GOV-erning
Is it just me? Or have the nation's governor's taken the lead in cable news' favorite game - political suicide? Sure many governors have a long history of playing it fast and loose in the past, and is there any US governor who can stand toe to toe with Willie Stark (oops, I mean the kingfish himself, Huey Long's reign of corruption, bribery and his own particular brand of good ol' boy fun & frolic)?
No, but recent years (and hours) have shown far more gubernatorial scandals than you would think, given that there are only 50 states in the union. In 2004 NJ Gov. James McGreevey came out in front of the press, setting the standard for future governors to follow with the public humiliation of the long-suffering but still supportive wife (wearing pearls, of course), standing by his side. In an attempt to prove that gay men don't have the patent on betraying a public legacy for sex, this spring, NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer's $80,000 escort service bills became the talk of the nation. [And as much as we like a scandal, we still seem to like the heterosexual ones better. Unlike the playmate in McGreevey's scandal, Spitzer's latest escort used her noterity as a boost for her nonescort side career.]
The year 2004 also brought the resignation of Conn. governor John Rowland (seen here with supportive pearls-wearing wife) after admitting he "made bad choices" in accepting gifts from state contractors (makes you wonder where Alaska's Senator Ted Stevens was when this news broke - but Senatorial misbehavings is another blog for another time).
All of this, of course, brings is to the latest governor behaving badly - Illinois' Rod Blagojevich, who can currently be seen boasting that " I should say if anyone wants to tape my conversations, go right ahead, feel free to do it." (Ok, I know it's ancient history to some folks - but has Rod never heard of Gary Hart, who responded to rumors of his fooling around on his wife by daring people to follow him - "follow me around. I don't care. I'm serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They'll be very bored." They followed, they saw, they took pictures.) I'm still wading through the government's 78-page indictment of Blagojevich (give it a shot yourself if you like), but it certainly looks like enough to send Rod out to the press with his long-suffering, pearls-wearing wife to announce that he too will be resigning his position.
Who's next?
No, but recent years (and hours) have shown far more gubernatorial scandals than you would think, given that there are only 50 states in the union. In 2004 NJ Gov. James McGreevey came out in front of the press, setting the standard for future governors to follow with the public humiliation of the long-suffering but still supportive wife (wearing pearls, of course), standing by his side. In an attempt to prove that gay men don't have the patent on betraying a public legacy for sex, this spring, NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer's $80,000 escort service bills became the talk of the nation. [And as much as we like a scandal, we still seem to like the heterosexual ones better. Unlike the playmate in McGreevey's scandal, Spitzer's latest escort used her noterity as a boost for her nonescort side career.]
The year 2004 also brought the resignation of Conn. governor John Rowland (seen here with supportive pearls-wearing wife) after admitting he "made bad choices" in accepting gifts from state contractors (makes you wonder where Alaska's Senator Ted Stevens was when this news broke - but Senatorial misbehavings is another blog for another time).All of this, of course, brings is to the latest governor behaving badly - Illinois' Rod Blagojevich, who can currently be seen boasting that " I should say if anyone wants to tape my conversations, go right ahead, feel free to do it." (Ok, I know it's ancient history to some folks - but has Rod never heard of Gary Hart, who responded to rumors of his fooling around on his wife by daring people to follow him - "follow me around. I don't care. I'm serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They'll be very bored." They followed, they saw, they took pictures.) I'm still wading through the government's 78-page indictment of Blagojevich (give it a shot yourself if you like), but it certainly looks like enough to send Rod out to the press with his long-suffering, pearls-wearing wife to announce that he too will be resigning his position.
Who's next?
posted by Anonymous at 5:14 PM
2 Comments:
There is no long-suffering wife here. Blago's father-in-law taught him about pay-for-play politics in the city of Chicago. She's been in on it.
Good point - but hopefully she's wearing pearls at the humiliation press conference - tradition must be maintained! ;).
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