MY heart aches for Silda Wall Spitzer. Not only do she and her children have to weather the storm brought on by her misguided husband, she also has to endure the judgments of the commentariat, many of whom have asked, with some frequency, why on earth she would stand by her man during his public — and anemic — mea culpa. …
Stand by Yourself, by Dina Matos McGreevey
i keep thinking about this too. not only did i not expect the ordeal to become such popular international news, but i’m really disgusted by the way the world indulges in it. i understand that the governor committed a crime and that he needed to step down, but i actually wonder whether that could have happened without the media frenzy. i come from a culture in which people’s missteps are not publicized precisely because those undeserving of the shame of it (the wife, children, etc.) should not have to suffer. and also because people should be allowed to move beyond their mistakes without the burden of wrongdoing hanging over them. now with this, i think consequences had to happen, but i wonder if we all had to know about it. despite the fact that he’s a public official, i still struggle with how his family has to suffer, and the way we feel shamelessly invested in news that is not our own.
that was long and a bit self-righteous maybe, but it’s just something i’m really thinking about…i’m not sure if it’s realistic in today’s world, where we don’t like to put limits on the flow of information or anything else, but sometimes there are compelling reasons. i wish we thought about them sometimes.
Mar 13th, 2008 / 2:29 pm