NY Times: Gov. Spitzer linked to prostitution ring

[Sam Spade]

As if things couldn't get any worse.  If this is true (and I see no reason why it isn't), I'm now officially ashamed to have ever voted for him - one of the worst votes I've ever made.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/nyregion/10cnd-spitzer.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring
By DANNY HAKIM and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
Published: March 10, 2008

ALBANY - Gov. Eliot Spitzer has informed his most senior administration officials that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, an administration official said this morning.

Mr. Spitzer, who was huddled with his top aides inside his Fifth Avenue apartment early this afternoon, had hours earlier abruptly canceled his scheduled public events for the day. He scheduled an announcement for 2:15 after inquiries from the Times.

Mr. Spitzer, a first-term Democrat who pledged to bring ethics reform and end the often seamy ways of Albany, is married with three children.

Just last week, federal prosecutors arrested four people in connection with an expensive prostitution operation. Administration officials would not say that this was the ring with which the governor had become involved.

But a person with knowledge of the governor’s role said that the person believes the governor is one of the men identified as clients in court papers.

The governor’s travel records show that he was in Washington in mid-February. One of the clients described in court papers arranged to meet with a prostitute who was part of the ring, the Emperors Club VIP on the night of Feb. 13.

Mr. Spitzer appeared on a CNBC television show at 7 a.m. the next morning. Later in the morning, he testified before a Congressional committee.

An affidavit filed in federal court in Manhattan in connection with that case lists six conversations between the man, identified as Client 9, and a booking agent for the Emperors Club.

He had a difficult first year in office, rocked by a mix of scandal and legislative setbacks. In recent weeks, however, Mr. Spitzer seemed to have rebounded, with his Democratic party poised to perhaps gain control of the state Senate for the first time in four decades.

Mr. Spitzer gained national attention when he served as attorney general with his relentless pursuit of Wall Street wrongdoing. As attorney general, he also had prosecuted at least two prostitution rings as head of the state’s organized crime task force.

In one such case in 2004, Mr. Spitzer spoke with revulsion and anger after announcing the arrest of 16 people for operating a high-end prostitution ring out of Staten Island.

“”This was a sophisticated and lucrative operation with a multitiered management structure,” Mr. Spitzer said at the time. ”It was, however, nothing more than a prostitution ring.”

Albany for months has been roiled by bitter fighting and accusations of dirty tricks. The Albany County district attorney is set to issue in the coming days the results of his investigation into Mr. Spitzer’s first scandal, his aides’ involvement in an effort to tarnish Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, the state’s top Republican.

[Sam Spade]

Remember when this guy was going to be President?

Anyone who thinks a NY Jew is ever going to be President needs to have his head examined.

[Sam Spade]

BRING ON THE BLIND GOVERNOR!!!!!!!!!

Couldn't be any less blind than the governor whose office he's taking.

[Sam Spade]

Well, at least we still have President Martin O'Malley.

I guess now his approval rating will actually be better than Spitzer's.

[Sam Spade]

The Mann Act is a fascinating, rather old piece of legislation.  Nice to see it being brought off the dust-heap.

[Sam Spade]

If this is true (and I see no reason why it isn't), I'm now officially ashamed to have ever voted for him - one of the worst votes I've ever made.

Shouldn't you regret your vote because of his imperious and inept governing style?

Of course.  But this puts it over the line into the *ashamed* category.  As would I be if I had voted for Vitter (who will survive long-term) or Craig (who won't).

[Sam Spade]

If this is true (and I see no reason why it isn't), I'm now officially ashamed to have ever voted for him - one of the worst votes I've ever made.

Shouldn't you regret your vote because of his imperious and inept governing style?

Of course.  But this puts it over the line into the *ashamed* category.  As would I be if I had voted for Vitter (who will survive long-term) or Craig (who won't).

If he'd had an extramartial relationship, would you still see this as the  tipping point from bad vote to "one of the worst votes I've ever made"?

Probably not.  And it's not just the illegality of the offense involved, which is clearly prostitution and a violation of the Mann Act.

Rather, it's the hypocrisy of the man.  You bust prostitution rings and lambast their owners and then go off and become involved in prostitution yourself.  Jimmy Swaggart has nothing on Eliot Spitzer.

[Sam Spade]

If this is true (and I see no reason why it isn't), I'm now officially ashamed to have ever voted for him - one of the worst votes I've ever made.

Shouldn't you regret your vote because of his imperious and inept governing style?

Of course.  But this puts it over the line into the *ashamed* category.  As would I be if I had voted for Vitter (who will survive long-term) or Craig (who won't).

If he'd had an extramartial relationship, would you still see this as the  tipping point from bad vote to "one of the worst votes I've ever made"?

