* h/t to commentor Neo for the most excellent post title suggestion.
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is reported to be resigning from his office later today;
Gov. Eliot Spitzer has told senior advisers that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, The New York Times reported Monday, citing an anonymous top administration official. […] The Times reported that a person with knowledge of the governor’s role believes the governor is identified as a client in court papers. Four people allegedly connected to a high-end prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP were arrested last week.
Spitzer, 48, built his political legacy on rooting out corruption, including several headline-making battles with Wall Street while serving as attorney general. He stormed into the governor’s office in 2006 with a historic share of the vote, vowing to continue his no- nonsense approach to fixing one of the nation’s worst governments.
Time magazine had named him “Crusader of the Year” when he was attorney general and the tabloids proclaimed him “Eliot Ness.”
But his stint as governor has been marred by several problems, including an unpopular plan to grant driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants and a plot by his aides to smear Spitzer’s main Republican nemesis.
In my opinion, it was the driver’s license fiasco that should have brought him down. But this will do.
Update: Commentors have already noted that a certain detail has been overlooked in this report and others – Spitzer’s party affiliation.
Update 2: The fastest purge in political history. That and other links are collecting at Hot Air.
Update 3!
As a sidebar to an article at ABC news about Elliott Spitzer, they’ve helpfully put together this slideshow of 13 politicians involved in famous sex scandals.(Collect them all!) Anyway, it’s rather interesting that of the 7 Republicans on the list, all of them save one are identified by ABC as Republicans. Of the six Democrats on the list, only one is identified by party affiliation.
I think one can determine which party is more fiscally prudent by comparing the Spitzer case to the Vitter case.
According to SmokingGun.com Spitzer spent $4300 on his “guest” while if my recollection is correct Vitter was spending about $500 on his.
Now which party do you want spending your tax dollars?
right, brian, Porter is a troll; his comments make no sense – either morally or logically.
As for Spitzer, I confess I’m not terribly interested in his case. The fact that he’s behaved as a hypocrite – well, presumably the voters will throw him out.
The interesting situation in the US political scene at the moment, is Obama vs Clinton fighting over who will be P and VP – and the fact that the Democrats can’t make up their minds.
For those who can’t figure out why Spitzer should resign, by consorting with criminals Spitzer opened himself up to blackmail. What if, as they are so notoriously famous for doing, there is mob money behind the agency that supplied the girls?
What mob boss wouldn’t want to have the goods on the governor of NY? Even if there was no direct organized crime money behind the operation, what person running an escort agency wouldn’t understand the money to be made by tipping them off so they can film the reportedly unsafe sex practices favoured by the governor?
As far as the job Spitzer now does, the man can no longer be trusted. Plain and simple. Time to go.
ET, I said some months ago that the logic of affirmative action should be applied to the case of Obama/Hillary. Why can’t the Democrats see the sense of that?
Robert S. Porter>
“I do not care for laws that are unjust and immoral.”
Then “care not” just like Ted Bundy who didn’t care for the cannibalism laws. Thankfully the majority of Americans believe you are wrong and picking laws to suit your particular suicidal lifestyle will not be forced onto them.
“A country isn’t and shouldn’t be something that the citizens think they “own” and thus can keep Mexicans out of.”
Better to think that a country is owned by the state, correct? How long do you think in a socialist utopia you will continue to own your own home? Possibly you meant that a country is a rental or possibly free land up for grabs by the third world? Why then need law and order when we can enjoy the cultural blessings of Zimbabwe governance where the underclass can simply take the personal and commercial property away from the working class and attempt to run it. Now they starve. “Unjust and immoral” upholding the laws of the American people as an American, now that is immoral.
Clarification:
“Unjust and immoral” Not upholding the laws of the American people as an American, now that is immoral.
atheist quebecois separatiste >
Isn’t prostitution already legal in Quebec?
