'Non-Judgmental' Nonsense

[Terri]

Thomas Sowell

What was he thinking of? That was the first question that came to mind when the story of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's involvement with a prostitution ring was reported in the media.

It was also the first question that came to mind when star quarterback Michael Vick ruined his career and lost his freedom over his involvement in illegal dog fighting. It is a question that arises when other very fortunate people risk everything for some trivial satisfaction.

Many in the media refer to Eliot Spitzer as some moral hero who fell from grace. Spitzer was never a moral hero. He was an unscrupulous prosecutor who threw his power around to ruin people, even when he didn't have any case with which to convict them of anything.

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[jack virtus]

no doubt these charges against Spitzer will give him a good shot at getting an upper echelon job in a Hillary Clinton administration.

Strange when this story came to light nearly every drive by media outlet neglected to mention Spitzer is a democrat.

[Amawalk John]

Many in the media refer to Eliot Spitzer as some moral hero who fell from grace. Spitzer was never a moral hero. He was an unscrupulous prosecutor who threw his power around to ruin people, even when he didn't have any case with which to convict them of anything.

Hooray for Thomas Sowell!

These cases say as much about American journalism and its readership as they do about anything else.

Bill Clinton is remembered more for lying about sex with an intern, not for now half-forgotten names like Lippo, Riadi, Mena Airport, Branch Dravidian, Johnny Trie, and an endless succession of shady bagmen and Chinese recipients of American's top defense technology.

Spitzer, who successfully courted the media and won glowing headlines ruined the lives and careers of honest businessmen will now be remembered not for those sins but for being Client 9 and for paying $4,000 for sex with a whore.

[DrAnalog]

It's shameful that Mr. Spitzer got away with ruining the careers of so many people. Just like the prosecutor in the Duke University case he had abused his power. His own arrogance tripped him up. What is it about prosecutors and special prosecutors that make them all powerful? I guess they get taught this stuff in law school. No wonder the legal profession is despised by many.

[plainolcitizen2]

he is like a lot of people who arrive in a high office, they think they can do ANYTHING and get away with it. this is a symtom of too much adolation for to long a time.
we are having the same problem in the congress, too many congressmen have been they so long they think they "OWN" our country. we need term limits to remedy the problem. they are responsable for the turmoil we see today, they do not respond to the people of the USA anymore, just their own desires and need for power.

[welder4]

It just does my heart good to see someone such as spitzer fall in the hole he dug for himself , It is just like breath of fresh air to hear of this , of course he will say that Graig did not resign and BIll Clinton got away with it. But to see this jerk find his reward is so good for my morale today and I am sure there are a bunch of people calling each other up and having the laugh of a life time over this , like the ones he destroyed or made to quit their jobs. all I can say is ha ha ha ha ha I have no empathy for the guy either . He is just nefarious.

[RiverKing]

Wow!! I had thought recently that Dr. Sowell was slipping a bit but this column was great -- vintage Sowell. He managed to get from criticism of Michael Vick to condemning Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton while describing Eliot Spitzer's fall.

What I like about Sowell's writing is the absence of name-calling and over-the-top hyperbole that we see from many writers (and in many posts). There's nothing there but the relating of bald facts.

[TWM1942]

As always, Thomas Sowell is spot on!

What that amounts to, ultimately, is that character doesn't matter. In reality, character matters enormously, more so than most things that can be seen, measured or documented.

When picking a leader, character is a primary consideration that matters, because it determines how and what decisions that they will make. It determines how they govern.

[phillyfanatic]

Sowell does it again but so did Rush on his show. He had a comic bit with Paul Shanklin as Bubba. The character says, anybody who fouls up, keeps sinning, breaks the law, has a room in the liberal Democrat Party. Just so. The double standard keeps on as Pubs are branded as really evil while Dems are just trying to do the people's business and fell just a wee bit and after all, everybody does it!! That voters keep buying this standard tells us all that the spiritual decadence that began in the '60's has now come home to change our society. Obama's CHANGE will only accelerate this decay as socialism and pacifism will become the idea de jour and no one will dare challenge it!!!

[FlaJim]

Character does indeed matter. Which other criterium can we use when determining the suitability of someone? Glib talk? Good table manners?

Past words and actions are the records that help us define a man's character. Current words are often (or mostly) for convenience, viz all three of the presidential candidates.

Spitzer's arrogance in public office extended to the point where some of the shakedowns he engineered forced companies to change the way they did business nationwide - for no other reason than his own inflated ego.

It would be nice to think that this was just one bad apple but as long as the MSM is trying to convince the public that character doesn't matter (except for elected Republicans), these people who think they're bullet-proof will thrive.