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No Charges For Spitzer
Former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer (the luv guv) will not face any criminal charges related to his outing as a high profile client of a NYC prostitution ring.
I think that’s probably a good thing. The man was humiliated in front of the country and forced to resign his office. I have no sympathy for him — but his punishment was adequate.
Media Plays Hide the (D) When Covering Spitzer Scandal
It’s been impossible not to notice how the major media outlets either in print or on television have gone out of there way to avoid mentioning that Eliot Spitzer is a Democrat.
They talk about his political career and how he rose to power, but nearly always neglect to mention that he’s a Democrat.
Contrast that with Larry Craig, David Vitter, or any other Republican and the media covers it quite differently. In fact, when it’s a Republican you may not even know his name but you’ll darn sure know he’s a Republican.
Brent Baker over at Newsbusters documents in painstaking detail how incredibly obvious the omissions are. He literally goes through the news transcripts to show how egregious it actually is.
I highly recommend everyone check it out.
(Thanks to Little Green Footballs for pointing this story out)
-Chris Jones
PICTURES: Meet Eliot Spitzer’s Lady
(Click Photos To Enlarge)
It was only a matter of time until the press uncovered the identity of the mysterious call girl named “Kristen” that Eliot Spitzer payed $4600 for. The AP is reporting that the woman is 22-year old aspiring musician named Ashley Alexandra Dupré.
All things considered at least the Governor has good taste. She’s definitely the best looking call girl I’ve ever seen.
Click here to read the AP story
Click here to see her MySpace page
-Chris Jones
Spitzer Out!
Eliot Spitzer has just resigned his post as Governor of New York. Lt. Gov. David Patterson will officially take over as Governor on March. 17th. Spitzer said that over his career he has expected much from those he worked with and those in positions of power.
Therefore, he must expect no less of himself. So for that reason he must resign, and let the healing begin, etc.
I will get a video of his speech up within the hour…
-Chris Jones
Spitzer Impeachment Threat
From CBS:
If Gov. Eliot Spitzer opts to roll the dice and not resign, state Republican leadership will force him to go all-in and call for his impeachment from office, according to a state Assemblyman, who admitted he asked the governor to step down.
I don’t think prostitution should even be a crime. If a woman chooses to have sex for money that’s her business and if a man chooses to make that purchase it should be his right.
However, for the moment prostitution is in fact a crime and governors shouldn’t be committing crimes. Especially governors with holier-than-thou attitudes who engage in scorched earth politics.
I think a lot of politicians could probably recover from an incident like this, but the hypocrisy factor is off the charts for Spitzer. He took great personal glee in sending corrupt businessmen to prison and holding press conferences to show his disgust for all the corruption he uncovered.
For that same man to now be revealed as corrupt himself is a little too much for most people to handle. The governor needs to do the right thing and step aside.
-Chris Jones
Video: Spitzer Apologizes
SPITZER INDICTED, MAY RESIGN AS GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK
BREAKING NOW: The AP, NY Times, NY Sun, and Fox News are all claiming that Governor Eliot Spitzer has been indicted and will may resign any minute.
UPDATE #1: The Smoking Gun has more details on the prostitution ring
UPDATE #2: Huffington Post has details on what brought about the bust
DEVELOPING…
HYPOCRISY: Eliot Spitzer Linked To Prostitution Ring
From The NY Times:
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 an 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.”
This is yet another example of hypocrisy at its finest! Mr. Spitzer the tough, NYC crime fighter, and holier than thou Governor has been caught with his pants down. This scumbag has made a career out of parading people company executives down the street in handcuffs and holding press conferences to show his obvious disgust for criminals.
I don’t think prostitution should be a crime in the first place, but since it is a crime I would expect Mr. Crime Fighter not to be a criminal.
I’m just glad it was a Democrat that f*cked up this time.
-Chris Jones
Spitzer Pulls The Plug on Drivers Licenses For Illegals
With his poll numbers collapsing, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer pulled the plug on his incredibly controversial plan that would have given drivers licenses to illegal immigrants.
The embattled governor made the announcement after he met with the state’s heavily Democratic congressional delegation, which had grown increasingly critical of the plan.
Spitzer aides said the decision was made because the firestorm over the issue was so fierce it was blocking the governor’s overall agenda, and there were serious concerns that various lawsuits, as well as threatened legislative action, would block the plan anyway.
Forcing the issue on the public has given the Governor his lowest approval ratings ever, with only 25% of New Yorker’s saying they would vote to re-elect him if the vote were held today.
There was also anxiety about the negative impact the issue was having on Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Homeland Security strikes deal with Spitzer on Driver’s Licenses
The Bush administration and New York cut a deal Saturday to create a new generation of super-secure driver’s licenses for U.S. citizens, but also allow illegal immigrants to get a version.
New York is the fourth state to reach such an agreement on federally approved secure licenses, after Arizona, Vermont and Washington. The issue is pressing for border states, where new and tighter rules are soon to go into effect for crossings.