Se la vie……………
Mr. Spitzer built his career as a ruthless crusader going after the corporate crooks and white collar criminals but as in all things power tends to corrupt. Many would say he abused his overwhelming power of prosecution to harass, intimidate and bully those who attacked or thwarted him. No doubt people will relish his fall from grace. You can read here about a piece in the Wall Street Journal by former Goldman Sachs chairman John Whitehead who said he was threatened by Spitzer when he wrote an article defending AIG chief Hank Greenberg:
“After asking me one or two questions about where I got my facts, he came right to the point. I was so shocked that I wrote it all down right away so I would be sure to remember it exactly as he said it. This is what he said: “Mr. Whitehead, it’s now a war between us and you’ve fired the first shot. I will be coming after you. You will pay the price. This is only the beginning and you will pay dearly for what you have done. You will wish you had never written that letter.”
http://www.soxfirst.com/50226711/spitzer_crusader_or_thug.php
Lots of talking heads asking, Why do these guys always appear with their wives when caught.
One unnamed republican said, If that was me my wife would be standing over my bleeding body and yelling, how do you re-load this thing.
Wives that get out in public with their husbands in these situations just prove that they are trophy wives, in my opinion. In Hillory’s case it was because Bill was her meal ticket to the White House.
MaryT>
Prostitutes in their own right. Just legal and with drivers licenses. Ha ha
As if party affiliation has anything to do with it. If you want to play that line, then we’ll just assume that all Republicans lust over young male staffers.
Knight 99, Ted Bundy killed a lot of young women but he didn’t cannibalize his victims. Could you be thinking of Jeffery Dahmer?
Client 9 From Outer Space
As one of SDA’s most venerable and respected token Americans, I must rise to protest this grievous innuendo that casts unseemly aspersions onto the fine and lovely young women that work in some of America’s premier agencies of prostitution.
The fact that a distinguished governor of our remarkable country wishes to offer indirect educational subsidies to young women with no other desire than to better themselves is a tradition that we all should honor.
And I believe Kristy even said that she would not stoop so low as to perform some acts without the form of protection that is widely praised and lauded throughout your country and mine.
Furthermore, she found the governor to be a generally agreeable client and no doubt used the $4,500 she made as only fitting as a consideration from the United States government.
*************
OK, back in the real world. This Empire’s Club was a huge outfit. The three cat houses that were busted were in Brooklyn. That means a direct partnership with you-know-who, yep, the same organized crime people you know and love so well in Canada.
Hell, Vito and Nick might be getting kickbacks from this thing.
Although it may be Brooklyn-based, which means a minimum of one organized crime family involved and maybe more (yes, including the Bonnanos), they also have to have permission with the other mob families in the various other locations in which they operate.
So a lot of people are getting juiced over this. Not only goombahs, but politicians here and there, etc. This is indicative of a **lot** of organized crime activity spread over several Mafia families and other OC types around the world.
And when they start to squeeze girls like Kristy in exchange for immunity, the girls will squeal like a mouse caught in a trap. So stand by, because this story will probably get more interesting.
MaryT, that wonderful line was spoken by Richard “Dick” Armey, then Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, commenting on the Monica Lewinsky scandal:
“If I were in the President’s place, I would not have gotten a chance to resign. I would be lying in a pool of my own blood, hearing Mrs. Armey standing over me saying, ‘How do I reload this damn thing?'”
Hope this helps! 🙂
Another Mary, in Los Angeles, CA, USA
Bour3>
“Knight 99, Ted Bundy killed a lot of young women but he didn’t cannibalize his victims. Could you be thinking of Jeffery Dahmer?”
Was just making a symbolic point, I’m not a serial killer buff to know the specific nuances of these weirdo’s stories. I did remember though that some evidence with Bundy revolved around his teeth or dental records? Its a moot detail concerning my point about picking and choosing laws that suit an individuals idea of what’s an immoral law to obey and what is not.
