We are living in strange and curious times. In what Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Krugman has referred to as “The Madoff Economy” everyone probably knows someone young or old who has been impacted in the current economic climate. Accordingly, simply saying “happy holidays” sounds as meaningful as flipping someone off as you pass them on the highway. Trust me, I know. My hope instead is that we will all take a look at the world around us, the people in our lives who have and will continue to be affected in the coming months and years ahead with compassion. Let us make a commitment to understand how we can not only enhance our own lives, leading to greater security and fulfillment but what we can do to impact a friend, a family member or random soul we have already met or shall meet in the coming months and choose to do something special perhaps even spectacular for them.
PLAY IT FORWARD. All I can say is that I have been the beneficiary in my life of some random acts of kindness which surprised, floored, shocked and perhaps even saved me. And when I once dared to ask, why me, why now…what I was told by my little friend, who is no longer in my life, was, I hope some day you will do the same for someone else Chris. There is always someone lonely, beaten down, distraught, on the edge who has given up, fallen on hard times or the victim of bad luck. Sure I have had many challenges in my own life which I have had to overcome but I consider myself and my semi humble existence to be one of the luckiest men alive. I feel a connection to this Universe and the people in it, beyond my family members. We all have ups and downs, peaks and valleys. Often we have no choice but to overcome them alone, but a ‘YES YOU CAN’ can go along way to pushing someone along. In a material world it is often difficult for some to look at what they have beyond how much or how little they have in the bank or in material possessions. A strong spirit and a strong soul will help anyone weather the toughest most challenging times.
REMEMBER, New York can be a cold and lonely place to some but it can also be the most spectacular place on earth, when you say, “I love you”, “How can I help you?”, “What is bothering you?”, “Why don’t you share some hot cocoa, a glass of wine with me or come over for dinner?” etc. THE GREATES GIFT(S) that you can give to anyone this holiday season is your time, attention, friendship and compassion. You need not make a trip to Bergdorf’s. Although if your friend is a sales girl on commission at Bergdorf Goodman she might appreciate a visit
HUMANITY. That is the team we are all on.
In the end, It’s A Wonderful Life but some of us need a reminder every now and then.
On Saturday April 5th 2008, I tuned in to Tim Russert Show. His guests were Andrew Sullivan, Senior Editor of The Atlantic and author of The Conservative Soul, How We Lost It, How To Get It Back and Christopher Hitchens who writes for Vanity Fair and Slate and is the author of God Is Not Great. It is not that often that someone who is a voracious reader of anything political can sit down and enjoy watching two intellectual heavyweights discuss the major political issues of our time in such a truly dignified and respectful manner, even when they are not in agreement. For me, it was a truly educational experience to listen to these two men. Watch the full set of YouTube Videos yourself.
Today, I am genuinely saddened by the resignation of Governor Eliot Spitzer. Among us, in this nation of saints, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. A man is never as good as his best acts and never as bad as his worst acts. Eliot Spitzer ran for governor as a principled leader who stood for high ethics and morals. Depending on your position, Spitzer was either a Satan or Savior. No doubt many on wall street revel in his woes. Through violation of his own impossibly high standards, he single-handedly destroyed himself. Eliot Spitzer not only made powerful enemies but my belief is that his conduct also made him expendable by his own party. On closer examination, even so called allies were not aligned with his success.
The “Sheriff” of Wall Street did not necessarily need to demonize one of the critical and vital engines of our economy, local and national, in the manner that he did, especially on the heals of 9/11. Spitzer could have taken on the powerful in a different manner. My approach to dealing with the guardians of Wall Street would have been different. In the words of Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas in the movie Wall Street, “Greed is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit…….”
From the corridors of Wall Street to K Street and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., yes Hollywood, greed, corruption and cronyism are a fact of life in America. It is the essence of capitalism. In boom times, the little pigs try to eat more. The pendulum swings back eventually, as it must. Eliot Spitzer did not see it that way and would not accept business as usual on Wall Street. Ironic that his demise as our economy and the financial industry is experiencing a historic meltdown.
Eliot Spitzer’s long term relationship with a high end escort service was immoral, by most standards, but even more so it was especially foolish and ill conceived given (a) that he had many enemies looking for a reason to remove him from power (b) the level of government surveillance in a post 9/11 world and (c) his experience in law enforcement and understanding of evidentiary trails. Good men are imperfect. Great men are highly imperfect. Since the dawn of time, the evil that men do, the sins of man has been well documented. The lust, desire, base and beast like sexuality of man has been written about endlessly and pontificated about regularly. What men can do, they will do if they can get away with it. As Chris Rock has stated, “A man is only as loyal as his options.”
