Ever since my congressman, Vito Fossella, was arrested on a
DWI last Thursday, the local papers were spreading gossip about
Fossella's love child with the woman who bailed him out of jail.
He was finally forced to acknowledge his daughter yesterday and
it bodes ill for his re-election to Congress in November.
However, the biggest obstacle to his political career is neither
his arrest nor his infidelity, but the fact that he is a
Republican.
Whenever a politician is arrested or becomes involved in a
potential scandal, the damage to reputations depends on which
political party is involved. That a double standard applies is
not the question but rather how voters react to the scandal.
Democrats, with rare exceptions such as the case of Governor
Spitzer, do not seem to regard character flaws as impediment to
the miscreant's legislative capabilities, while Republican voters
hold their representatives to a higher standard.
Who can forget how quickly the Florida congressman Mark Foley
resigned after his sexually explicit instant messages to a male
page were revealed? Democrat Gerry Studds, on the other hand,
actually seduced a 17-year old male page, then took him to
Portugal in 1983. He ignored censure by Congress, ran for
re-election, and was re-elected five times by voters in his
Massachusetts district.
Not all Republicans give up so easily, but they hang on without
support from the party. Many Republicans were upset that Senator
Craig rescinded his resignation after pleading guilty to a
misdemeanor when caught in an undercover sex sting in an airport
men's room. Rep. Barney Frank still maintains heavy influence in
D.C. even though his aide operated a male sex-for-hire ring out
of Mr. Frank's apartment.
Mr. Fossella has always been popular in his hometown, and letters
to the Staten Island Advance seem to support him at this time,
however, they refer only to the DWI incident and were written
before his bombshell disclosure. Our district attorney, Daniel
Donovan, has established a very tough policy on habitual drunk
drivers.His spokesman, William Smith, said: "Dan's policy in
a nutshell is that in a first offense we do not seek jail time in
most cases except for extreme circumstances (death, serious
injury, massive property damage, or other mitigating
circumstances). We look for a disposition which will have a
revocation of the license and treatment if the person is found to
have a substance or alcohol abuse problem. In a second offense,
we will seek jail time, as we will for all subsequent
arrests."
When headlines in the local paper screamed "Vito could spend
five days in jail" reporters began asking questions about
his record that sums up what's wrong with Congress. Basically,
it's "What have you done for me lately?" Cormac Gordon
wrote in the Advance about a light rail proposal for the borough:
"Yet, not only has no congressional representative down
through the years found a way to bring home real federal funding
for such a project. None of them, and that includes Fossella,
have ever seriously tried."
Is that how we're supposed to judge our representative? How much
pork can we get from the taxpayers? When the federal government
gets involved in local community projects, we end up with
colossal boondoggles that are a waste of billions of dollars
Whenever I pass the massive $600 million Frank Lautenberg train
depot in Secaucus, N.J., I'm amazed at its size. It also does not
have any parking spaces, so please explain how that is supposed
to encourage drivers to take the train?
The only personal knowledge I have of Vito Fossella is what I've
observed. I know that he has had to deal with tragedy in his
personal life, and while I'm not excusing him from
responsibility, I always wonder why women who target an
attractive man have no respect for the wife and children in his
life.
Vito Fossella has maintained a real presence in his congressional
districts. He visits the schools, hospitals, and adult homes,
marches in parades, and is accessible to constituents here and in
Washington, D.C. He works harder in proposing legislation that
benefits us rather than trying to secure pork, and it will be
hard to find a more committed representative for Staten Island
and Brooklyn.
In a press conference after his arrest, Fossella apologized and
swore that this would never happen again. I suggest that he do
what George W. Bush did in 1976 after his DUI charge and
voluntarily surrender his license for a year. He should also get
down on his knees and thank God no one was killed. There, ahem,
are no excuses for drunken "Republican" philanderers.