governor of New York will be current Lieutenant Governor, David Patterson. He is an African American who is legally blind; a man who has overcome difficult personal obstacles to now become the governor of the state of New York. On election night in 2006, Patterson reflected on the promise of a newly-elected Spitzer administration. "Eliot and I have a vision for New York," he said. "I can't see it in my eyes, but I can feel it in my heart.”
Now less than two years later, Patterson will become the new governor of New York. He will take the position from a man with a privileged background; a man without impediment of sight who did not have the vision to see the obvious potential ramifications of his dubious behavior. Indeed, like Bakker, Swaggart and others, Eliot Spitzer is now destined to become another member in the club of self-destruction.
About the Author
James William Smith has worked in Senior management positions for some of the largest Financial Services firms in the United States for the last twenty five years. He has also provided business consulting support for insurance organizations and start up businesses. Visit his website at http://www.eWorldvu.com/international/
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