David Patterson wasn’t even in office for half a day when he admitted to the Daily News that he’s had extramarital affairs in the past:
The thunderous applause was still ringing in his ears when the state’s new governor, David Paterson, told the Daily News that he and his wife had extramarital affairs.
In a stunning revelation, both Paterson, 53, and his wife, Michelle, 46, acknowledged in a joint interview they each had intimate relationships with others during a rocky period in their marriage several years ago.
In the course of several interviews in the past few days, Paterson said he maintained a relationship for two or three years with “a woman other than my wife,” beginning in 1999.
As part of that relationship, Paterson said, he and the other woman sometimes stayed at an upper West Side hotel — the Days Inn at Broadway and W. 94th St.
He said members of his Albany legislative staff often used the same hotel when they visit the city.
“This was a marriage that appeared to be going sour at one point,” Paterson conceded in his first interview Saturday. “But I went to counseling and we decided we wanted to make it work. Michelle is well aware of what went on.”
In a second interview with Paterson and his wife Monday, only hours after he was sworn in to replace scandal-scarred Eliot Spitzer, Michelle Paterson confirmed her husband’s account.
“Like most marriages, you go through certain difficult periods,” Michelle Paterson said. “What’s important is for your kids to see you worked them out.”
I’ve only got one question — why is this news ?
Apparently, the Pattersons addressed the issue in the interview because rumors had already started circulating about their marriage, so I guess I understand why they made it public at this point, especially in the wake of the Spitzer scandal, but it really isn’t anyone’s business.
They had a rough time in the marriage, they got beyond it, and they’re still together.
Move along now, there’s nothing to see here.
March 18th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Sex between consenting adults is very popular. It is those who squeal like stuck pigs at the mention of any revelation of extramarital coitus who are the problem.
By over-reacting to any salacious tidbit, the Press and public (also known by those in power as, “The Sheeple”) give great power to anyone in opposition parties or with special interests at odds to those currently in power.
Just as homosexuals disarmed most of their enemies by decriminalizing their sexual preference, and by openly admitting their sexual orientation, heterosexuals, can disarm those moronic keyhole peeking members of the “watcher class.” The watcher class includes law enforcement, private “security” firms, the Press and all of those who spend their time using surveillance devices, cameras, etc. to record the actions of others, rather than having lives of their own.
By coming out and admitting that, at least for a while, he had an “open marriage” Governor Patterson disarms those who were so giddy in anticipation of using this against him.
It is time for America to grow-up and admit that consensual sex between adults has gone on throughout human existence and that such relationships, in most instances, are not home wrecking events, or otherwise deleterious to society. We should also provide license to the “world’s oldest profession” closely regulating and taxing this activity to ensure the safety and health of clients and providers. It should be no different for a man or woman to employ a sex therapist, as one would hire a Physical Therapist, Chiropractor, or other allied health provider.
By taking away the stigma, we take away the power of those in the secret police and others in the “watcher class” to extort us into silence, or worse.