Sex, Lies, and Governorship

I think it would be a good idea for all U.S. governors to inform their constituents of their infidelities.

I can't take this trickle, this drip, drip, drip.

If they have affairs that they want to reveal, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.

From the New York Times:

In an extraordinary news conference on his first full day on the job, Gov. David A. Paterson acknowledged on Tuesday that he had had several extramarital relationships, including one with a state employee, but said he had done nothing illegal and had been faithful to his wife in recent years.

Mr. Paterson said he made the disclosure because he wanted to clear his conscience and avoid being blackmailed. He said he hoped his openness about his past affairs would help him to gain the trust of New Yorkers and move forward to focus on governing.

“I didn’t want to be compromised, I didn’t want to be blackmailed, I didn’t want to hesitate taking an action because the person on the other end might hurt me or my family,” Mr. Paterson, a Democrat, said during the tense and often awkward appearance with his wife, Michelle Paige Paterson, at his side. “I just thought this was the time to come forward and reveal this.”

Mr. Paterson said no state funds had been used as he carried out his affairs. He said he may have used his campaign credit card for some expenses that he did not detail, but said, if so, he would have reimbursed his campaign for the spending.

Mr. Paterson’s revelation comes less than a week after Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who was caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a prostitute, resigned, and a former governor of New Jersey, James E. McGreevey, and his estranged wife publicly traded claims about the nature of their sex life together.

Mr. Paterson said he had asked Mr. Spitzer to delay the effective date of his resignation until Monday as he grappled with how much to disclose about his past infidelities.

“I didn’t know that I was even going to be here until last Wednesday,” he said, referring to the office of governor. “I put it back a few days to try and organize things, and this is one of the issues I just want to get straight with New York’s citizens so that they know who their governor is and that their governor takes this office seriously.”

The news conference capped an astonishing 24 hours that began with Ms. Paterson holding the Bible as her husband was sworn in before an ebullient audience of lawmakers in the Assembly chamber as dignitaries, including Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and prominent black politicians, looked on.

Just after the swearing-in, while Mr. Paterson’s supporters were still celebrating, the new administration was plunged into its first crisis, as a Daily News columnist inquired about a past affair and Mr. Paterson and his mostly untested advisers debated how to handle the matter.

...Mr. Paterson said he had had affairs at a time when he “was jealous over Michelle” but later said he “didn’t take the actions because I was jealous; I was just trying to explain how I was feeling.”

“I’m not trying to blame anyone,” he added. “I’m not trying to say I was upset, so you can’t blame me. I was just pointing out that this happens to people.”

Mr. Paterson said that he and his wife had sought counseling and had since resolved their marital problems.

For her part, Ms. Paterson said “the message I try to teach my children is that a marriage is going to have peaks and valleys, so you want to show them how to get through them and how to work through them, because no marriage is perfect.”

Paterson and his wife act like they're doing a public service announcement.

They're teaching their children about marriage. They're being courageous.

Sure they are.

This teaching moment just happened to coincide with the Daily News inquiring about whether Paterson had been unfaithful. What a coincidence!

Paterson never felt it was necessary to have a clear conscience before this. It's not as if this is the first time he has held public office.

Michelle Paterson never felt it was necessary until now to give her children that lesson on how to be an unfaithful spouse and how to handle an unfaithful spouse.

How transparent!

Senator Kevin S. Parker, a Democrat from Brooklyn, said that Paterson's revelations "make him stronger."

"I think a lot of people admire his forthrightness and his honesty," he added.

While I think it's good that Paterson and his wife worked out their problems, my admiration for them is limited.

As long as no laws were broken, their various affairs are their business. There's no need for a public airing of that stuff. Spare me the honesty.

I have much greater admiration for people capable of living up to their marriage vows in the first place. Remaining faithful and having respect for one's spouse is a worthy lesson for children.

Instead of having all the philandering governors come out and reveal their infidelities, perhaps it would make more sense to have the governors who have remained faithful in their marriages step forward and tell the public.

Then for a change we could see a governor holding a news conference with his or her spouse standing nearby and looking happy instead of ready to collapse.