Because then I could see the upcoming Saturday Night Live skit.
"Good afternoon. Over the past nine years, eight years as attorney general and one as governor, I’ve tried to uphold a vision of progressive politics that would rebuild New York and create opportunity for all."
- "Which I did. Where else could a girl like Honey have the opportunity to make $5,000 per night? Charity starts at home, you know. Hoooo boy, does she ever! I mean, that trick with my garden hose.... uh, where was I?"
Blowing something bigger than you are may be very lucrative under the right circumstances, but it's damn shame when it happens in politics. Spitzer sometimes went overboard, but he has been uniquely willing to take on some of Wall Street's more egregious practices. That makes a ton of enemies, of course - enemies who don't and won't play fair, and will pounce if you give them an opening. Or, and he should have been thinking of this, work to set one up if you let them (as a reader pointed out, the blackmail possibilities alone should have stopped him).
The whole affair may be survivable for Gov. Spitzer, and when you think about it, it probably ought to be. Whether a guy hangs out with prostitutes, or gets oral sex from interns, really isn't relevant to very much in the larger political scheme of things. Better them than the nation, and all that. But that isn't where the betting odds are right now. And I'd still like to see that SNL skit.
UPDATE: I don't take what I said above back, but I've changed my mind re: Spitzer. He should go, and here's why.
Sorry, it does make a difference in the long run. We need to get away from the idea that it is OK for people to simply place themselves in a position where they can defy the law with impunity. Should prostitution be legal, another question. It is and an attorney general/governor should know better.
Especially since he made it a point in his tenure to lock up prostitutes and take down call girl rings.
More importantly, its a very bad thing when extremely powerful people get caught up in vices that can result in them being blackmailed. Thats why we vet people for security before giving them sensitive jobs. Its especially bad when it borders on organized crime, as high priced call girls do.
I also seemed to recall that he enjoyed making jokes about what would happen to the people he prosecuted if they got sent to prison.
Seems to me that SNL could do a sequel to their “Seinfeld in Oz” skit.
Spitzer went after some people who deserved it but so did Yezhov. Spitzer also used inappropriate tactics, was creepily ambitious, and did not appear to care about innocence or guilt, and lied about his own campaign funding sources. I think prostitution should be addressed the way it is addressed in Singapore or Australia (not a crime, but monitored)- but it isn't, and Spitzer would eagerly have prosecuted a Republican office holder for what Spitzer has done. He understands the law, knows that he was breaking it, had people prosecuted for what he is now involved in, and is massively hypocritical - putting aside the Bruno scandal. I hope he isn't prosecuted criminally because it's a waste of resources. But I don't think he is qualified to be governor for reasons of hypocrisy and bad judgment (in the interests of full disclosure, I didn't think he was qualified to be governor when he ran, and I was one of the very small minority of New York voters who voted for his opponent). He simply is not credible and cannot be effective.
Normally, I'd agree with you AL,but Lazlo has my feelings down pretty well. Someone who knows the law, specifically enforced those laws, and then went out of his way to break the law deserves the book thrown at him.
Russ: Can you find a single government in the history of mankind that hasn't been tainted by sex, prostitution or otherwise? I can't, which doesn't leave me very high expectations for politicians in the future.
Spitzer's bigger issue comes from the "structuring" issues that triggered the investigation in the first place. If he's shuffling large amounts of cash around just to get his rocks off, he's probably doing it to help take out his political enemies or other nefarious things that would skirt campaign finance law, tax law, etc. Of course, there is no proof of this, but given his intimate knowledge on how stuff like that gets tracked and prosecuted he would be in a unique position to do it.
Of course, it begs the question, how did he not think that his shuffling around all that cash wasn't going to trigger any alarms with bank/IRS.
I still think the bigger picture is that a guy who is supposed to enforce the law, willingly and knowingly broke it, and its beyond hypocritical when you look at his history of prosecuting the same crime he is accused of, regardless of it being his duty as a Prosecutor or AG.
Just an observation, but why does it seem like the people who always talk a big game about "ethics" are the ones who seem to have the biggest ethical problems? The media takes great glee in busting religious figureheads when they get caught up in a sex scandal or something that runs counter to their attacks against sin, at this point I don't see the same kind of zealousness with Spitzer that we would get with someone like say Jerry Fallwell. \
While the affair maybe politically survivable for a Democrat, we all know if he was a Republican, the wall to wall coverage would force him out. I'd hazard a guess that this drops off the media radar in less than a week. Yet the Foley scandal lasted well over a month and was the main focus of media attention during all the talking heads shows.
Joe, he's history...I'd bet a large, expensive dinner on it...
A.L.
Gabriel's point re: the financial structuring issue is a sound one, and does raise concerns I hadn't considered. Also wasn't aware of Spitzer's involvement in busting call girl rings - which does, indeed, change the scenario.
