The Spitzer sex scandal has received alot of press coverage the past week; After all, what self-respecting reporter when offered the scoop of a 32 22 yr. old bombshell babe servicing a powerful, married Political figure would even dream of exercising restraint.
Ya… I couldn’t think of any either.
In all seriousness, I did have a few thoughts to share on the issue. First, Alan Dershowitz (a harvard law professor of whom I have previously referenced on this blog) came out in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal and very nearly defended Spitzer.
Generally, wise and intelligent prosecutors use their discretion properly–to target organized crime, terrorism, financial predation, exploitation of children and the like. But the very existence of these selectively enforced statutes poses grave dangers of abuse. They lie around like loaded guns waiting to be used against the enemies of politically motivated investigators, prosecutors and politicians.
If this is what “wise and intelligent” prosecutors do… one can only think what Dershowitz thinks about the prosecutors in this case. He certainly has a valid point: overly-broad criminal statutes can be used for ill by partisan political figures. This isn’t to say that Spitzer shouldn’t have been held to the same standards as anyone else, or that he is above the law–but it is never right to selectively apply criminal statutes… these should be applied equally to all people.
One other person who came to mind as I reflected on this story was Jean Baudrillard, a french philosopher about whom I have written extensively about. In his book, America, he examines the media fascination and the cultural response Americans have to such events. I’ve re-read the book in its entirety and cannot find the exact quote I wanted… but here are a few relevant portions:
The fact is that a certain banality, a certain vulgarity which seem unacceptable to us in Europe seem more than acceptable — even fascinating — to us here. All our modern governments owe a kind of political meta-stability to the regulation of public opinion by advertising. Mistkes, scandals, and failures no longer signal catastrophe. The crutial think is that they be made credible, and that the public be made aware of the efforts being expended in that direction.
No one keeps count of the mistakes made by the world’s political leaders any more, mistakes which, in days gone by, would have brought about their downfall… The people no longer take pride in their leaders and the leaders no longer pride themselves on their decisions….
Everything has to be made public: what are you worth, what you earn, how you live – there is no place here for interplay of a subtler nature.
What I couldn’t find was Baudrillard’s amazement with the American media’s fascination with scandals (particularly of the sexual nature). He notices that while Americans insist on absolute transparency; the French handle scandals very differently… hiding events under layers of Bourgeois norms and phony appearances. One wonders which is the better alternative.
P.S. – turns out you can become a “fan” of Ashley Dupré on Facebook. Who knew?!
P.S.2 – check out her solo music debut on her myspace page. Not really my style… but… it’s a start.