You talkin' bout Mr. New York, right? Who ordered all them hookers while bad mouthing GTA for letting kids sleep with hookers?

Yeah. It's music to my ears.

I believe we speak of the same pimp.

...

AHAHA. My Ipod decided to put on Michael Jackson's "Streetwalker" on random. I think it's onto something. XDD

Wow, finally proof Spitzer's not bullet-proof. He's been such a darling of the national media since he went after all those high-profile cases as attorney general (something his protege Cuomo the younger is doing now as well). It's nice to know he's just a human being and not some invincible litigator.

Doesn't surprise me. Half thepoliticians out there are usually either in the closet or hiding something else in the closet they don't want anybody to see 😛

Doesn't surprise me. Half thepoliticians out there are usually either in the closet or hiding something else in the closet they don't want anybody to see 😛

It's my belief all politicians have something to hide, even if it's not something they're doing directly. Otherwise they would not be politicians.

My little personal beef is that there's not much dirt on female politicians. I would like to think that they're doing the right thing and not doing jack-diddley, but I blame that stereotype of "women can do no wrong" that there's never any suspicion. And no, it's not that "I WANT 'DEM DAMN WERMIN OUTTA MANS OWFICE", I'm just saying I'd love to see some crazy ass twisted dirt coming from a female politician. Example, you thought Mr. Clinton's "sexual escapades" were bad, well Mrs. Clinton's got something to do with the number 37!!!" (Think Clerks...)

Other than that, yeah. It's hard out there fo' a pimp.

Dirt on female politicians? To do that would bring down the wrath of any number of female interest groups. (Pokey Chatman anyone?)

Anywho...kind of sad when something like this isn't shocking anymore.

Growing up in a country where corruption has (and probably is) corrupt politicians, the news of Spitzer being Client-9 fails to shock me. At all.

I'm beginning to think that everyone in Wall Street in addition to politicians are corrupt. They are just a bit smarter than everyone else at hiding things.

To fans of the TV show House, it's very simple: Everbody lies.

It's just that the liars in office are more noteworthy, because they're supposed to be trustworthy. The fact that they aren't, however, isn't surprising.

Call it naievety or whatever - but the fact that no one is shocked and outraged is kind of sad really.

Not because it HAPPENED mind you, but because we as a people have just gotten so incredibly used to it in this day and age that it doesn't phase us anymore. Back in the old days this would have caused a furor unlike that which the world has ever seen.

Nowadays? Meh.

It's kind of..."egh", really. =

Well, desensitization is what you get when the news media leaps on the next great scandal like a pack of wolves before even cleaning off the bones of the last one. The focus for them is not good things about politicians, but bad things, so that's why we get the impression generally that politicians are corrupt - because of individuals who happen to be politicians and corrupt and caught at the same time. That's what we think when all we "see" are bad politicians. But if our entire government were really corrupt to the core, nothing could ever get done because of sheer conflicting private interests, if nothing else. Just pointing out that just because what we see is "Oh, another politician was doing something immoral" doesn't mean they are all like that.

Really though, don't we all have something that we hide? Something that we'd rather not let the public know about ourselves, that would be embarrassing to us years down the road even long after we'd grown up and moved on? It doesn't even have to be something illegal or something we can help. Going by that logic, of course all politicians have something to hide - there are simply more opportunities for them to get outed than those of us not in the public eye. And there are more reasons for their opponents to use that against them than they would our follies.

By saying all this, I do agree that what Spitzer did was wrong and there shouldn't be an excuse for it. It clearly wasn't a dalliance that he did years and years ago, this was pretty fresh and indicated he hadn't changed to get that out of his life and remain loyal to his wife, which as he said was something important to him. But it worries me that there were people who gleefully admitted they were glad he was publicly shamed - people happy about another person's downfall, and possibly for shady reasons. It is joy at the pains and trials of another, reported by the news media, that bothers me. Whatever else Spitzer is, he is still human.

Spitzer just resigned...

So this is because he solicited prostitution?

These articles are suggesting that he did a lot against corporate crime. Why should he resign over that? The culture of America forces him to, but it's stupid to disqualify an effective official just because of some personal sex scandal.

So this is because he solicited prostitution?

These articles are suggesting that he did a lot against corporate crime. Why should he resign over that? The culture of America forces him to, but it's stupid to disqualify an effective official just because of some personal sex scandal.

Here's the thing though: prostitution is illegal. So, if we let Mr. Corporate Crime Fighter go over this, wouldn't that seem a little... hypocritical? That's too much controversy he'd face and no one, absolutely no one would take him seriously anymore. I understand what people are saying about "ohnoes his private life, leave him alone", but this was prostitution; it's illegal. It's far different from calling over your intern, giving her a cigar, and having her go downtown. See, that's your private life, and that's why nobody gave a damn except the media when Clinton went through the whole fiasco. This is different.

Personally? Glad he's gone. I'm sorry, you can't be a hypocrite and be in office at the same time, it just doesn't fit. Yes, there are exceptions such as just little things here and there - we're all hypocrites in one way or another - but something on a grand scale is certainly not acceptable. Again, as much as I hate him, look at Bush! Sure, he's an idiot and totally incapable... but I'll be damned if he doesn't always hold his grounds on his beliefs. (Yes, I hate Bush, personal opinion, step off, righties. 😛 Let's not derail this).

This is why character matters when voting for someone.

That Spitzer believed he would be able to get away with this fits in perfectly with his previous vocation as a zealous prosecutor who used his power to make or break innocent people.

What is even more bewildering than Spitzer being foolish enough to do this is having so many pundits talking as if this is just a 'personal' flaw in Governor Spitzer that should not disqualify him for public office.

Spitzer himself spoke of his 'personal' failing as if it had nothing to do with his being governor of New York.

These days, being 'non-judgmental,' is an intellectual monolith; one of the corollaries is that 'personal' failings have no relevance to the performance of official duties. What that amounts to, ultimately, is that character doesn't matter.

In reality, character matters enormously, more so than most things that can be seen, measured or documented.

Character is what we have to depend on when we entrust power over ourselves, our children and our society to government officials. When you disregard character, you get people like Bill Clinton - misadventures with Monica aside - who, along with his wife, have donned an image of scandal in the eyes of many of their former subordinates (such as Dick Morris), their political enemies, some of their political allies, and their own followers. In a similar vein, we now have former-governor Spitzer. If we cannot depend upon a person's character, by what reason do we have to believe that they'll keep their promises upon entering office?

We cannot risk all that for the sake of the fashionable quality of being more non-judgmental than thou.

So this is because he solicited prostitution?

Not just soliciting prostitution. But also he violated federal law by trafficking someone across state lines, and using the service multiple times - over 80,000 dollars.

Not to mention that initially he was being investigated by the IRS for withdrawing ridiculous amounts of money and transferring them to other unauthorized bank accounts - which could be a potential circumvention of banking laws, hence he was being investigated for federal tax fraud and money laundering in the beginning. It was only after he was caught on tape that the two investigations - the prostitution ring and his suspicious money magic - came together.

He can still be prosecuted for tax fraud alongside being prosecuted for trafficking because he was trying to hide what he was doing.

When was Governor Spitzer going to let us have expensive illegal sex with his knowing about it? Apparently never, if he jumped ship when we all found out I agree with Ultra's characterization of him for this reason.