I also looked up the law of New York, something I should have done before...
Spitzer appears to have committed a Class A misdemeanor. Class A and class U misdemeanors are punishable by up to one year in jail, as opposed to Class B misdemeanors which are punishable up to 90 days in jail. These are a step above mere "violations," like a traffic ticket and some minor offenses.
Other Class A misdemeanors in New York include:
Absent the unauthorized recordings stuff, would any of these things get him dismissed as governor? Yes. Is patronizing a prostitute on par with many of these things? No. Is it so under New York's laws? Yes.
I'd support changing the law - but until it is changed, I've changed my mind. Spitzer needs to go.
Joe -
You're talking about ordinary prostitution, which the NYPD periodically cracks down on. And periodically overlooks the aldermen and the cops and the state senators who get rounded up with the working girls.
But this particular bunch of working girls had a federal wiretap warrant out on them. Normally, the feds are not downtown busting prostitutes. This was before they knew Spitzer was involved, so they were looking for serious federal offenses, maybe even a RICO indictment.
If I were a fed, I would be wondering if some of those huge cash transfers were used to buy protection, maybe even to convince the authorities to crack down on the competition. Even if they weren't, the possibility of blackmail amounts to protection.
This isn't a moral lapse, this is aiding and abetting over a long period of time. Gross dereliction of public duty at a very high level. Corruption, corruption, corruption, plain and simple. And that's only taking into consideration what we know right now, not what might come to light.
I do say, the pleasure of watching right wingers suddenly jumping onto the moral bandwagon to castigate a fallen Democrat can rarely be matched....It's like there's a little switch in the brain that shuts down (out of self preservation, no doubt, these days) when a Republican or Conservative breaks laws or "transgresses" and is only flipped into the "on" position in response to that magic trigger word "Democrat".
LMFAO.
Alan, it's not cool to laugh at people like yourself.
I don't recall anyone here defending Mark Foley or Senator Public Toilet, for offenses that did not involve official corruption.
I remarked on this at Patterico: Democrats (and their inexpensive media whores) tend to scoff at any charge of moral depravity against a Democrat - in fact, if moral depravity is involved, it excuses all other attendant crimes.
While they would not assert that Democrats are openly in favor of moral depravity, it is believed that since Democrats do not point fingers at others (a blatantly false belief, since they point fingers all the time) they are immune from any charge of hypocrisy.
Other important criminal issue here - the Mann Act (essentially, getting a woman to cross state lines for "immoral purposes"). It's an ancient, outdated and silly law but it's there and it's a federal crime. If you look at the 3 pages on Spitzer in the complaint, it is clear - if the facts in the complaint are accurate (remember that these are written by the prosecution in the light most favorable to the prosecution, presumption of innocence, etc.) - that he either participated in a conspiracy to transport a woman across state lines for immoral purposes or aided and abetted the activity - either way rendering him criminally liable. That's why he reportedly is negotiating with a FEDERAL prosecutor. This is a law he understood as a prosecutor and if what is said in the complaint is true, it is unthinkable to me that he never reflected on how his own actions would be characterized under the Mann Act. One other item: I am not enthusiastic about John McCain but I am certainly less enthusiastic about Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, and I think it would be the Democrats' worst nightmare if Spitzer for any reason refused to resign and fought an impeachment battle this year. Having said this, as a New Yorker I'd still like to move on so I hope he cuts a deal that allows him to resign in return for not being prosecuted. He's morally unqualified to serve as governer but he also shouldn't get a more severe punishment than other johns would get.
I don't recall him receiving the same level of moral outrage either....correct me if I'm wrong.
Not defending the idiot Spitzer either, just making an observation.
Alan, you are right about Mark Foley. I never felt outrage, only pity and revulsion, and the issue ended rather quickly. In that case there were lots of stupid emails and to my knowledge no direct evidence that the emails were acted upon, and Foley never abused prosecutorial discretion the way that Spitzer did. To go even further back, we can go the remarkably named Congressman Studds, who actually admitted a relationship with a page. Most large corporations have policies against somebody having a romantic or sexual relationship with a subordinate and it's often a firing offense. Congressman Studds got reelected multiple times instead. But that was also before the internet. I consider myself politically moderate, though in New York I'm considered further to the right than that. I thought that the Clinton impeachment was a complete waste of time, effort, and intelligence that needed to be focused on critical national issues. I still do. But he didn't abuse prosecutorial discretion, lie repeatedly about the sources of his finances, or commit felonies (as far as we know). Fortunately for him, Monica Lewinsky was legal and lived within the DC boundaries so there was no interstate travel. And Clinton was likeable in many respects. Once again with Spitzer - in addition to being intensely dislikeable - not a criterion for removal - we have massive hypocrisy, engaging - possibly for prolonged periods - in activities that he prosecuted, commiting acts that he knew were serious crimes - in addition to his unethical pursuit of Senator Bruno - leave him unqualified to be governor. Very different than Mark Foley.
