“In Albany, some of Mr. Spitzer’s staff members were clearing out their desks as Mr. Paterson and his top aides prepared to move into the executive offices. Charles O’Byrne, a longtime assistant to Mr. Paterson, is replacing Richard Baum as the governor’s top aide. Most other top Spitzer loyalists were expected to depart.”
From today's New York Times
As everyone talks about the demise of Elliot Spitzer’s political career, I cannot help but to think of the dozens of innocent professionals damned as a result of Spitzer’s personal choices. The often unnamed, unknown staff whose lives orbited around this once powerful man are professionally devastated. Working tirelessly, in some cases for many years, they are now shoved aside to make room for the next wave of advisors and assistants, schedulers and security. While this is the natural flow of political change, it is a different set of circumstances when your boss is ousted by scandal. The person for whom you fought, in whom you believed is now forced from office, disgraced. With him goes your paycheck, your health benefits, your work and more important and harder to replace, your trust. The populace of New York has been betrayed by this man, yes. But that is an anonymous betrayal. The people who spent countless hours working for and with this man must now contend with the impact of his duplicity on the whole of their lives. The damage of the powerful is expansive and lasting.