Powerful men with great leadership qualities and drives to succeed often have higher levels of testosterone and thus greater sex drives. The expectations and isolation of public life makes men behave in strange ways. All of us have skeletons in our closet, thoughts and experiences which if came to public light would cause us shame, men especially. I know I do. It is the nature of who we are. I am surely no better a man than Eliot Spitzer.
One has to wonder about the timing of this disclosure, who benefits and why. As one who has spent a fair amount of time in the company of publicists and news junkies, I can appreciate that stories emerge for a reason at a particular time. Perhaps journalist Greg Palast is right and there is a link between the charges against Eliot Spitzer and the $200 billion bail-out for predator banks.
Consider the current political landscape. Spitzer’s continuing presence was more than an inconvenience to powerful entrenched interests. Governor Spitzer, if successful meaning he served two full terms or more, stood in the way of the ultimate political goals of folks tied to Hillary Clinton: Senator Chuck Schumer & Attorney General Andrew Cuomo as well as Hillary herself. Spitzer’s rise and popularity posed a threat to those in his own party in his home state. Whether you are for or against Hillary Clinton, it is easy to understand that if Hillary loses the Democratic Nomination, which seems likely, she will need a stronger platform to consolidate her power. Hence her two pronged approach which is to simultaneously undermine the future Democratic Nominee, Senator Barack Obama while inadvertently supportingJohn McCain hoping that if she loses the nomination, McCain becomes President. She can then challenge McCain from a stronger position. If Obama loses, Hillary can run on the “I told you so” Campaign in 2012 and have one last chance at the nomination.
Hillary Clinton is currently the “junior” Senator from New York. Junior Senators do not become majority leaders in the Senate. Hillary Clinton can only become Senator Majority Leader if Senator Chuck Schumer has some where else to go. Governor Schumer in 2010? Senator or Governor Cuomo 2010? The chess game of politics…it exists and if you study the Clinton Legacy and the scandals, you realize that it is a MYTH that anything happens by accident. Everything happens for a reason. With all due respect to current Lt. Governor David Patterson, unless he is the second coming, he will be challenged in his own party or be graciously forced to step aside. Go ahead, tell me I am crazy but let’s see if you can say that in 2010.
Say all you want about Spitzer, but the man had to resign for engaging in private consensual sexual relations with a high end escort known as Kristen (Ashley DiPietro born Ashley Youmans and conducted escort business under the name of Ashley Alexandra Dupre) See photos on Gawker, NY Post, The NY Times, L.A. Times and US Magazine: Early Modeling Photos ). Regardless of one’s morality, one of the more honest transactions is that between a professional woman providing sexual services for pay and a client individual looking to pay for such services. The only relative exploitation is perhaps the middle man, the broker and what cut such individuals are taking for the transaction and whether the brokerage fee is a fair one. I mean, let’s be honest, capitalism makes us all pimps and ho’s. You are either the pimp or the ho in this life and sometimes both. But, as Heidi Fleiss stated, “You can’t vigorously pursue prosecuting these prostitution rings—I mean, this guy made a point of it—and then do this.” Truth be told, the organizations that Spitzer closed down were Sex Slave Rings. This is a far cry from purchasing the services of a $1000 an hour CONSENTING ADULT sex worker. As aptly stated by a rather outspoken female friend of mine who spent time working in the adult entertainment industry:
“One thing about the hypocrisy that everyone is accusing him of—high end escorts are not anything like the victims of human trafficking involving prostitution. To compare a Chinese woman who owes a Chinese snake head $25k to be paid off in a brothel/massage parlor or her kids in China get killed to a suburban NJ girl with a wild streak who makes a couple thousand a pop—-WHAT THE FUCK? Working at McDonald’s and waiting tables at the Rainbow room—they are both in the food service industry—A Chinese human traffic victim and Ashley Alexander Dupre—why not say that they both breathe air?”
One does wonder, however, how could Eliot Spitzer not realize that if his Secret Life of Walter Mitty were to be exposed, it would result in few, if any, powerful New York politicians rallying to his support? Instead they would privately cheer his demise. Established interests are more comfortable with Schumer and Clinton, pseudo reformers who play the game well, rather than Spitzer who made many enemies, had few truly powerful allies and who was clearly perceived as threat.
