<p>Its not a matter of being perfect and saying straying is wrong, it is…its a matter of being realistic and being glad that people worked through the rough times</p>
<p>I read somewhere that the story goes when conservatives or republicans cheat, they do it with someone who has as much or more to lose- ie never with a single person…jsut the married type or such</p>
<p>Interesting theory</p>
<p>But people are not perfect, people cheat</p>
<p>Larry Craig I felt sorry for…I didn’t care if he was gay and cheated, that’s between him and his wife and I don’t think he should have resigned…not my business</p>
<p>I dislike it when people cheat the dump their wives for younger models…
not my business, but still just blech</p>
<p>Re: McGreevey, the former NJ Governor said yesterday that the deposition by his former driver was 100% true. Mrs. McGreevey still denies it.</p>
<p>Re: Paterson, the news that both he and his wife Michelle were playing around with other partners at a time when their marriage hit a rocky patch (because of the playing around?) is disappointing but not fatal politically. The bigger concern is that there may be darker secrets about to emerge according to Albany TV & NY Post political reporter Fred Dicker. If so this would be a double dose of bad news for NYers, since if Governor Paterson goes the new Governor will be State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, a guy who is under active investigation by the FBI.</p>
<p>As always, my advice to out-of-staters is to avoid at all costs anyone associated with the political class in New York State (this includes you Hillary supporters).</p>
<p>It may be a good thing that a marriage survived cheating, but did I need to know about it? No I did not. Did my children need to know? NO. Did McGreevy and his wife have that type of relationship? I don’t know and I don’t want to know. Don’t these people EVER think of their kids for God’s sake? Spitzer’s oldest is going to college in the fall. She’ll probably be getting housing assignments in the summer, be in the facebook, etc. Does she get a fair start? No. Paterson has kids and they don’t need to know that their parents are promiscuous. McGreevy should have sanctions assessed against him for this. Actually, he should be horsewhipped. He has CHILDREN. My children don’t know about my intimate life, nor should they. What may be acceptable and noble in private is disgusting in public. Privacy. Dignity. Jeez Louise!!!</p>
<p>I’m too lazy to look it up, but how old are their kids? That would be quite sad if they had to hurry up & drop such a bombshell on young kids before the papers released the affair details. I heard on the radio this morning that Patterson took his wife to the same motel where the affair trysts took place as a way of repairing the marriage (at the advice of a marriage counselor.) Too much information! </p>
<p>McGreevey’s wife is a notorious social climber & there isn’t much I’d put past her. He is an absolute pig, though, so he may have orchestrated this story & paid off the driver/lover to embarass her. The poor little D these two dirtbags brought into the world will be bearing the brunt of this. </p>
<p>The odd part is that being a lifelong Jersey resident, when I hear of the goings on with politicians in our tri-state area, with strippers & Friday night specials (T.G.I. Fridays is SO romantic) I just shrug & think, “Yeah, sounds about right.”</p>
<p>It’s a little like high school drinking. Many more husbands/wives have cheated than we want to think. Often it IS due to a very bad time in the marriage- perhaps even a separation. I think it is commendable that they got past it and stayed together.
I can’t believe how judgmental some of us can be here on this forum.</p>
<p>" I think it is commendable that they got past it and stayed together.
