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Eliot Spitzer: Screwed
Having sex with prostitutes is always a risky proposition for any public official. But when you've pissed off some of the richest and most powerful people in the world, paying for sex may be one of the more stupid things you could do. Jezus, Eliot, what the hell were you thinking?
In case you haven't heard yet, The New York Times reported this afternoon that New York's Governor Eliot Spitzer was caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month. In a press conference that lasted nanoseconds—there were no questions taken—Spitzer admitted that he had violated "his obligation to his family," but he said nothing else about the news report and gave no hints on whether he intends to remain (that is, try to remain) in office.
Spitzer is so loathed on Wall Street and in the business community that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has devoted entire conferences to figuring out how to bring him down. Tom Donohue, the president of the Chamber, once accused Spitzer of using the "most egregious and unacceptable form of intimidation that we have seen in this country in modern time" in his investigation of Wall Street firms back in 2005, when Spitzer was the state's attorney general.
Business leaders despise Spitzer for his holier-than-thou press conferences in which he denounced them as slimeballs. Among his enemies: former chief of the New York Stock Exchange, Dick Grasso; the entire mutual fund industry; dirty power-plant owners; trillion-dollar banks. Spitzer went after all of them, with an aggressive use of state and some federal law that was derisively known as "Spitzerism." His election as New York's governor showed that he had the ability to win over upstate Republicans, a sign that he might have a future in national politics. And imagine the business world's horror at the possibility of a Spitzer-led U.S. Department of Justice, or worse, the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Spitzer had to know that people were gunning for him. Put aside Wall Street, he'd made plenty of enemies prosecuting garden-variety criminals. As head of the state's organized crime task force, he prosecuted two major prostitution rings. He certainly must have realized that prostitution business often has deep ties to mobsters. So by associating with $5,500-an-hour "executive" call-girls who were in bed with wealthy individuals and possibly connected to organized crime, Spitzer put himself in a position where he could be blackmailed or ruined by the very types of people he had pursued.
Sex for hire might not be the end of every politician. Louisiana senator David Vitter, whose phone number turned up in the records of the famous D.C. Madam, is testament to that. Other politicians have survived sex scandals, too, most notably Rudy Giuliani and Idaho senator Larry Craig. But Spitzer made his career on being Mr. Clean. He used his moral authority to fix a lot of things that were wrong with corporate America. As a result, this hypocrisy will be his undoing. Dick Grasso and his friends must be popping the champagne.
You know what amazes me, if you're a pretty young girl willing to bag a horny govenor or president and make 1000+ bucks an hour by **** yourself around town oh! and become instantly famous would this put you off ??? We in Europe smile at the histerical way you guys are making this out to be the end of the world, yes he did wrong in that he was in public office of trust and being a big hippocrate Spitzer got what he deserved. Hey America wake-up no one died?.Billy Kofi
You know what amazes me, if you're a pretty young girl willing to bag a horny govenor or president and make 1000+ bucks an hour by **** yourself around town oh! and become instantly famous would this put you off ??? We in Europe smile at the histerical way you guys are making this out to be the end of the world, yes he did wrong in that he was in public office of trust and being a big hippocrate Spitzer got what he deserved. Hey America wake-up no one died?.Billy Kofi
So what? Who really cares about a person's sex life as long as the public figure in question is not a hypocrite. Spitzer is good for New York and should not resign.
Are you kidding me? Prosecuting prostitute rings while using one at the same time in not hypocritical? Only in American politics...
The critical difference with Spitzer and the other mentioned Vitter and Craig is that they are Republicans. I smell a possible connection with the DOJ, selective prosecutions (GA anyone?) and the current state of US Attorneys. We must assume the only ones left at Justice are the corrupt ones. Wow, to take down a Dem. Gov. of New York before November would be sweet indeed. I await tough investigative reporting from the boyz. (and "gals). NOT.
How lovely to see these hypocrites brought down regardless of what side of the isle they may sit.Spitizer is an authoritarian fanatic whose tyrannical and grandiose behavior clothed in "law & order is the very mindset has dropped America in the international garbage can. A close call. A wolf in sheep's clothing. Good thing they got him before he ran for national office.
