Monday, March 10, 2008

Nelson Award: Client 9


Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring

ALBANY - Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation.

The wiretap recording, made during an investigation of a prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP, 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 room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.

The governor learned that he had been implicated in the prostitution probe when a federal official contacted his staff last Friday, according to the person briefed on the case.

My first thought when I saw the headline was that this had to be some old thing coming back to bite him now that he's Governor...Then when I see that this just happened last month, all I can think is, "What the fuck is the matter with these fucking guys?"

I mean, seriously. 1. You're in public life and have everything to lose. 2. You are the goddamn Governor of New York. 3. You were a world-renowned prosecutor and asskicking Attorney General fer crissakes! More from the Times (and this is the part that absolutely cinches the Nelson "Ha Ha"):
[...] As attorney general, [Spitzer] 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.”


High-flying Democrat on the rise? So fucking what. By your own measure, Governor, you are nothing more than loser john, cruising the boulevard. Just so happens you were a loser john scheduled to appear on "Meet the Press" the next morning.

Adíos, Governor, you are NOT above the law, yet clearly you think that you are. Get the fuck out. This ain't the GOP.

And for the love of God, why do these assholes take to the podium with their wives next to them? Could there be any more humiliating form of abuse you could heap on someone than to ask them to stand up there with you? We know you have testicles, Governor—they clearly control your actions—could you make use of them now and face the fucking music on your own?

At least you got your ass stung now instead of in the middle of a confirmation hearing in the Obama Administration...

UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald begs to differ. No, Glenn, in the grand scheme of things, this shouldn't be a big deal, nor even a crime if you take it that far, but the fact is that it is a crime. And in Spitzer's case, his booty call became a Federal case when he flew her from NYC to DC. As a guy who made his bones as a tough prosecutor and put plenty of other people behind bars for the same thing and used prostitution convictions to build cases, and moralized about it loudly and publicly—he gets exactly NO sympathy from me (though I feel horrible for his wife). In many ways, his biggest crime, in my eyes, IS hypocrisy.

Oh, by the way, how much does the Governor of NY make that he can spend $5,000 an hour on a call girl and pay for her to travel from NY to DC? Just wondering...

12 comments:

Deb said...

What I wanna know is why their wives go WITH them. I understand the politics, but come ON. Have some pride. He didn't just cheat on you, honey, he hired a hooker.

Mr Furious said...

I told Mrs F that when I'm Senator and I get ensnared in a prostitution ring, I won't expect her stand next to me...

She replied, "I couldn't. Because you'd be dead."

--

We both agreed, that if he is indeed going to resign it was particularly pointless to make he do that.

Old Dominion Blue said...

Oy. I agree he has to go. What a damned shame. Do all our heroes have feet of clay? I am forced to conclude, yes.

I just wonder, though, why is it the Republicans are able to baldface their way through prostitute booty calls and faceless bathroom encounters? Curious, that.

TheJackSack said...

Hey Mr. F.,

As a NYer, I absolutely agree with everything you've said. Shame on this hypocrite. It is staggering that someone who warps himself up in words like justice and integrity could be so arrogant to do these things.

Paying for the transport of a woman across state lines for the purposes of sex. Like I said, staggering!

Mike said...

Well-stated Furious. I'm with you that the hypocrisy angle is the biggest deal here. If he hadn't literally made it to the top on the shattered bones of others who he threw onto the rocks, I wouldn't care on bit about this. Not a shred.

But since he's been Public Moralizer No 1 for years now? Get out of town, Mr. Schpritzer.

Rickey said...

No way does he last the week, and nor should he. What could he possibly hope to get accomplished by remaining as Governor? How is his credibility not completely shattered?

Also, is Rickey alone in thinking that Spitzer's wife is kind of a cougar?

Noah said...

Rickey, when I first saw his wife, I thought *she* was the "escourt." But then I realized it was his wife and yes, a cougar.

And I gotta agree with Deb and Mr. F. Why is it necessary to drag your wife up there? So she can stand there and look stoic, standing by her man, while in private she explodes? It is kinda abusive.

Mike said...

Let me fourth Deb, Furious, and Smitty: leave the wives off the podium, philandering politicos. Buncha fucking punks.

And I'll also agree to the milfy cougarishness of Mrs. Spitzer.

If I weren't married myself I'd be willing to play the role of client No. 1 in her comeback. But I'd have to drag Mrs. Mike onto the podium if I got caught, so I'll have to pass . . .

Deb said...

So now that we're a few days into this story and SpitzHER is about to publicly announce his resignation in.. ohhh... 40 minutes. How, if at all, do we think this affects Hillary? I think there are women out there who are still pissed that she stood by Bill, and Spitzer is one her committed super delegates. Someone in the press has got to question her about this whole thing, especially on the heels of her friend Ferraro's comments about Obama yesterday.

Over to you, Mr. F...

Toast said...

Yes. I agree that, in the grand scheme of things, prostitution is not a big deal (aside from the cheating on your spouse part, which automatically makes you a douche), but it's the hypocrisy, stupid. Anyone who not only denounces a behavior but persecutes (and prosecutes) others for it, then turns around and does the same thing is, in my view, the lowest of the low.

Mr Furious said...

I knew the face Mrs Spitzer reminded me of, and I could not come up with the name...one of the "Mary" actresses from the 90s...not Steenbergen, not Louise Parker, not Elizabeth Mastrontonio...

Then, last night, I saw a banner ad for "Battlestar Galactica" and there she was—Mary McDonnell!

Mr Furious said...

A little online time between brunch and the beach, Toast?