Contrast Spitzer’s activity with that of Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton has had a long and sustained history of womanizing, sexual abuse, harassment and perhaps even RAPE and he did not resign the Presidency. He was impeached, lost his law license and spent the last days of his presidency selling pardons and setting up a “philanthropic” vehicle, The Clinton Global Initiative, that has made Bill and Hillary wealthy. In fact, his conspirator, defender and protector, Hillary Clinton, is now a candidate for the Democratic Nomination.
I would have more respect for Bill and Hillary, if Bill Clinton had retained the services of a call girl or professional escort service (see: Prostitution: A User’s Manual) rather than habitually engaging in sexually predatory behavior against private citizens during his tenure as Attorney General and Governor of Arkansas and then as President in The Whitehouse. If Eliot Spitzer had to resign, Hillary Clinton should not even be a Senator, much less a contender for the Democratic Nomination. There is a double standard when it comes to the Clinton’s and everyone else.
This New Yorker will always wonder what might have been. Eliot Spitzer is wise for resigning in shame rather than lingering on and testing the will and patience of the American people, like the Clinton’s continue to do. Despite his personal demons and the veil of secrecy surrounding his personal sexual life, Spitzer is not as sociopathic as the Clinton’s who repeatedly defy logic by battling to remain relevant. They have well overstayed their welcome. So, to those New Yorkers who celebrate Spitzer’s resignation, I say have some consideration for the impact that this scandal will have on this man and his family. Personally, the unfulfilled promise of Eliot Spitzer is what I will miss most. He obviously did not have enough powerful friends.
This past week I became part of the 1 million regular Americans who are financing Senator Barack Obama’s campaign. Since my donation, Obama has surpassed the 1 million donors mark. I suspect that by the time of the Democratic Convention, the number of donors may approach 2 million. For the first time in a long time it feels good to be a part of a political campaign. If you want to be part of the change, you have to do something, use your voice, your wallet or your legs. As an American and a student of history, I have longed for leaders who would inspire me by appealing to my hopes and dreams. But in the end, perhaps “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for”. Will.i.am has released a new celeb-filled video promoting Barack Obama, featuring appearances by Ryan Phillippe, Jon Leguizamo, Jessica Alba, George Lopez, and others. Watch it:
Pack it up, pack it in
Let me begin
I came to win
Battle me that’s a sin
I won’t tear the sack up
Punk you’d better back up
Try and play the role and the whole crew will act up
Get up, stand up, come on!
Come on, throw your hands up
If you’ve got the feeling jump across the ceiling
Muggs is a funk fest, someone’s talking junk
Yo, I’ll bust em in the eye
And then I’ll take the punks home
Feel it, funk it
Amps it are junking
And I got more rhymes than there’s cops that are dunking
Donuts shop
Sure ’nuff I got props from the kids on the Hill
Plus my mom and my pops
I came to get down
So get out your seats and jump around
Jump around
Jump up Jump up and get down.
Jump
I’ll serve your ass like John MacEnroe
If your girl steps up, I’m smacking the ho
Word to your moms I came to drop bombs
I got more rhymes than the bible’s got psalms
And just like the Prodigal Son I’ve returned
Anyone stepping to me you’ll get burned
Cause I got lyrics and you ain’t got none
So if you come to battle bring a shotgun
But if you do you’re a fool, cause I duel to the death
Try and step to me you’ll take your last breath
I gots the skill, come get your fill
Cause when I shoot ta give, I shoot to kill
-House of Pain, 1992
Racism
Pack it up, Pack it in Hillary. You and your campaign have engaged in a unprecedented level of fraud, manipulation and deceit. Through the old politics of gender and race baiting you have appealed to our worst instincts as a people. You have attempted to divide up the electorate and turn us against each other (white vs. black vs. latino, women vs. men, educated vs. uneducated, blue collar vs. white collar) for the greater good of your personal ambition. Appropriately, it has cost you the vote of virtually the entire black community. Not a concern perhaps because Latino voters are a larger voting block anyway, right? The style of your campaign would have made Jessie Helms proud. It is, however, certainly not one worthy of a New York Senator. Then again you are merely a carpet-bagger with no real sense of the character and lineage of New York Senators like Daniel Patrick Moynihan, RFK, Robert F. Wagner and Jacob Javits. The character and integrity of these men is legendary. Your candidacy on the other hand brings shame on our great state. Maybe that explains why Elizabeth B. Moynihan, the widow of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, backs Obama, Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of JFK, longs for a President like her father and why even Republican Susan Eisenhower, the grand daughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, supports Obama.