What a total Moron, the only thing he could have done that was worse would be get caught with a boy. This country is done, I fear.
The straight and narrow path is often long, and difficult, I'd forgive Spitzer his indiscretion on condition that he put his contrition regarding the whole situation in writing, similarly sign an agreement to forswear further such activities, and finally, put it to the voters as to whether he should be allowed to keep his job. Then, if his family forgives him, and the voters let him stay in office, then he could potentially continue in office.
I don't like that he was caught by a wire-tap. That smacks of the very reasons that this subject should be discussed more in the media. These warrantless wire taps aren't to save us from 'sleeper cells'; they are to take down political enemies. How sad that rather than being outraged about the tap, people are fanning themselves and opening their hymnals and behaving in exactly the holier than thou manner for which Spitzer is evidently famous. I felt the same way about the Larry Craig thing, in that I don't want tax payer money spent to pay cops to nab 'pervert fags' for hooking up in the airport bathroom. Don't forget, folks, that this wasn't a cop that wandered in on two guys 69-ing - it was a sting operation. Where are your values? Or are you so convinced that this kind of thing can never reach into your own life that you just feel safe responding in the way your TV pundits and editorializing 'journalists' tell you? Frankly, I'm uncomfortable - but America makes me feel that way quite often. Go watch 'The Little Foxes', a Lillian Hellman play that nicely spotlights the fact that complacent citizens are just as much the problem as the people who connive actively for power.
It's about time the self-named "Steamroller" has shown his hypocrisy. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned for more. How ironic that Spitzer's favorite means of catching people, wiretap, was used on him. Next to fall hopefully will be his buddy, Andrew Cuomo. I'd like to know whan will these Stepford political wives decided to let their husbands go it alone before the cameras.
Bert: How do you know it was a warrantless wire tap? Wait, you dont...
Why is this such a big deal? Was he actively pretending to fight prostitution?
*scratches Spitzer off the list of potential Democratic running mates*
Here's a crazy idea... We all know that Spitzer had made himself Public Enemy #1 to the PTB's of Wall Street and corporate America. What if they simply got sick of his crap and rang the Pooh Bah Phone to there "Fix-it" man? The Cleaner. The Wolf. The Man with the Plan. What if they decided to pull him into a "back room" and squeeze his balls until he accepted an offer he couldn't refuse? Something like... "Ok... look here Mr Eagle Scout, either you get caught with "Kristin" or somebody in your family has an "unfortunate" accident." They can't assassinate everyone they hate after all ... can they?
Of the many elements to dislike in this whole affair, the part that hasn't been commented upon yet is the author's take. Ms. Mencimer leads the article not with any comment on the objective wrong Mr. Spitzer committed. In Ms. Mencimer's view, it was only poor judgment because Mr. Spitzer had made powerful enemies. Cheating on your wife is an immoral act even if not committed by a powerful politician or caught on tape.
Sad day
Vitter? What about Dick Cheney? And Randall Tobias who already resigned over this...and others....the DC Madam scandal is much bigger then this one.
But the real story is the total media blackout, except for WMReports (and The David Letterman Show).
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_gustav_w_070524_dc_madam_scandal...
I am still laughing my ass off..Eliot spitser paying $5000 for an hour with a hooker? Holy crap,, Holy crap holy crap,,
I really believed in this guy. He was one of the only ones who went after the Bastards Who Stole Our Money!!!!!
Yet another time when I wish people would think more like me.... I could give a rats ass if he was going to a prostitute- He Was Protecting My Money!!!!
How sad that rather than being outraged about the tap, people are fanning themselves and opening their hymnals and behaving in exactly the holier than thou manner for which Spitzer is evidently famous. Anyhow, I added it to my blog at **** PositiveCupid.com **** , which has become the #1 dating&support community serving herpes, hpv, hiv or other STD people in the world. We worry for her very much.
Jim Guinnessey did you know prostitution is illegal? Do you have morals or values? If he can betray his wife and family then why wouldn't he betray New Yorkers. He needs to be fired and his wife needs to divorce his sorry butt.
