Eliot Spitzer continued its comeback tour with an appearance on Fareed Zakaria's CNN show yesterday. While most of the talk about about the economy and Spitzer's former target (back from his Attorney General days) AIG, Zakaria got to brass tacks:
ZAKARIA: You know that a number of people watching you are going to say, "Eliot Spitzer doesn't have credibility to talk about these issues" because of what happened over the last year with your own behavior. What would you say to them?
SPITZER: I would say to them that I never held myself out as being anything other than human. I have flaws as we all do, arguably.
I failed in a very important way, with my personal life and I have paid a price for that, with my family and with my wonderfully, amazing, forgiving wife, and with my three daughters. And we'll rebuild those relationships and hopefully as time goes on.
I also feel that to the extent that I am asked that I can contribute to a very important conversation that I will do that as well. That is our right, arguably our obligation to our citizens. I will do what I can, and with full awareness and heaviness of heart about what I did.
Here's the full video:
Spitzer also has a column in Newsweek, "The faux surprise emanating from Washington—does anybody else think 'gambling in Casablanca'?—is generating proposals that are emotional retorts, not wise policy. The economic cataclysm we are living through now is the consequence of 30 years of intentional destruction of the rules needed to keep capitalism on track."
