Men Behaving Badly — Duh!

Welcome back to Powerful Men Behaving Badly: The Weiner Edition. Sadly there's a lot of competition, but this episode may be the stupidest and most pathetic of all.

In fact, this type of behavior has become so common, that there was reportedly a collective rolling of the eyes and a distinct sense of, "Here we go again" among the women of the House of Representatives last week when Rep. Anthony D. Weiner confessed his, "terrible mistakes" and declared himself, "deeply sorry for the pain" he had caused in sexual escapades so adolescent as to almost seem laughable.

Which begs the question: If women controlled Congress and the House of Representatives and were also the majority CEO’s at major U.S. companies, would we see the same sexual exploits and illicit behavior that has landed numerous male power-figures in recent — and very public — hot water?

That provocative question was addressed today on ABC’s This Week, with Christiane Amanpour, which featured Cecilia Attias, Torie Clarke, and Claire Shipman in the news show’s “Roundtable” segment.

According to the panelists, and others who have been asked the same question, the answer is a resounding, “No!”

"I'm telling you," said Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., "every time one of these sex scandals goes, we just look at each other, like, 'What is it with these guys? Don't they think they're going to get caught?'”

The panelists all raised an intriguing point: Female politicians rarely get caught up in sex scandals. Women in elective office have not, for instance, blubbered about Argentine soul mates like former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford; been captured on federal wiretaps arranging to meet high-priced call girls like former New York Mayor Eliot Spitzer; resigned in disgrace after their parents paid $96,000 to a paramour's spouse like former Nevada Senator John Ensign; or, as in the case of Weiner, blasted lewd self-portraits into cyberspace.

It would be easy to file this under "men behaving badly," to dismiss it as a testosterone-induced, hard-wired connection between sex and power (powerful men attract women, powerful women repel men). And some might conclude busy working women don't have time to cheat. ("While I'm at home changing diapers, I just couldn't conceive of it," Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., once said.)

While all of these explanations have genuine merit according to researchers, there may also be something else at work: The panelists and others point to additional research that has found a substantial gender gap in the way women and men approach running for office, and behaving once they are there.

Women have different reasons for running, are more reluctant to do so and, because there are so few of them in politics, are acutely aware of the scrutiny they draw — all of which seems to lead to differences in the way they handle their jobs once elected.

"The shorthand of it is that women run for office to do something, and men run for office to be somebody," said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. "Women run because there is some public issue that they care about, some change they want to make, some issue that is a priority for them, and men tend to run for office because they see this as a career path."

This Week’s Roundtable agreed, saying that most women CEO’s are similarly motivated. They want the company to succeed, rather than being competitive for competitiveness sake, or seeking self-aggrandizement.

Once elected, women feel pressure to work harder, said Kathryn Pearson, an expert on Congress at the University of Minnesota. "I have no hard evidence that women are less likely to engage in risky or somewhat stupid behavior," Pearson said, adding women hold office with an extra level of seriousness.

Panel members cited research that found country’s that seek to balance gender positions in political and business arenas tend to be more successful, and have few or even no public sex scandals.

Let me be clear: The panel was in no way denigrating males. Panelists were merely underscoring credible research that tends to support the conclusion that high levels of testosterone in men mixed with occupations that pair a sense of power and entitlement may create an atmosphere for some men to act out in very risky sexual behaviors. A perfect storm, if you will, that often lays waste to their careers and their families.

The panel’s discussion was prompted by Democratic Weiner’s announcement today that he was taking a leave from his public duties and entering a “treatment” facility, purportedly for sexual issues. This unexpected action followed a week of worsening revelations that the married politico participated in graphic “sexting” with at least six women spanning three years.

Ironically, Weiner’s wife Huma Abedin, is in Abu Dhabi as an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who endured her own world-wide humiliation when then President Bill Clinton cheated in the White House with an intern, and was impeached as a result. Abedin, who has been married to Weiner for a scant 11 months, has admitted that she is pregnant with their first child.

Today’s announcement also came on the heels of his admission that one of the women was a 17-year-old from Delaware. That was apparently the last straw for House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California. Yesterday, she issued the following statement: Weiner "has the love of his family, the confidence of his constituents and the recognition that he needs help. I urge Congressman Weiner to seek that help without the pressures of being a member of Congress."Aides said later that Pelosi had been aware of Weiner's plan to enter treatment when she issued her statement.

Pelosi was the latest Democrat, along with numerous Republicans, who have urged Weiner to resign in a growing chorus that insiders have said left the Congressman shaken, but nonetheless resolved to remain in power.

“Powerful men behaving badly” has become a media and late-night comedy mainstay — only their faces have changed. The vast majority of all of these men have initially denied doing the deed, then admitted that they did the deed(s), then apologized — often tearfully — to their wives, fans, constituents, etc.