The brothel charges up to $5,500 per hour apparently. I’ll say this about Spitzer, he has more class than Hugh Grant.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/1995/06/28/hughgrant.xml
You’d think 5K would buy a little anonymity …..
There was a time not too long ago – when he was bringing down financial titans left and right, that Mr. Spitzer would often tell a story about a friend who gave him a t-shirt that said “Hubris is terminal”. I guess he lost that shirt and the meaning of what it said…
Spitzer should resign. He has prosecuted prostitution cases he is the state executive, he is profoundly compromised.
“Actually that’s not entirely true unless you clean toilets or drive a taxi for a living.”
Except in Porter’s case, this is probably true and he does look upon illegals as job stealers.
As for “A country isn’t and shouldn’t be something that the citizens think they “own” “, porter – a “a dual Canadian/American citizen” according to his blog, apparently failed US Civics and should read this to familiarize himself with the founding principle of the US. If it’s to much trouble to read the entire document, just focus on the first three words:
WE. THE. PEOPLE.
Instead of flexing his brain cell and entertaining the SDA regulars, porter should scamper back to his “blog”; I think his site just registered a comment.
mhb23re
at gmail d0t calm
But since the laws currently do not allow timely access to the country
No one, absolutely no one, has the right to access another country, timely or not. And no country has to grant anyone from another country access, timely or not.
Turns out that Spitzer wasn’t simply caught arranging and meeting a prostitute, but was already under investigation for possible shady financial dealings.
“We had no interest at all in the prostitution ring until the thing with Spitzer led us to learn about it,” said one Justice Department official.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4424507&page=1
Should be interesting to learn more about the “thing” they were already investigating him for.
I have already deleted five off topic comments from the end of this thread. Anyone who refuses to adhere to this policy will be banned from the site. Do I make myself clear?
Ha! Spitzer followed the example set by Rudy Giuliani in the abuse of the prosecutor’s office to advance his political career!
Posted by: OMMAG at March 10, 2008 4:08 PM
Help me out here. Is this fair comment? This is certainly not my perception of Giuliani.
Did he take down any innocent folk that you are aware of?
Was it Spitzer who took down the innocent Martha Stewart?
Once upon a time when I lived in NY I hung out at the local gun shop. You meet cops, firemen, all kinds of gubmint employees. You hear stories.
From four years of listening I decided that:
A)New York State and especially New York City were governed by the most corrupt bunch of tools in existence, and
B)New Yorkers like it that way, because its been going on forever.
So Governor Spitzer’s shenanigans are, shall we say, unsurprising. What IS surprising is that the cops involved in this sting had the balls of chrome-molly steel to finger Spitzer. Part of Giuliani’s legacy, no doubt.
atheist quebecois separatiste
no need for prostitutes in quebec, just visit the adult only sex clubs in gay Montreal
Phantom:
“New York City were governed by the most corrupt bunch of tools in existence”
apparently you have never been to chicago
No Dhimmi … fair question.
Read some of the works of Paul Craig Roberts.
Rudy Giuliani’s big coup was going after mobsters on RICO charges …. he was ruthless.
He also cast a very wide net across the financial world. Mainly for the publicity … and it got him elected as Mayor of NYC.
From Paul Craig Roberts…
“Giuliani is a media creation. Giuliani was unknown until in search of name recognition he staged a stormtrooper assault on the financial firm Princeton/Newport involving fifty federal marshals outfitted with automatic weapons and bulletproof vests. On another occasion he had two New York investment bankers hauled off their trading floor in handcuffs.
Giuliani’s victims had done nothing and were exonerated. But Giuliani’s media stunts served to turn public sentiment against white-collar defendants. ”
For personal political gain destroyed the lives of numerous financial services professionals.
Same thing with Spitzer who emulated Giuliani’s successful strategies at every opportunity.
To Rudy’s credit he was also able to stand up for his city when called upon… although there was a lot of griping about how he handled that as well.