Probably not.  And it's not just the illegality of the offense involved, which is clearly prostitution and a violation of the Mann Act.

Rather, it's the hypocrisy of the man.  You bust prostitution rings and lambast their owners and then go off and become involved in prostitution yourself.  Jimmy Swaggart has nothing on Eliot Spitzer.

Dude, step into reality. Spitzer won 69-29. Your vote did not matter then, so why do you act as if this scandal stabs you with a knife? If you hadn't've voted for Spitzer and instead voted for Faso, nothing would've changed.

Because it was an affirmative vote for me, not one that I made under the *lesser of two evils* scenario that is often presented.

The fact of whether the vote mattered to the final outcome is immaterial.  Only very rarely does one's vote really affect the final result in any election.

[Sam Spade]

Dude, step into reality. Spitzer won 69-29. Your vote did not matter then, so why do you act as if this scandal stabs you with a knife? If you hadn't've voted for Spitzer and instead voted for Faso, nothing would've changed.

Because it was an affirmative vote for me, not one that I made under the *lesser of two evils* scenario that is often presented.

The fact of whether the vote mattered to the final outcome is immaterial.  Only very rarely does one's vote really affect the final result in any election.

Well, it happens. Just remember that politics is little more than a parlor game where people compete for the right to fulfill their ambition for power. If you remember that simple point for everyone, it should come as little surprise that the majority of politicians are scumbags.

Well, look, I cast no aspersions about the sanctity of politicians, but I would certainly like to see better than what we've gotten out of Spitzer, which is quite frankly, much worse than Pataki, something I thought not possible.

[Sam Spade]

Politics1 is reporting that the NY GOP is thrilled with the idea of Governor Patterson. Apparently, Patterson has some ethical problems also.

And how are the Republicans going to ever win a gubernatorial election in New York in the near future?

It's happened before, it'll happen again.

Presently, Paterson is being sued for employment discrimination, as I recall.  THat's it, I think - on the ethical side, for now.

[Sam Spade]

Dude, step into reality. Spitzer won 69-29. Your vote did not matter then, so why do you act as if this scandal stabs you with a knife? If you hadn't've voted for Spitzer and instead voted for Faso, nothing would've changed.

Because it was an affirmative vote for me, not one that I made under the *lesser of two evils* scenario that is often presented.

The fact of whether the vote mattered to the final outcome is immaterial.  Only very rarely does one's vote really affect the final result in any election.

Well, it happens. Just remember that politics is little more than a parlor game where people compete for the right to fulfill their ambition for power. If you remember that simple point for everyone, it should come as little surprise that the majority of politicians are scumbags.

Well, look, I cast no aspersions about the sanctity of politicians, but I would certainly like to see better than what we've gotten out of Spitzer, which is quite frankly, much worse than Pataki, something I thought not possible.

Sam, can you fill me in on Pataki?  I always kinda liked him and wonder what the scandal was there?

No scandal, just classic Albany, somewhat incompetent, but not overly so.  Tax and spend and screw upstate NY.    A lot of this has to do with the NY governmental system, however.

[Sam Spade]

Dude, step into reality. Spitzer won 69-29. Your vote did not matter then, so why do you act as if this scandal stabs you with a knife? If you hadn't've voted for Spitzer and instead voted for Faso, nothing would've changed.

Because it was an affirmative vote for me, not one that I made under the *lesser of two evils* scenario that is often presented.

The fact of whether the vote mattered to the final outcome is immaterial.  Only very rarely does one's vote really affect the final result in any election.

Well, it happens. Just remember that politics is little more than a parlor game where people compete for the right to fulfill their ambition for power. If you remember that simple point for everyone, it should come as little surprise that the majority of politicians are scumbags.

Well, look, I cast no aspersions about the sanctity of politicians, but I would certainly like to see better than what we've gotten out of Spitzer, which is quite frankly, much worse than Pataki, something I thought not possible.

Sam, can you fill me in on Pataki?  I always kinda liked him and wonder what the scandal was there?

No scandal, just classic Albany, somewhat incompetent, but not overly so.  Tax and spend and screw upstate NY.    A lot of this has to do with the NY governmental system, however.

Thanks.

I know there was some talk of him running for President, and I wasn't sure what prevented him.  I didn't know if it was a corruption scandal or just the realization that he was ineffective as Governor. 

He was ineffective, but any Presidential run would be derailed by the fact he has the charisma of a dead bullfrog.

[Sam Spade]

Not worth a separate thread, but there's a Marist poll on the subject.

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/marist.pdf

70% of New York State voters think Spitzer should resign, 66% say the legislature should impeach the Governor if he fails to step down, and 49% say Spitzer should face criminal charges for his conduct.