Most of their long-suffering wives have stood by them, albeit with some notable exceptions: The wives of Superstar Golfer Tiger Woods; former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevy; Sampson; and former Sen. John Edwards all divorced their straying spouses. Maria Schriver, wife of former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, has left her philandering spouse, who has also fathered a child outside of his marriage. It remains to be seen if she will seek a divorce.

In fact, this week also brought Edwards’ indictment on charges of misappropriation of campaign funds, accusing him of using $100,000 to cover-up his affair with a woman who eventually bore his daughter so that he could continue his bid for the presidency.

Some of these male misbehavers have somehow managed to rehabilitate their public careers. Bill Clinton is now widely admired as a senior statesman.

Interestingly, the panel said they believe that no woman who committed the sexual dalliances that any of the above mentioned males had committed, especially Clinton as president, would ever be forgiven by the public.

Weiner's 9th Congressional District spans parts of Brooklyn and Queens. A civic group and other residents of the district plan to rally Sunday afternoon to demand Weiner's resignation.

A quiet departure would enable Democrats to get back on message and not be disrupted by an embarrassment that only months ago led to the resignation of a Republican congressman whose seat turned over to Democrats in a special election last month.

Weiner's spokeswoman, Risa Heller, said in a statement that the congressman departed Saturday morning "to seek professional treatment to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person. In light of that, he will request a short leave of absence from the House of Representatives so that he can get evaluated and map out a course of treatment to make himself well."

The statement did not say where or what type of treatment he was seeking. In order to take a leave of absence, a usually routine matter, the request must be sent to the House floor. This is usually a perfunctory, moot exercise, with no one objecting, but it is conceivable that his leave could face objection and not be granted. If so, a vote could ensue on the merits or demerits of granting leave, putting Congress in uncharted territory.

Weiner's decision to seek treatment followed his acknowledgment that he had exchanged online messages with the 17-year-old girl in Delaware. Weiner and the girl's family attorney said nothing improper had passed between the two of them, and that the state police have closed an investigation.

The pathetically striking thing about the Weiner episode is that it is so juvenile: A grown married man taking pictures of himself in his boxers and sending them on Twitter; a grown married man allegedly messaging a different Facebook female friend about the "ridiculous bulge in my shorts now. wanna see?"

Weiner's explanation was also excruciatingly stupid and familiar: "I don't know what I was thinking."

— The Curator

Spitzer Lectures On...Wait for it...ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT?!!

(This one really, really does challenge the incredulity-meter folks!)

Disgraced ex-New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer addressed a packed hall yesterday at a Harvard ethics center amid criticism that his hooker-hiring past made him an unfit choice to teach students about corruption. (Ya think?)

(FYI: The ONLY one with any sense in this whole mess is the manager of the brothel where Spitzer hired “call girls.” She basically said it was obscene to pay him to discuss this issue after his sorted past.)

Kristin Davis, a former madam who once lined Spitzer up with high-priced ladies of the night, yesterday was offering students and faculty members $100 to ask the infamous, “Client No. 9” Spitzer about his rationale for participating in an illegal prostitution racket.

“Are we teaching Harvard students how to ethically break laws while pretending to uphold them?” a bitter Davis wrote on her Web site yesterday.

The madam of the prostitution ring that was broken by the FBI had said she sent a protest letter to the Harvard center’s director, Prof. Lawrence Lessig at The Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics. In the letter, Davis questioned how Spitzer could be welcomed, while she is serving five years of probation, cannot leave New York during that time, and must register as a sex offender, “for pleading guilty to providing him with call-girls.”

(Me thinks there could be a bit of a double standard at work here – but no, not in OUR society!)

Davis, who writes a blog calling herself, “The Manhattan Madam,’’ said in the letter that, “I deplore hypocrisy and abhor public officials who use their power to commit and cover up their own crimes and to lie and deceive the same public they have promised to protect.’’ (Bravo, m’dear!)

Lessig, who is also a professor at Harvard Law School, said in a statement and to the crowd yesterday that he does not condone Spitzer’s past, but said the former governor was invited to speak at a lecture focusing on finances, “because he has an extraordinary breadth of experience as both a governor and prosecutor involving institutional corruption issues in the financial sector."

Davis said she can't imagine a less qualified speaker.

"I am greatly intrigued as to what Mr. Spitzer could contribute to an ethical discussion when, as [governor], he broke numerous laws for which he has yet to be punished," Davis wrote to Lessig.

"As attorney general, he went around arresting and making examples out of the same escort agencies he was frequenting."

