The Spitzer Resignation: Our Loss As Well As His

OK, color me fucking amazed (and not in a good way): you can lie entire nations INTO a war, and then lie about the results of that war every damned day, and yet if anyone speaks out against the lies, the naysayers are the "evil doers". Screw a prostitute using your own money and bye.

Clearly, it was WRONG of Spitzer to do what he did when he was, quite recently, New York State's chief prosecutor who could make decisions on others engaging in some of the same acts. But I still can't begin to equate prostitute-hiring with the needless deaths of more than a million innocents in Iraq (and I think that number is notoriously, obscenely low for what we know happened) as well as a MINIMUM of 4,000 soldiers.

What was sickening was the complete holy sanctity of the right yesterday, proclaiming there has never been a bigger scandal (oh really? Watergate? Iran-Contra? every fucking thing the Bush-Cheney team has DONE?) and, oh yeah, btw, "we want Spitzer out because he prosecuted so many CEOs and finance people." Read: Republicans LOVE to protect the worst offenders and God help anyone who tries to play by the rules. And then to use laws on the books from 1918 and federal task forces to bring Spitzer down, when we've got the anthrax killer still going about his business just makes me ill.

And not a single Dem seemed to lift a lip to say anything to the contrary.

Elliot Spitzer, Governor of New York: Ouch

First off, let me say that I think there are acts of what would legally be called prostitution that I feel are indeed victimless. People - not just women - have been known to use their sexual organs or psyches for profit just as there are people who are willing to pay for that play. It may not be my cup of tea but where no one is being forced, or "pimped out", I don't think it's terribly much of my business. Sadly, however, much prostitution is not simply a female (or male) entrepreneur doing her or his own thing for cash. And the phrase "prostitution ring" can apply to a rather vast range of possible offenses.

Now, with all that said, I'm disappointed to see that Elliott Spitzer, a fine attorney general for the state it sure seemed and now newly-crowned governor replacing that sleaze, George Pataki (so much for HIS presidential ambitions), solicited the use of prostitutes. As a private person, Spitzer could do, I suppose, what he liked - it's between him and his wife; but if any of this occurred WHILE he was state AG, and oath-bound to uphold ALL the laws of the state, it's not good.

I hope he does not feel compelled to resign as governor, however. Some very questionable women have been called upon to service MANY - most? - FAR more morality-challenged American presidents who should not be leading the country with one message and behaving so differently and the only reason these men remained in office was with a wink and nod from the press who knew about the women and did not report upon it. The only difference between those men and Spitzer is that Spitzer admitted.

But Spitzer was certainly right about one thing he said today; he needs to rebuild trust. He made this sound like it mostly applied to his wife and family, but I suspect many voters (pro Spitzer and con) are going to want their outrage addressed as well.

While I don't expect the media to be nice to him, this is the same mess who squirmed uncomfortably and then fingerwagged at The New York Times for its piece on John McCain's little lobbyist Lola (a story that disappeared much fast than I suspect Spitzer's will because - well, y'know - Democrats are all amoral, don'tchaknow?