'Non-Judgmental' Nonsense

'Non-Judgmental' Nonsense
By Thomas Sowell
March 12, 2008
http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell031208.php3

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.

Because he was using his overbearing power against businesses, the anti-business left idolized him, just as they idolized Ralph Nader before him as some sort of secular saint because he attacked General Motors.

What Eliot Spitzer did was not out of character. It was completely in character for someone with the hubris that comes with the ability to misuse his power to make or break innocent people.

After John Whitehead, former head of Goldman Sachs, wrote an op-ed column in the Wall Street Journal, criticizing Attorney General Spitzer's handling of a case involving Maurice Greenberg, Spitzer was quoted by Whitehead as saying: "I will be coming after you. You will pay the price. This is only the beginning and you will pay dearly for what you have done."
When you start thinking of yourself as a little tin god, able to throw your weight around to bully people into silence, it is a sign of a sense of being exempt from the laws and social rules that apply to other people.

For someone with this kind of hubris to risk his whole political career for a fling with a prostitute is no more surprising than for Michael Vick to throw away millions to indulge his taste for dog fighting or for Leona Helmsley to avoid paying taxes -- not because she couldn't easily afford to pay taxes and still have more money left than she could ever spend -- but because she felt above the rules that apply to "the little people."

What is almost as scary as having someone like Eliot Spitzer holding power is having so many pundits talking as if this is just a "personal" flaw in Governor Spitzer that should not disqualify him for public office.
Spitzer himself spoke of his "personal" failing as if it had nothing to do with his being governor of New York.

In this age, when it is considered the height of sophistication to be "non-judgmental," one of the corollaries is that "personal" failings have no relevance to the performance of official duties.
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.

Character is what we have to depend on when we entrust power over ourselves, our children and our society to government officials.
We cannot risk all that for the sake of the fashionable affectation of being more non-judgmental than thou.

Currently, various facts are belatedly beginning to leak out that give us clues to the character of Barack Obama. But to report these facts is being characterized as a "personal" attack.

Barack Obama's personal and financial association with a man under criminal indictment in Illinois is not just a "personal" matter. Nor is his 20 years of going to a church whose pastor has praised Louis Farrakhan and condemned the United States in both sweeping terms and with obscene language.

The Obama camp likens mentioning such things to criticizing him because of what members of his family might have said or done. But it was said, long ago, that you can pick your friends but not your relatives.

Obama chose to be part of that church for 20 years. He was not born into it. His "personal" character matters, just as Eliot Spitzer's "personal" character matters -- and just as Hillary Clinton's character would matter if she had any.
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Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His Web site is www.tsowell.com.

Bad Week for Liberals and its only Wednesday!

Well the news just keep getting worst for liberals as they are exposed and the war heats up for the Democrat nomination

Tuesday came the news that New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, paid tens of thousands of dollars as a repeat customer of a high-priced prostitution service.
The is a man who built his political reputation on rooting out corruption.

In addition. Spitzer paid train fare for his call girl from New York to Washington opening up federal prosecition on vilation of the Mann Act. Spitzer known as "Client 9" become the object of a federal investigation when cash payments from several bank accounts when into an account operated by a call-girl ring.

Spizer, married and the father of teenage girls has had his share of problems while in office. Including an unpopular plan to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and a plotting to smear Republicans.

Normally one would think that a Governor caught engaging in illegal activities would be reason to step down from office. However, as I write this it seems that Spitzer may be taking a page out of the Clinton/Monica handbook.
Another Clinton "legacy."

Following on the heels of the Spitzer scandal former vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, made this statement to a California paper.

"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position,"

Ouch

Former Democrat vice-presidential candidate Ferraro just happens to be
a member of Sen. Hillary Clinton's finance committee.

Seems as if Ferraro had a "moment" and said in public what Hillary believes in private.

Then there is the continuing saga of Michigan Democrats re-doing the Democrat Primary. Of course Hillary wants to change the rules as it would benefit her by adding more delegates to her tally. Obama wants nothing to do with it because it doesn't benefit him. Once more liberals show that the rules mean nothing.

And then there is Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick embroiled in his own sex scandal. Just the latest in a series of scandal and corruption in the Kilpatrick admistration.

Kilpatrick is refusing to step down, willing to let the citizens and the city of Detroit suffer more strife, division and local and national embarrassment.

Yes its been a busy week so far for liberals.

One can only imagine, "What next"?

However the upside to this is that liberals are imploding and exposing themselves for who they really are.

Voters are you paying attention?

UPDATE

According to various news sources, Spitzer is scheduled to announce his resignation at 11:30 a.m. today.

Kwame Kilpatrick are you paying attention?