Faux Feminism
As a faux feminist you have mastered the politics of victimization. Perhaps you can cry your way back to the Whitehouse. Tears for fears, false flag misogyny and sounding the alarm bells for misogyny may rouse the spirit and rally what remains of your base, women over 65, but it has alienated the rest of us. Surely, it is an appeal, by design, to woo women on the left side of the bell curve. The more enlightened, progressive and independent women have and will continue to abandon your campaign. The feminist case against your candidacy is very real, substantial and growing. Anti-Hillary Sentiment [Is] on the Rise Among Leading Feminists.
The National Organization of Women is Embarrasing Itself Now. N.O.W., Gloria Steinem, Susan Faludi, Erica Jong and the old guard of feminism have endorsed your campaign even while more modern, independent and evolved women are turning away from you en masse. Some would argue that N.O.W. ceased to remain a morally credible force when the organization in essence became an instrumentality of the Clinton Administration during the 1990’s. N.O.W. chose to provide cover for Bill Clinton despite overwhelming evidence of a long history of predatory sexual behavior, including sexual harassment and rape, going back to his days at Yale Law School, Attorney General of Arkansas and then as Governor of Arkansas. N.O.W. did so despite this evidence perhaps with an eye towards protecting your political viability and preserving your senatorial and presidential ambitions. N.O.W. morally compromised itself as an organization that speaks for powerless women, through their over the top blinding support of your candidacy, Hillary and N.O.W. cemented its irrelevance by launching an assault in an attempt to malign, slander and defame Senator Barack Obama. N.O.W. did so despite Senator Obama’s long pro-choice record and having been a friend to women and supporter of feminist issues. That was enough to motivate former President of Chicago NOW, Lorna Brett Howard to switch her support from Hillary Clinton to OBAMA.
“‘I will work my heart out for you every single day!’ These are the incredible words of Hillary Clinton, who arranges for a cute little Mexican boy in a sombrero to bring her flowers onstage in Texas. What a pitiful and despicable show.
If you ever see a Latino near her multimillion-dollar house in Chappaqua, New York, he’ll likely be on his knees in the dirt with a gardening trowel.
You are to her a vote, nothing more. It is not you who matters to her. It is your gullibility that matters to her. Her goal is not to serve you. Her goal is to con you and use you to become president, and that is all. You are to her expendable, a mere means to an end that does not involve you or your concerns or your welfare.
It is becoming apparent that, as they become increasingly exposed to her, working-men, women, and Latinos are growing less receptive to her condescending and fatuous lies. No one with any self-respect or desire to get a better shake in this life should fall for her jive. …”
Election Fraud: Stealing NY
Pack it in Hillary. You cannot thwart the will of the American people. You would lose a popularity contest to Richard Milhous Nixon. Your spin machine has been spun dry. How can you claim to be the best choice to represent the American people? Voters all over this land have rejected you in a clear and convincing and profound manner, yet you refuse to accept the legitimacy of the results in states that you do not win? As Robert Guttman has accurately pointed out, leaders of the Democratic Party seem to have a double standard when it comes to the Clintons. If Obama had lost the last 11 contests, calls would have gone out for him to withdraw, back the likely Democratic nominee and unify the party.
What is, however, most disturbing is your unwillingness to even try to win your “home state” cleanly. Obama was robbed in New York. Unofficial tallies in New York City understated the Obama vote. “If you want to call it significant undercounting, I guess that’s a euphemism for fraud,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg referencing a strong belief based upon the preliminary evidence that fraud was behind the low Obama vote in New York. Citizens Union has called for an investigation into NY Primary Results.
Too many precincts in New York registered zero votes for one of the most popular presidential candidates in the history of the Democratic Party, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, an outsider, against our local New York Senator Hillary Clinton. The Brooklyn Paper has questioned whether Clinton really shut out Obama in some districts. Perhaps many local leaders who happen to be surrogates of your campaign promised to deliver their districts and were unable to do so without tampering with the vote? The Harlem Mystery is Did Rangel’s District Go for Barack Obama? This is unacceptable in a free society. If the Clinton Machine has fingerprints on voter fraud, than you and your cohorts should be indicted for election fraud, you should lose the nomination and be forced to resign your senate seat.
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: NOT THIS WOMAN. NOT NOW. NOT EVER.
