Submitted by Ben Plonie, Mar 17, 2008 12:08

I have trouble comprehending the point of this piece. I suspect it is more about trying to say something positive, anything at all. Not to be hardnosed, but about half of the article is devoted to excluding and qualifying what mercy is not and what mercy is inappropriate. Most of the rest admits there is no meaningful example of mercy and few qualified and relevant people to extend it. As they say in show business, you're working with nothing here.

Not that Spitzer's statements have really moved me personally, but it's like the people who debate about whether to forgive Germany for the Holocaust or the Pope apologizing for the Crusades and the Pogroms or an American government apologizing for slavery. Who cares what we all think and do? We can't speak for those who would have to forgive, and it maynot even be their right to forgive. How about the people who's lived were ruined by Spitzer's brutal tactics supposedly rooted in his holier than thou stance?

What does mercy mean in this connection? Should we desist from noticing or mentioning Spitzer so much? OK. A few less jokes? OK. Should he chaperone my daughter on a trip upstate? Rabbi Goldberg's daughter? God's daughters? I say let God handle this one on His own.

Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.