Spitzer was unbelievably stupid. Buy why was this a FEDERAL wiretap issue? Stinks a bit, I think. Not to coddle Spitzer, however; by this time anybody in politics in this country ought to know enough to keep it in his pants. If he hadn't figured that out by now, he deserves the fruit of his ignorance.
While I have little sympathy for Spitzer getting his brains stuck in his zipper, I do feel for his family. The man did do some good work though - especially before being elected governor. Let's remember him for that, rather than his lack of good judgement.
Of course if what Jimmy says is true...at $5000/hour, maybe this prostitute comes with legal advice/service too?
1 last question...whose line was being wire-tapped? The madam's or Spitzer's?
$4000 to get laid? I'm sorry, I have try to make sence out of that before I can even begin to comment further.
Maybe this was undercover work. Maybe it was on top of the sheets.
I looked at the pricing of the girls at the Emporers Club
31,000. a day!!! Wonder if I could have booked 10 minutes. Wonder if you finish early, is it fully earned?
Dustin: You got it right. The man was on our side - he went after big busine$$. What a shame to watch him (and whatever future he might have had) go down in flames.
What's even more interesting is that the wire tap was ordered after Spitzer's bank notified the feds that money was being moved in and out of accounts. I certainly don't condone this behavior, but it is certainly more concerning to me that under the Patriot Act, our own banks are also watching our every move. I understand if this money is being moved over seas, etc., but this is somewhat very disturbing.
I can see most of the people who responded to the Spitzer affair. haven't been following politics very long (I mean for years and years). It is not the act but the self righteous rabid attacks on others that have been caught doing the very thing he has prosecuted others for in the past. All the while trying to project an air of being above such awful and degrading actions. A person who wallows in the moral decaying society we seem to have been and still are creating for ourselves in this country, shouldn't be suprized when it come back around to bite him are her in the rear. After being so above it all and better than the common people he had crushed in the past. Mr, Spitzer should resign, end of story. I'm sure there will be many who think this is no big thing at all. project this same thing on different public figures with different political and business connections, and see how many different reactions you get. depends on how you lean. and how good your morally centered.
Spitzer put ho's in jail . He deserves to go to jail himself so he can develop some empathy for the ho's he put in jail. Actually, the IRS is after him for money laundering for the mob. He did violate the Man act, amongst other crimes. Spitzer has pissed off the legislature with his arrogance. Even the Democrats will join in, they will bring the feathers, the GOP, the tar, and I will bring the rail, and he will be rode out of town.
Call me dumb, but, have we been furnished any proof that Eliot Spitzer did anything at all? Let's see the bank records, and lets hear the phone call taps. I want to see the evidence before I decide anything. So far I've only been told what to think by the NYT and various TV pundits. Gosh, so far, they haven't even been able to keep those stories straight.
Framed?
I'd like to know what a $5,000.00 dollar prostitute gives you, that you can't get from a $300.00 one?
Bill had affairs and Spitzer paid for his affairs. Progressive women need to give their men some slack on having affairs, like the men that we admire so much. Prostitution is good for women and for man. At least that is what Dr. Freud says and real Progressives. These radical feminists that are against prostitution are really right wing nuts.
According to the report, it was the way that he moved money around his accounts that tipped off Treasury. Who are monitoring all of our financial transactions to locate and identify individuals who are funneling money to terrorists. When anyones' activities become suspect, they automatically are investigated for all criminal activities. I believe that under this law, justified by the need to fight terrorism, that 99.9% of prosecutions will be for totally unrelated crimes.
No one is perfect that is why we need to do away with political parties. They are all corruptible. I want a benevolent despot aka dictator who loves us like Hugo Chavez. Screw the rest!
I agree. Since when do we believe what the media feeds us? There's more to this than meets the eye! I'm sure they expect the U.S. public to respond with glee at yet another "hated politician" biting the dust, laugh and gloat at the "hypocrisy" of it all... our government and our so called leaders are devious liars... be wise with how quick you jump onto this wagon.
