In all the horror show of the unfolding Eliot Spitzer sex scandal, one minor detail caught my eye. The
disgraced Governor of New York allegedly used the alias "George Fox" when making assignations with a high-end prostitution ring. The press makes the connection to a hedge-fund director and personal friend of Spitzer's of that name, but I believe this blog is the first media outlet to publicly make the connection to Quaker founder George Fox (1624-1691). I will leave it to others trained in psychoanalysis to speculate what this may signify, though I cannot refrain from commenting that the Society of Friends is used to turning the other cheek. Had Spitzer used the alias "John Wesley" or "Joseph Smith", I would have expected his stock to plummet with Methodists and Mormons...



Normally the woman is the fox.
Posted by: Tour Marm | March 13, 2008 at 05:19 PM
Then we share that in common. I'm Haverford class of '90. The Pennsylvania Quakers in my family tree are a few generations back: my Gr-gr-great grandmother's people, the Walkers of Chester Valley.
And indeed, not at all in the spirit of Friends.
Posted by: Tim Abbott | March 11, 2008 at 09:21 PM
Well, it wasn't very Quakerly, what Spitzer was getting up to - perhaps it was overly Friendly?
I am descended from various Pennsylvania Quakers and went to a Quaker college, BTW.
Posted by: Lidian | March 11, 2008 at 08:37 PM