Eliot Spitzer

Was a recent idol of mine now he has fallen into the world of crime and temptation.

Why was he a recent idol of yours truly? I really respected the way he went after Wall Street thugs. The accounting profession took a real hit with the Enron and Arthur Anderson fiasco. The reason the "public" was in the designation Certified Public Accountant was that when accounting firms audited and prepared financial statements on publically traded companies they were by law to represent the "public" and not the client. By representing the public instead of the client there was meant to be a level of assurance for investors that when they bought stock in those companies they were relying on accurate financial statements instead for financial statements that were basically company propaganda. Along comes Enron with Arthur Anderson who neglated their duties to the public by going along with whatever Enron wanted to do. People lost fortunes due to that neglect. The public accounting profession went from one of the most admired professions to one of the most tolerated professions. The Enron scandal also resulted in the Sarbanes-Oaxley Act that put additional restraints on accountants. When Spitzer went after the Wall Street thugs he was helping to restore the public's faith in our profession.

Now my idol, Gov. Spitzer, has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month. Client 9 was captured by the wiretap confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, D.C. where he had reserved a hotel room. Client 9 was indentified as Spitzer. The cost of the day? $4,300.

The questions that I have are the same as many others have, Why do otherwise smart, sucessful people do such risky thnings? Where is their ethics? Why can't they do the right thing? Does having power make them think they will never be caught? To say I am stunned at the politician who campaigned as a model of moral rectitude is anything but is an understatement. Stunned and disappointed.

Another question that I have is why in the world is his wife standing by him at the press conference where Spitzer addresses his fall from grace. OK, I admit that I am extremely naive and idealistic but if you are in love with a woman why in the world would you want her to publically face that kind of embarrassment? If I loved a woman I would want to save her from that embarrassment and keep her from the press conference. I blew it, I need to face it and address it myself without bringing the woman I love into the story. I'd be spending my time begging for forgiveness instead of begging her to stand beside me.

On one of the blogs I go to most days they are discussing why the wife would be there. Here is the link: http://satellitesistersblog.blogspot.com/ . It is under the subject line Julie: First Lady's Desk. Interesting post and comments, check it out.

May this be a scandal free day for all of you!