Monday, March 10, 2008

NY Governor Linked to Prostitution Ring


From the AP:


NEW YORK (AP) - Gov. Eliot Spitzer, the crusading politician who built his career on rooting out corruption, apologized Monday after allegations surfaced that he paid thousands of dollars for a high-end call girl. He did not elaborate on the scandal, which drew calls for his resignation.

His stone-faced wife at his side, Spitzer told reporters at a hastily called news conference: "I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family."

"I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself," he said. "I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family."

The New York Democrat's involvement in the ring was caught on a federal wiretap as part of an investigation opened in recent months, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing inquiry.


Slate has a good write up as well:


Details are still emerging, and it's uncertain how this will all shake out, but one thing is immediately clear: Spitzer has been hoisted by his own petard, brought down by the same kind of investigation he pioneered as a prosecutor. The analogies between Wall Street and prostitution aren't perfect. (On Wall Street, for example, the transactions involving favors for money are generally conducted when both parties are fully clothed.) But he may have fallen victim to the same types of circumstances that led to his astonishing rise.


Given Eliot Spitzer's tenure as NY Attorney General which led to his reputation as a regulatory crusader, these allegations are even more interesting.

Since he reportedly induced a prostitute to cross state lines ( the night before Valentines Day, no less ) he could be facing Federal charges in addition to the loss of his political career. Everyone who he stepped on during his rise to the top must be giggling and sharpening their knives now.

Seeing moralistic crusaders fall warms my cynical heart. When you get politicians who drone on about hope and change they want you to look past your own experience and believe that idealism can overcome human nature.

Human nature has a different agenda.

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