Thursday, March 13, 2008

Kristen Roundup

The other party to Client 9-gate is all over the web this morning.

I think it might have actually been a surprise had "Kristen" not turned out to be just a few years older than Spitzer's daughters, or not the victim of past abuse. Which makes it encouraging that she's not actually been charged (yet), just subpoenaed to testify in the investigation at this point. Towards the Swedish model?

The XX Factor has some of the best thoughts of the day on the scandal's latest developments (per usual: Melinda Henneberger was pitch perfect on the cucqueaned Mrs. Spitzer at the first press conference - "I can't get past wanting to bake something for Silda—and then I hate feeling like that, too, because nobody wants pity-inspired sticky buns"). Rosa Brooks' perspective on the "things you might not think were safe" is a must-read:

"And that's what really bugs me about Spitzer... the creepy hints that somewhere, some more important line may have been crossed—that he treated these women whose bodies he bought in a way he knew no one ought to be treated—that fantasies about sex and power may have turned into abusive behavior that endangered real live human beings."

A keen insight as "Kristen" comes into full view.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Well what I think is interesting about this whole mess is the lack of thoughtful gender commentary in newspapers. The closest you get is "why is she standing next to him" -- it's fascinating (miserable) that people can find a reason to actually look past the idiot and fault his wife for something.
You know what I say? Silda for Governor. She's a HLS grad with a reputation as a hard and brilliant worker. Someone mention that please.