The deal comes about one month after New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced a plan whereby illegal immigrants with a valid foreign passport could obtain a license.
Keeping His Word, Spitzer Asks for Same-Sex-Marriage Law
ALBANY, April 27 — Gov. Eliot Spitzer proposed legislation on Friday that would make New York the second state in the country to legally sanction same-sex marriage, fulfilling a longtime pledge to supporters of gay rights.
Mr. Spitzer has acknowledged that he does not expect the bill to pass the State Legislature and return to his desk anytime soon. Earlier this week, he said that he would submit the proposal anyway, “because it’s a statement of principle that I believe in, and I want to begin that dynamic.”
Only Massachusetts currently allows same-sex marriages, a result of a 2004 court decision. Many states have taken steps to ban such unions through legislation or ballot initiatives, but Mr. Spitzer is the country’s only governor to propose legislation to formally legalize such marriages.
Whether or not the bill passes in these final weeks of the legislative session, Mr. Spitzer’s proposal is likely to make same-sex marriage a live issue in Albany in a way that it never was before.
Many members of the State Legislature have never taken a position on the issue, something that will be harder to avoid doing with the governor’s bill now a reality. So it was no surprise that the proposal immediately reignited what has been an emotional and bitter debate.
Gay rights advocates were effusive in their praise. “Promise made, promise kept,” said State Senator Thomas K. Duane, Democrat of Manhattan, who has introduced similar bills several times, including one this year.
Opponents lashed out, particularly from the ranks of religious conservatives. State Senator Rubén Díaz Sr., a Bronx Democrat and a Pentecostal minister, said that the governor’s proposal was “a slap in the face to the millions of New Yorkers who support the moral, legal and traditional definition of marriage as between man and woman.”
A spokesman for New York State Catholic Conference, the Roman Catholic Church’s official public policy arm in the state, said that New York’s bishops would strongly oppose the proposal.
“The governor said that on Day 1, everything changes. But we didn’t think that included society’s definition of marriage and traditional morality,” said the spokesman, Dennis Poust. “We think that in his first year to try and overturn the fundamental building block of society is the height of arrogance.”
This was Mr. Spitzer’s latest foray this week into the kind of sharply ideological, red-meat issues he had largely avoided during his first few months in office. It was also one of several proposals he has made recently that have met with a palpably cold reception from one or both chambers of the Legislature.
After the Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, the governor on Wednesday proposed new legislation to shore up the abortion rights guaranteed by state law. On Thursday, Mr. Spitzer asked state lawmakers to put legislative redistricting in the hands of an independent commission and to increase the pay of state judges, though the lawmakers themselves have not had a raise since 1999.
Joseph L. Bruno, the Republican majority leader of the State Senate, said: “In just the last week, Governor Spitzer has sent us bills dealing with gay marriage, abortion, court reform and reapportionment and campaign finance reform. While these proposals may fulfill campaign promises, they do not speak to the pressing needs of the majority of the people of this state.”
Mr. Bruno said lawmakers should focus on tax relief and reinstating the death penalty for killers of law enforcement officers, among other issues. Sheldon Silver, Democrat of Manhattan and the speaker of the Assembly, has not yet taken a position on same-sex marriage.
Befitting the bill’s poor prospects for passage — and the fact that the governor’s plan to propose it was well telegraphed — Mr. Spitzer did not stage any event to make his proposal. His staff issued a press release and a statement in the middle of the day, well after several gay-rights groups, alerted earlier to his plans, had issued their own statements praising the governor.
In his statement, Mr. Spitzer said that “this legislation would create equal legal protection and responsibilities for all individuals who seek to marry or have their marriage protected in the State of New York. Strong, stable families are the cornerstones of our society. The responsibilities inherent in the institution of marriage benefit those individuals and society as a whole.”
Under the bill, no application for a marriage license could be denied on the grounds that the parties were of the same sex. All rights, benefits, privileges and protections offered to spouses — including property ownership, inheritance, health care, hospital visitation, taxation, insurance coverage, child custody and pension benefits — would have to be offered to same-sex spouses, too. But no clergy member or religious institution would be required to perform such marriages.
Alan Van Capelle, the executive director of Empire State Pride Agenda, a leading gay-rights group, said, “I think that most legislators are astute enough to know that this was coming. They have formed opinions. We’re going to make sure that they hear from their constituents.”
Gay-rights groups had already scheduled a lobbying day in Albany next Tuesday, before this bill was announced.
Existing legislation to legalize same-sex marriage, sponsored this year and in years past by Senator Duane and other lawmakers, has the official support of only 61 members of the Assembly and 18 of the Senate, he noted.
“I think most legislators believe this will be a difficult issue for them to vote on,” Mr. Van Capelle said. “But in reality, there is enormous support in New York State for marriage equality, from people of faith, from organized labor, from the business community.”
[NY Times]
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