Letters to the Editor
Scientician
Published Letters: 525 Editor's Choice: 1
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J T:
[Read the article: "The guys from the Politico brought my mom flowers"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Payola. Yes. That is a brillant and quite apt analogy.
Are we dating ourselves though? Do enough people remember what Payola was all about for it to have much impact?
FWIW, I don't remember payola, I learned about it through a brilliant music history program by a guy named Alan Cross here in Toronto. The Ongoing history of New Music. I hear it is syndicated.
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Payola and new music
[Read the article: "The guys from the Politico brought my mom flowers"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]At best tangetical, but my name is a link to the site for the Ongoing History of New Music (roughly encompassing punk, ska, 80's alternative, synth pop, grunge, emo, shoegazing, new rock, new punk, college rock, brit pop, and several other genres I'm sure I'm forgetting).
It really is a fantastic program that eschews everything one hates about radio: He doesn't use a "radio" voice, Cross speaks at length when the topic requires it, it's meticiulously researched, full of in person interviews with many of the actual characters involved and he plays some very rare music from both obscure and well known artists.
I believe you can listen online too.
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Proximity:
[Read the article: "The guys from the Politico brought my mom flowers"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Would you be so blase if you heard about a wealthy defendant treating his jury to a choice BBQ spread and a night at a swanky hotel?
McCain himself got in serious trouble for accepting similar perks from Keating. What's a few plane rides between friends?
It's influence peddling and the appearance of impropriety. These journalists are granted a special place in society, they get preferential access to the nation's top political leadership and have a tall podium from which to announce what they hear and see. You or I cannot request an interview with John McCain and resonably expect to get it, or get a seat on his campaign plane or bus. With special privilege comes special responsibility.
Why doesn't John McCain hold these BBQs for his own constituents? Have the voters of Arizona, even a small random sample of them ever been invited to the McCain cabin?
What legitimate purpose could this BBQ serve to you or any other average American citizen? How does the public interest benefit from it?
Many corporations instruct their employees to refuse any gift in any form over a certain (usually quite small, like $10) value. I actually bet accepting this hotel+BBQ is grounds for dismissal in the parent companies of many of these reporters. Not that the policies will be invoked in this case as the parent companies are only too thrilled to have their journalists given special access to a Presidential candidate.
That you, and the reporters involved see no harm in all this is a remarkable testament to how low journalistic standards are.
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Mixed feelings
[Read the article: Who cares if Eliot Spitzer hires prostitutes?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]While I do tend to agree prostitution should be legalized in some possibly restricted and heavily regulated form, my main problem with this is that it puts Spitzer in a compromised position with some unsavoury characters.
I also take issue with the "victimless crime" idea. While I'm sure there are prostitutes who are women who freely choose to engage in the sex trade out of a rational economic calculation about how to make lots of money (like many women in pornography), a great many prostitutes in the current, illegal system are there unwillingly and coerced through violence, threat of deportation, desperate need or drug addiction to do what they would not do if they could possibly escape.
All of this is actually a huge part of the pragmatic case for legalizing prostitution.
I have no way to know (as yet) if the women Spitzer may have engaged were any such. Seeing as they were higher end, it's possibly likely they weren't but that also makes it likely the brothel owners were mob connected.
So that puts Spitzer at the mercy of some bad people in terms of blackmail. He's a high public official and should avoid being beholden to mobsters. If we can establish this brothel was independent and not connected to the mafia and treated its women well, then I would reevaluate.
I also do think rank hypocrisy is resignation worthy. Which is why I think it is consistent to demand the resignation of Vitter and not Clinton. Bill Clinton is not a moralizer, lecturing to the masses on how best to live their personal lives. Spitzer has professionally prosecuted johns (I understand) and thus I can't see how he can justify remaining in office when revealed to be one such.
That scum like Vitter do not resign should not necessarily mean that left wing figures in similar circumstances should get a pass. Part of believing your side is "better" is to make sure they actually are, and I don't want to fall into the trap of letting the behaviour of right wing figures define what is acceptable. Because there be dragons.
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Also
[Read the article: Who cares if Eliot Spitzer hires prostitutes?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I do wholeheartedly share the suspicions of Digby and Glenn about the involvement of the Bush DoJ in this case. After Siegelman, and the partisan purging, and Sarah Taylor and the perversion of the civil rights division, the Bush DoJ has a presumption of malfeasance on my part.
They've railroaded one governor into prison, they would do it again.
I'm not saying this would make Spitzer less culpable, but only that of course they're not targeting Republican governors for this kind of behaviour.
The irony is this kind of partisanship is ultimately counterproductive. By ignoring all the flaws of Republicans in office and aggressively prosecuting Democrats, the end result is that the Democrats are much much cleaner than Republicans and we get 2006 blowouts. If the Republicans want to let all their crooked state level politicians graduate to the national scene unobstructed, it only helps Democrats make the case for being the obviously less corrupt party.