Ray Ciervo Ministries

The recent sex scandal of New York's governor, Eliot Spitzer serves to elucidate another issue. Although I'm not excusing Spitzer's behavior, that isn't the focus of this blog. Neither do I want to focus on the money spent, nor the personality of the woman involved. Rather, I'd like to focus on the absurd attention this draws, not only to Spitzer, but to the prostitute in question.

Although her name is quickly becoming a common household name, I'll withhold it here for the simple reason of not giving her another "google hit." As of yesterday Wednesday, (March12,) her name drew over 71,000 hits on Google. The next morning, (March 13,) it is over 230,000. A star is born. [Today, March 17th it is over 600,000.] The young woman who allegedly served as Spitzer's call girl for inordinate amounts of money (not that any amount is ordinary), has not only drawn attention but offers for book deals and of course, the obligatory offer from porno magazines. What a country!

There are two things to note here. The first is that the amount of time it took to get Spitzer to resign is indicative of our move toward a more "European" approach to sex and politics. If Spitzer hadn't misused funds or played the "holier than thou" part when he was Attorney General, this might not have cost him his career and job, just his marriage. The idea that the media was questioning whether he should resign was disturbing, yet enlightening. We are moving toward a "progressive European" model of politics. That is, what you do in private doesn't matter, unless of course you let it spill over into your public life.

The other perhaps more insidious aspect of this is how (and why) the media makes celebrities. The woman in question's first comment was that she didn't want to be known as a "monster." The media gladly obliged and told her poor girl story of being a run-a-way, hook on drugs, and subsequent fall into prostitution where she took advantage of her good looks and old men's stupidity. She made quite a life for herself selling her body and remaining dignity.

The irony of this story is that although she may be Spitzer's last fling, she was by no means the first, not all the ones in between either. She just happened to be the one that was there when the bust came down, and wallah - stardom. What about prosecution?

But wait, this is not what gets you to watch TV or read the rags. Those who direct the media knows what it takes to get you to keep tuning in. The poor girl story and suggestive photos will get you interested to know where she came from and the kind of life she's lived. The information garnered from this will do nothing to help you live your life today. It's not even entertaining. What it reveals is our culture's obsession with gossip in the form of "you have a right to know."

Personally, I believe you have a right to learn, not just facts but how to think. I believe that's the original intent of education. However, the media much more enjoys the "right to know" idea because it plays on people's ignorance as we chase after unusable facts. After all, this is how media survives and makes money. It must stay in control to keep you tuning in so they can continue to charge huge amounts of money for sponsors.

Here's my suggestion: find a source of information that actually helps you make the right choices when you need to make important decisions. You'll be amazed at how life changes.