I can’t believe how judgmental some of us can be here on this forum."</p>
<p>Do you not think that some things are private? I can’t imagine any good reason to know that the new Governor took women to a motel and I REALLY can’t imagine why McGreevy would admit to what he admitted to, even if it was true. Discretion is a good thing.</p>
<p>Sounds like your complaints are primarily with the “journalism” profession and ultimately with the American public which has an unending appetite for this stuff.</p>
<p>“Sounds like your complaints are primarily with the “journalism” profession and ultimately with the American public which has an unending appetite for this stuff.”</p>
<p>No. With the people who give interviews and put this inforamtion out there. And with McGreevy who should have had SOME dignity and declined to comment.</p>
<p>I don’t know the situation around McGreevy, but it appears that with Patterson this interview was a means to control the negative press that could have resulted if he just ignored the situation and let the bloodsucking journalists do their “Watergate” thing and expose it on their terms. I have sympathy for Patterson in this.</p>
<p>I find it refreshing when people don’t pretend they have unblemished lives. I like to see any couple say marriage counseling was work but it helped them make a decision to keep their family intact. Did their behavior hurt each other and hurt their child, or even hurt the people they romanced while married…and hurt their reputations? Probably. I hope they get that worked out, and I don’t really want to hear much about any of it, thank you. That is why the word atonement is rather resonant for most people on earth. </p>
<p>What I can’t tolerate is public officials having sexual liasons with subordinates and then attempting to dupe taxpayers and the public while compromising people assigned to their security duty…ie Bill Clinton’s Arkansas staff when he was fooling around…and yes, I voted for him. But romantic exploits should not involve people paid by the taxpayers covering for you.</p>
<p>I was way more disturbed by Clinton choosing to serve up hapless Monica Lewinsky as a crackpot liar to the world then I was by his daliances, and by his sexual recklessness. I am “not over” the sight of the most powerful man on the planet handing over some poor girl he snowed to the media lions and tigers as a Nutcase liar. </p>
<p>I think that moment was what he has to atone for most in this world. And I see no indication he is shamed by his abuse of power when he attempted to destroy Lewinsky. Whether or not Hilary wants to stay married to him for life is her busines. </p>
<p>I found his treatment of Lewinsky to be apalling, self serving, transparent and chauvinistic, so no longer see him as a man who is interested in women’s issues period.</p>
<p>I’ve got sympathy for the Patersons as well. I am a little concerned, however, by reports we’re hearing in NY that there might be more news coming. I have always enjoyed David Paterson’s conversations on the local radio station. He has rarely evaded questions, rarely takes gratuitous partisan shots at the “loyal opposition,” and has a great sense of humor. I wish him well, but with all that has happened in NYS politics over the past few years I cannot help but think that another shoe is about to drop.</p>
<p>oppsu wrong guy!!! ah well…its early… but you get my point ;)</p>
<p>as for McGreevy, yes he shouldn’t have aired the dirty linen, but come on a decline to comment…in this climate that is as much as guilty, sad to say</p>
<p>And I think that after years of feeling the need to hide who he was, it is probably liberating to speak out, but he should have had more respect for his wife who stuck by him during that time…she deserves at least that</p>
<p>I can understand Patterson’s position, but I still think the public didn’t need as much detail as he gave. “We had a difficult time in our marriage, but we worked it out” would have been enough to get the idea. I didn’t need to be assured that the hotel rooms he used for his affair weren’t paid for by taxpayers. TMI!</p>
<p>"“We had a difficult time in our marriage, but we worked it out” </p>
<p>Exactly. People want to give him a break, after all, what choice do we really have now? I don’t think in McGreevy’s case declining to comment would be admitting guilt. I think he said what he did for totally craven reasons. One can be a gay American and still have some dignity AND treat the mother of your child (and by extension the child) in a respectful manner.</p>
<p>It is a wonder that anyone is willing to hold public office in this day and age. I agree with fundingfather- it is the journalists and the paparrazi that have been on a feeding frenzy. Scandal sells. I don’t think that there is any more infidelity going on now than went on in the past. Its just easier to dig up and blast all over the media, the www, satellite, etc. It gets around the globe pretty quickly. Good thing JFK was president when he was-- he’d never survive the scandals in this media and moral climate. Gone are the days when “free love” and “open marriages” were more acceptable.</p>
<p>As for Paterson, since he was rapidly promoted into his current political position, I imagine his “people” decided to do some early damage control and have he and his wife be the ones to disclose their extramarital affairs before some reporter threw it in their face.</p>
<p>As for McGreevey, anyone want to postulate on why this is coming out now?</p>
She is his second wife. And she DID know he was gay before their marriage. She was willing to be his beard & bring another child into a loveless, political marriage because she’d rise on his coat tails. SHe holds no college degree, yet was given a nice hospital administrative job. His first wife moved to Canada with their daughter. He has very little involvement in the first D’s life, so the fact that he repeated this fraud so he’d appear to have a happy little nuclear family is terrible. He us a user. It’s so sad for his little D. Nobody gives a hoot that he is gay; it’s his complete lack of character that sunk him.</p>