s skippy the bush kangaroo: client 9 from outer space

skippy the bush kangaroo



Monday, March 10, 2008

client 9 from outer space

gov. elliot spitzer is tied to a prostitution ring. nytimes:

gov. eliot spitzer, who gained national prominence relentlessly pursuing wall street wrongdoing, has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a washington hotel last month, according to a law enforcement official and a person briefed on the investigation.

the wiretap captured a man identified as client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from new york to washington, where he had reserved a hotel room, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in manhattan. the person briefed on the case and the law enforcement official identified mr. spitzer as client 9.

mr. spitzer, a first term democrat, today made a brief public appearance during which he apologized for his behavior, and described it as a “private matter.” he did not address his political future.
uh, maybe not so private. abc news:

the federal investigation of a new york prostitution ring was triggered by gov. eliot spitzer's suspicious money transfers, initially leading agents to believe spitzer was hiding bribes, according to federal officials.

it was only months later that the irs and the fbi determined that spitzer wasn't hiding bribes but payments to a company called qat, what prosecutors say is a prostitution operation operating under the name of the emperors club.
irrespective of whether prostitution should be legalized, it's not, and thus for a governor who ran on a platform of law and order to flout and evade it so egregiously, this can only be seen a the height of hubris.

it's hard to think that there weren't any women in the entire state of new york who wouldn't have done the guv for free.

worse than that, spitzer is a super-delegate pledged to sen. clinton.

addendum: jane hamsher has some interesting questions about the spitzer indicent.

[ed. addendum: when it comes to prostitution, our position is (aside from doggie style) that since it is a victimless crime between consenting adults, prostitution is one of the last human interactions that calls for government interference. however, it is indeed a crime on the books. not only that, elliot spitzer himself prosecuted prostitution rings while he was attorney general of ny. for the reason of that hypocrisy, it is our belief that he should resign.]

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posted by skippy at 5:37 PM |

5 Comments:

flout, not flaunt.
commented by Anonymous joel hanes, 6:33 PM PDT  
thanks, joel! corrected!
commented by Blogger skippy, 8:41 PM PDT  
I agree with you completely. He should resign and I hope he does.

But I really do have to question the feds investigating yet another democrat.
commented by Anonymous sean on li, 9:56 PM PDT  
commented by Blogger dirtyword.net, 11:02 AM PDT  
I'm sorry? You think that because he followed up on the law of the state, that somehow makes him some puritannical blue nose like Mark Foley or Larry Craig?

My god, Skip...we had a discussion about posting YouTube videos of songs and stuff, in direct contravention of the spirit of the WGA strike...how do you square your hard-ass position here on Spitzer with your willingness to write off the log in your own eye in terms of consistency and tolerance?

If Spitzer had made some sonorial pronouncement at the time of the arrests...""the crimes of these felons weigh heavily on the moral fibre of the nation and are an acti against God and nature"...I might support your parenthetical comment.

The man did his job. Period.

He may not even have been particularly happy with that arrest, preferring I'm sure to take down some corporate bigwhig instead.

He won't resign, unless I miss my guess, and there's absolutely no reason, based on what's been reported, why he should.
commented by Blogger Carl, 11:48 AM PDT  

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