Not sure if Spitzer had anything to with the Martha Stewart case … but that had all the earmarks of a politically motivated witch hunt……
I think the big story here, if the allegations are true, is that Spitzer prosecuted many Wall Street defendants by unearthing evidence of personal misconduct (visiting prostitutes, drug use, etc.) to force these defendants to accept guilty pleas on institutional financial dealings, which are clearly unrelated to any personal pecadillos.
Now he’s guilty of the same kind of personal indiscretion which he used to force Wall St. execs out of their jobs, into prison, and into paying huge fines. How he can stay in his job is beyond me; it would be the rankest hypocrisy.
Then again, he’s a Democrat, so why should I be surprised?
On a side note, when he made his brief statement this afternoon, CNBC commentators noted that loud cheers went up on the floor of the NYSE. Traders hate the guy.
Which naturally leads into my conspiracy theory: some Wall St. guys who hate him pretended to be his friends, and probably paid for his first few visits. Once he’d tasted the forbidden fruit, it was only a matter of time before the information somehow found its way to the FBI.
And, if I may be allowed another digression, what would happen if this turned out to be true about a Canadian premier? After all, in Canada, so long as you meet at a hotel, you don’t discuss any sexual services in public or over the phone, and the woman is of legal age, prostitution is legal. It might cause some problems with your wife, but would you have any compelling obligation to step down? You’ve performed an act that many people find repellent, but many people seem to hate smokers even more, and I don’t recall anyone stepping down for having a cigar.
“apparently you have never been to chicago”
Or New Orleans. Although I imagine New Orleans is so far off in its own universe of corruption that one just takes it as a given that ALL measures of corruption presuppose the phrase “other than New Orleans.” The Chicago Way? Not bad, but still amateurs by comparison.
Could there be a Spitzer – Judy Sgro parallel? = TG
OMMAG:
Thanks for that info. I have a bit of a personal stake in this as my youngest daughter, who has lived without incident in NYC for some 10 years, describes Giuliani as a “fascist”. Of course, she’s a liberal and the f-tag comes trippingly to the tongue, so to speak. Strangely, one item she cited was getting rid of a lot of the sidewalk hawkers (whom liberals tend to romanticize) and another his initiative against “smutty” publicly-subsidized “art”. She was silent on the armed attack against the financial guys (smile).
One thing though: I did find the sudden implosion of his Repub nomination campaign a bit odd, and in passing wondered if the contest was thrown for some reason.
Instinctually, tho’, I like the guy. I never liked the cut of Spitzer’s jib, however, and thought he was a nasty piece of work and am therefore enjoying a touch of Schadenfreude.
Dave J:
Machine politics: The definition is here:
http://www.bartleby.com/59/14/machinepolit.html
That there isn’t a picture of chicago is an oversight IMO. New Orleans is very corrupt but my sense is that it isn’t as organized as chicago is and as New York once was.
Rudi probably more than anyone else save this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Moses
– to beat down the New York Machine.
But then, Robert Moses was a political machine all to himself.
In a way Moses’ tragectory was quite similar to ES’s (they both were loners)except without the sex scandal.
What’s going on here? ABC gives us a rogues gallery of horny politicians going back many years and there isn’t a single Kennedy in sight? Sheeesh!
Spritzer should use the “it’s gods fault” defense.
God gave man a brain and a dick but only enough blood to run one at a time.
So it’s not his fault.
If he doesn’t resign I will consider that proof that he is a psychopath which means he has no conscience and therefor cannot do wrong.
The victims here are his three daughters. They will bear the shame. His wife is no better than he is if she remains at his side.
I heard on CNBC that Spitzer is not resigning at the moment because it may somehow affect a plea deal as part of the case involved bringing prostitutes across state lines.
“Instinctually, tho’, I like the guy.”
You have to admire the guy’s work ethic and persistent attitude. Whether it was all well-directed is another issue.
[deleted. Last warning. ED]
“The victims here are his three daughters. They will bear the shame. His wife is no better than he is if she remains at his side.”