Let's be honest. Spitzer patronized prostitutes (allegedly) controlled by the Bonano Crime Family. And paid 50K over at least ten years.
That's a pattern and practice of corrupt acts. I'm sure he got a discount.
Moreover, Spitzer says "hey I'm a DEMOCRAT REFORMER therefore I have special privileges and power and status more than Joe Average."
Joe Average John caught would have been pled out to jail time already, had a heft fine, and been fired from any job. Spitzer, son of privilege (like many/most Dems he's a billionaire's child), obviously will not.
He'll brazen it out and likely remain as a reminder for all that Dem politics are not just corrupt, but uniquely corrupt. And that for Dems, there's one law for the masses and another for the cool cat reformers!
Hey Alan, when the Dems deal with William The Refrigerator Jefferson who still holds a Congressional seat despite accepting 100,000$ in bribes from an undercover FBI agent on camera, we can continue this conversation. But lets be real, Democrats cover for each other and the media _loves to help them do it.
Play the little game a lot of us do- whenever you read a story on a political scandal, see how far down the article the author mentions the Party of the accused. Thats all i'll say, just try it.
Turfing politicians of either stripe for failing to be persons of their word (read hypocrites), is a trend from which I take some comfort. I see no downside for a growing intolerance for hypocrisy; however, there is more than a little irony in the partisan nature of the howl which erupts when the offender is of the other political party,
A lot of people ask, How can a smart person like Eliot Spitzer (or Bill Clinton or Larry Craig) who knows what’s at stake, not have the sense to keep it zipped?
I’d say it’s tied up with the constraints of power. With great power comes great constraints, and it gets really hard to take after a while. Do you remember when George Bush the Elder said, “I’m President, and I don’t have to eat broccoli if I don’t want to!” After the firestorm that erupted, he knew he did have to, and pretend to like it, too. In those public fishbowl positions, great power requires constant calculation and constant strategizing. Constant self-control.
Is it any wonder that sometimes, some of these guys (and gals, presumably) say to themselves, “Somehow, I’ve just got to grab a chance to do what I want to, just because I want to.” Consider that ordinary human psychological pressure, cooking up inside someone surrounded by the perks of power. It would be easy to lose sight of the rationally-planned long-term strategy, and all the self-control it requires, and just unzip, and/or spit out that broccoli.
Each of these guys knew they were taking a chance, but they convinced themselves they could get away with it. Or they just didn’t think it through, because they just had to have a moment without the constant self-control.
[deleted by A.L. because alan can't reply]
A.L.
Alan, you're on break for another week - you were benched until March 18.
Comment again before then and your comments since you were benched will start vanishing.
A.L.
I suspect Beard is on to something here.
The thing that bothers me the most about all this is not Spitzer's dishonesty, law breaking, arrogance, or hypocrisy.
It's that he evidently frequented prostitutes while an Attorney General. Consider his history of prosecutions and persecutions. Who did he go after? Who did he give passes to?
Does anyone doubt for a second whether he would be so blindingly reckless as to go after anyone remotely associated with the prostition ring he frequented. Or for that matter, any related enterprise run by the crime organizations behind it?
No wonder he concentrated so heavily on "white collar" crime and so-called Corporate abuses. He couldn't go after the drug dealers, whores, corrupt unions, or organized crime. (Unless, of course, his partners in crime suggested a target or two along the way to target their competition.
This is no idle speculation. I'd say the probability that this is the kind of thing Spitzer did with impunity would be around 80%.
I'm sure it contributed to his arrogance, and his complete disregard of the risks he ran.
My money is on the realization that human behavior is not just rational, and most obviously in the sexual arena. Combined with the equally irrational fascination we seem to have with the sex lives of others, I would have to bet on more of same. Anyone willing to bet against it?
I got good money that says this is the tip of the iceberg. The guy is sneaking money around etc, lets have a look at his campaign funding. I dont care what anyone says, how loyal you are to your family is a great indicator of character on a lot of levels. And this isnt a guy who screwed up one night after a few too many drinks and a late night either. This is a pattern of behavior, and i'd bet it leads to other areas.
Jim Rockford writes (#15)--
(Wikipedia entry on Bonnanos)
If Spitzer's pursuit of his Clintonesque obsessions led to him getting in bed (heh) with organized crime, that puts a much more serious cast on the affair.
Is that credibly suspected to be the case?
A quick Google only brings up this quote from upstate Rep. Peter King ®:
Anything more?
AMac -
Spitzer certainly isn't unaware of the connection between organized crime and upscale prostitution. His famous prostitution ring busts were made while he was head of the state commission on organized crime.
This guy was no Tom Dewey.