Who Is Really Getting Fucked?

Why do political wives allow themselves to be put through the humiliating “stand by your man” routine, wherein you literally stand by your man while he admits to fucking a mistress, another man, or a prostitute to the press?

I suppose standing silently with pain written all over your face while your husband tells the press about his extra-marital dalliances is the first step on the long road to wifely submission. Being a political wife is their career, and so standing by your man is basically just shoving through a major issue at your job, with the hopes that things will continue as normal soon.

The high power, professional wife with a life of her own has become the standard.

Silda Wall Spitzer fits into this mold, with her history of being a handsomely paid Wall Street attorney. Same story with Hillary Clinton clutching Bill’s hand in 1992 to wave away his infidelities. These are women you can imagine just packing their things and walking straight into a brand new life without him.

I can respect that.

Silda Spitzer was following roughly the same script used by the spouse of Louisiana Sen. David Vitter after his name was found on a madam’s list last year; by the wife of Idaho Sen. Larry Craig after he was arrested for disorderly conduct for allegedly trying to pick up an undercover police officer in an airport bathroom last year; and by the wife of New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey who stood by when he announced he had a gay lover who also was a state employee.

And, perhaps most famously, Silda Spitzer followed the model used in 1992 by Hillary Clinton in a joint “60 Minutes” interview with her husband, Bill, then a presidential candidate. Responding to allegations that Bill Clinton had had an extramarital affair, Hillary Clinton created a media template for spousal behavior in times of scandal.

However when Clinton got on TV and addressed an apology to the nation for screwing around with Monica Lewinsky, he did not get his wife to stand there looking sorrowful. There’s a few key differences in that case. For one, the wife in this case was informed long before the press conference, and so she had time to think things over. I think, in a lot of these cases, the wife is in a bit of shock and could be more malleable to other people’s wills.

But more importantly, there’s no doubt in my mind that the Clintons were sculpting the strategy to get Hillary Clinton into a Senate seat and possibly into the White House at that point.

So it was useful to quit playing her up as the submissive wife, and start putting her out there as a strong person, not the sort who stands around looking sad, but STILL allowed herself to be publicly fucking humiliated.

But, as a politicians wife, do you play by a different set of rules?

You’ve accepted that you have to work for him for free on campaigns, you have to play nice to the cameras regardless of your mood, and you have to accept that he’s gone a lot doing all sorts of crazy things. You may even accept that this involves sex with other people. Habits are hard to break, and high stress times are not the time to start breaking them, as we all know. And when a sex scandal hits, all that training at doing what you’re told by advising staff and rolling with the punches probably kicks in.

But as a woman you have been embarrassed, humiliated, put down in the worst way possible. You have had your man cheat on you in the high profile public eye.

How can someone that allows this be seriously considered as a presidential candidate?

So in the end of it all, despite the marital indiscretions, all the apologies, all the excuses - it is the American voter that gets screwed.

Similar to the mistresses no doubt, without the pleasure of orgasm.