How about you let his wife decide that.
“What this country needs is a good 5 cent blowjob!”… senator crassforte.
Tuesday morning update: Spitzer’s problems are on the front page of the National Post, and the headline is “Prostitution scandal hits Democratic rising star”.
Posters here seem not to be aware of the Spitzer family’s wealth. Eliot’s father Bernard spent $9 million on his son’s first two campaigns for Attorney General. He also gave Eliot eight apartments at 200 Central Park West, a building Bernard Spitzer had developed. His son later claimed to have mortgaged those apartments to finance his run for Governor. $4,300 for prostitution is indeed extravagant spending, but he’s got the dough.
I wonder if Bubba the lecherous hillbilly Clinton called Spitzer to get the number of the Emperor’s club, since he won’t be needing it anymore.
grithater:
BC probably laid (pardon the pun) the cornerstone of the Emperor’s club.
Me No Dhimmi: Yeah, lib-lefties (of which very many of our children are: by God’s grace, my daughters aren’t…) have a real problem with the idea that a rampant epidemic of panhandlers on our city streets should be dealt with (good on Rudy Guiliani for doing what needed to be done.)
When I mentioned the mess Toronto’s main drags are in–potholes and a panhandler every five steps–at a gathering of, young and, “therefore,” lib-left-leaning young people this week and then made the further observation that Toronto needs to do a Guiliani, deep discomfort, time for a second helping, excuse me while I leave the room…”There’s no perfect solution,” said one thoughtful young man, who happens to work for the city…When I said that getting them off the streets might be a good start, he headed for the dessert trolley.
What’s our future going to be like with so many fence-sitters? Probably a panhandler every two feet and potholes the size of a bus… 🙁
Spitzer may be the news now, but the longer he tries to hang on to his job the deeper the digging will be. Watch for some other big names to come out of this bust. Someone with the ego problems of Spitzer will not go down alone, so wait to see who he might throw under the bus to deflect some of the heat from himself.
One would think he is just buying time to make a deal with the Feds by not resigning immediately. But the real plan may be to attempt to ride this out without a resignation. Bloated egos can lead to some fairly remarkable decisions.
If he does resign, then expect that he will decide to take a few *contacts* with him.
I predict we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg, and some political theater that you just wouldn’t be able to make up.
I would say that mentioning the fact that one is a Democrat in a sex ‘scandal’, is like saying the unwanted animal in the henhouse is a fox.
Tsk,tsk, another Democrat unzipped. At $5,500 bucks a “service” that’s gotta be high class, and safe.
To all Canadian journalistas: What party does Mr. Spitzer represent? Say it again, can’t hear ya.
Wonder if Ted Kennedy is advising him to resign?
God, can barely remember years back hanging in the Garage working on the boat watching a Nascar Race having a few cold ones and all was bliss then the phone rang and someone I knew, but had not heard from in quite sometime said, Do You Know Where Your Wife Is ? In the next 6 months no less than 3 Hidden Credit Cards came to light, Hotel Receipts, Out-of State Exxon purchases, a Black Neglige in a shoe box, and on top of all that sick Aunt Lilly in Texas turned out to be a healthy Uncle Bob in Arkansas.
If you will cheat on your wife you will cheat on anything. I would not want to be in this Man’s shoes. God Bless his Daughters for what they are gona have to endure.
Now back to topic, how long before we know who was Client 1 – 8 ?
,
If we are talking about corrupt cities, let’s not forget the cesspool in our own backyard…..MONTREAL!!!!!
The mob runs the city, with bridges made from watered down concrete, collapsing Olympic stadium, libranos passing and receiving bags of money, rock machine/hell’s angels turf wars, etc, etc, etc.
Yes, that bastion of progressive leftardedness is right up there with the crime capitals of the US.
Go figure!
Wonder if Ted Kennedy is advising him to resign?..
Fat Boy Ted’s probably already asked him for the phone numbers………….