What a sorry lot of commentary for the most part. Can't a "good guy" get laid? He was so obviously set up as payback. Politics in this country are CORRUPT just as they are in the other 3rd world countries. (Yes, we're one of those now with everything in the good ole USA in decline...thanks G.W. Bush). All of the moralizing by critics of Spitzer is simply laughable. The man is human and to err is human. All judges please cease judging lest ye be judged.
ARROGANCE...thy name is Spitzer. What a fool to piss off Hank Greenburg and Dick Grasso. I'll bet one or both of them paid for the investigators who brought down this holier-than-thou nutjob.
Wow! For someone, ANYONE who advanced one's political career by going after high-profile bad guys, esp. people with tons of money, to cheat on a spouse by hiring executive prostitutes is the best example of what the Greeks called 'hubris'.
Every hero has a fatal flaw and this quite obviously is his.
My reaction is the same I had about Bill Clinton's extremely poor judgment in these matters: what a moron! But Spitzer had to quit because he's a sanctimonious idiot to boot.
The truth is:
The whores got paid
His wife got screwed.
Now that Eliot Spitzer has resigned, perhaps we can go on to other, more important, matters--like congratulating the first black governor of New York. Of course, the jackals of Wall Street want to keep having their fun with this, but it doesn't serve to whitewash their corporate buddies that Spitzer took down.
Well, as long as the NRA has their Uzis what's the dif? If Sptizer is to be lynched as a hypocrite, then go to the state houses in every state and the big daddy of all hypocrites--the US government. They usually screw the public, but will settle for anything that's warm. Sometimes it doesn't have to be warm--they have a few graverobbers! When the massacre is over, let's recount the population. Probably only undocumented aliens will be left. Impeach the criminals Bush and Cheney for making the Constitution null and void. Otherwise, I don't give a damn what the criminals do!
Seen from Europe, this affair has no public importance. It doesn't concern politics. People can be faithful or not, be single, maried or divorce while in office, and at the same time the same people can do a good job while in office. Mitterrand in his times had an affair with a journalist, had a daughter out of mariage, the press knew, so did the citizens, and there was no feeling of scandal. To me the whole story is "tittytainment" just good for people magazines.
The hypocrisy of this guy was what brought him down so hard. I could care less about him, but the teenage daughters are the ones this will hurt most.
Right on Paul Miller!
Don't the Federales have more important things to worry about?
I agree with Paul Miller. Also, this is not only about Spitzer's questionable ethics. The machinations which occurred to bring him down deserve infinite scrutiny.
For anyone who still believes the only issue of relevance is the "elicit" sex, check out this article by Dave Lindorff.
Spitzer Bust Provides A Warning Regarding NSA Spying by Dave Lindorff
http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/opedne_dave_lin_080311_spitzer_bust_p...
Are you people kidding me? Having an affair is one thing...immoral, but not necessarily illegal. PROSTITUTION IS ILLEGAL. He committed a crime. When he paid for prostitution across state lines, it became a FEDERAL crime. Thus the legitimate use of a WARRANTED federal wiretap. This isn't the warrantless crap that Bush has been pandering. This is the real deal. As much as I was a fan of the man's work, his career is rightfully over.
My main issue with this story is that the Republicans were ready to impeach him, yet they refuse to impeach CHENEY or BUSH? Spitzer broke the law and did something incredibly assinine and hypocritical. However, he's not exactly the first politician to hire a prostitute and/or be involved in a sex scandal and what he did doesn't put the country in danger.
Aside from that, I found the following comment interesting:
Vitter? What about Dick Cheney? And Randall Tobias who already resigned over this...and others....the DC Madam scandal is much bigger then this one.
But the real story is the total media blackout, except for WMReports (and The David Letterman Show).
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_gustav_w_070524_dc_madam_scandal...
Prostitution is good. The girls like it and so does the Eliots. Dr. Freud says that it is good. Go out with a ho tonight. If the wife complains, divorce the right wing nut. Eliot's wife knew about it for the last 10 years. It was fine with her because she is a true Progressive. Progressive women understand this issue of prostitution. The Russian women are great.