Photo:Andrew, Creative Commons, Flickr
New York governor Elliot Spitzer had an itch that had to be scratched. Let the media frenzy begin!

Big deal. This is between him and his young family. But then again, the alliteration "Spitzer Sex Scandal" has a nice ring to it, and who really wants to listen to another minute of Hillary Clinton's increasingly desperate attacks on Barack Obama?

Spitzer broke the law. He should be punished. End of story. Why should we have any kind of sympathy for a man who built his political career destroying and humiliating others, a self-professed "steamroller"? I can only hope other politicians learn from Spitzer's fall from grace (i.e. use cash when paying for a prostitute). Another request: Can we all agree to ban the "Spitz and swallows" joke? I've heard that one so many times I've lost count. We get it. It's funny. Now please move on.

If a European politician bumped uglies with a prostitute it would probably make the back page gossip section, nothing close to the media frenzy that is gripping America now. In my home country of South Africa, if a racist politician rapes an HIV positive Aids activist without using a condom, he becomes president. His statement that he showered afterwards to guard against possible infection was a sad footnote, especially when you consider that he was in charge of the country's "Moral Regeneration" program.

I find it interesting that American media crucifies hypocrites like Elliot Spitzer, while hypocrites like Jacob Zuma (a.k.a. JZ) become president of South Africa. Spitzer used his position of power to fight corruption, Zuma used his position of power to profit from corruption and fraud. Spitzer supported gay marriage, Zuma said "when I was growing up, an ungqingili (homosexual) would not have stood in front of me. I would knock him out."

Spitzer tried to implement progressive, forward-looking policies, while Zuma forces South Africans to look back into a racist past, exploiting racial tensions for his own political gain. Spitzer will soon be charged with prostitution offences, Zuma will soon be charged with corruption, racketeering and tax evasion.

I guess it's better to be known as a sinner than a hypocrite.