Calling Spitzer a "man without ethics," Davis listed seven reasons why Harvard should reconsider. Among other things, she asked if it was "ethical" to hire a hooker using a fake name or lie about shady campaign loans.

Lessig denied receiving the letter from Davis, but that the invitation to speak at Harvard was unrelated to the actions that forced Spitzer to resign. Spitzer was not giving "a lecture on ethics," Lessig said.

“There should not be any doubt about the behavior,’’ he said. “It was wrong – to himself, to his family, and to supporters. But we’re not asking him to give theories on personal ethical behavior,” Lessig said. (Too bad he didn’t mention that Spitzer also wronged the citizens of NY by breaking the law.)

"He has instead been invited to speak as part of a series on the topic of 'institutional corruption'," the professor said. “Governor Spitzer was invited to speak, as part of the lab’s lectures on the question of institutional corruption, because he has an extraordinary breadth of experience as both a governor and prosecutor involving institutional corruption issues in the financial sector.”

SPRITZ-HER (Sorry, couldn't resist), who resigned as New York’s governor in March 2008 after getting caught having paid flings with Davis’ prostitutes, delivered a lecture titled, “What Should Be the Rationale for Government Participation in the Market?” to a rapt and largely sympathetic audience at the Safra Foundation Center for Ethics.

(Sadly, not one attendee took Davis up on her $100 question offer.)

Before the lecture, Spitzer, who walked to the event with his daughter, Alyssa, a Harvard undergraduate, was asked by the Herald whether he saw any irony in giving a lecture on ethics given his own scandalous past.

“I let people form their own judgments,” Spitzer responded. (Are you FUCKING kidding me?)

During a question-and-answer period after the lecture, one student – in the only reference to the prostitution scandal – asked Spitzer if he thought there was a Wall Street conspiracy to expose him and bring him down. Spitzer rejected the notion, saying what he did was “wrong,” and that he resigned from office because it was, “the right thing to do.”

Davis said yesterday on her blog that Harvard’s invitation to Spitzer “boggles the mind.” She also vowed to enter any political race if Spitzer decides to seek a statewide office next year in New York.

(There has been recent speculation that Spitzer will indeed go for it again – sorry, I mean politics. Spitzer has clearly been trying to remake himself of late. The so-called "Sheriff of Wall Street" has been lecturing on law and public policy at City College and has opined about the economy on TV. By the way, if I lived in NY, Davis would get my vote!)

Before the lecture, students outside Harvard’s Emerson Hall were privately making jokes about Spitzer speaking at the ethics forum, but the Harvard Law School alum also had his share of supporters.

Alex Meletakos, 19, a freshman majoring in economics, said he sees nothing wrong with Spitzer speaking at Harvard, but “it’s kind of funny. He was involved in an ethical scandal, and now he’s giving a lecture on ethical standards. We’ll see how it goes.”

But, there were no protests, or outbursts during the lecture. Spitzer stuck to the basics of his speech: government’s role in enforcing transparency and integrity in the financial markets.

The scores of people in attendance at Harvard University yesterday did pepper the former governor with questions about pubic policy on the open market and the extent to which government should get involved in the private sector.

During the lecture, Spitzer, who gained a reputation as an arch-enemy of Wall Street bigshots when he was attorney general in New York, criticized current government officials, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and ex-Harvard president Larry Summers, now a top White House economic adviser, for not moving aggressively enough to force changes on Wall Street.

Spitzer said taxpayers have been harmed and policymakers missed a great opportunity to leverage the financial crisis into real change.

Spitzer, himself a Harvard graduate, has spoken at the university before, and has had a series of articles published recently describing the role government should play in monitoring financial institutions.

Those in attendance, some who acknowledged they attended the event because of the hype beforehand, said Spitzer drew a clear line between personal ethics and public policy. He spoke of government’s failures to foresee the scandals that led to the economy’s collapse, and the role government should play now.

“I thought it was extremely valuable,’’ said Tara Jayaratnam, a student at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She said society tends to hold public officials to high standards, often overseeing the expertise they may be able to bring to a debate. (Sorry, but he has forfeited any right to bring anything to a publicly sanctioned debate. There MUST be repercussions to politicians who commit crimes.)

“It was good he came, and I’m glad Harvard had the courage to bring him, because we had to hear that voice,’’ she said.


(FYI: I believe in, and strongly support, legalizing prostitution in the US. But, since there are laws prohibiting it, I also firmly believe that all public officials have a moral and ETHICAL duty to abide by that law; especially a former attorney general who prosecuted public officials for doing exactly as he has done in patronizing prostitution, not to mention trying to prosecute escort services. The issue here is NOT prostitution, but hypocrisy and deceipt, and expecting at least a MINIMAL level of integrity in government — The Curator.)