Monday, March 10, 2008

What party does he belong to?

Try to find the word Democrat in this article below about the governor of NY - a Democrat of course - getting caught with his hand in the wrong cookie jar. Yet the word Republican is mentioned not once but twice. Does anyone for a second believe the same would apply any Republican governor caught doing the same?

Here is the very first sentence from a Washington Post article about, Sen. Vitter whow was caught with a hooker last year:

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) ended a week of seclusion yesterday to say he'll return to work in Washington, ending speculation that the Republican would resign after his telephone number appeared last week in the records of an alleged Washington prostitution ring.

Nope, no media bias. Not at all.



NEW YORK (AP) - Gov. Eliot Spitzer apologized to his family and the public on Monday, but did not not elaborate on a bombshell report that he has been involved in a prostitution ring.

"I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family ... my sense of right and wrong," he said at a news conference at his Manhattan office. "I must now dedicate some time to rededicate my trust to my family."

Spitzer's wife stood at his side, her hands behind her back and her eyes cast downward, as he made the statement.

The New York Times reported that a person with knowledge of the governor's role believes the governor is identified as a client in court papers. Four people allegedly connected to a high-end prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP were arrested last week.

The Web site of the Emperors Club VIP displays photographs of scantily clad women with their faces hidden. It also shows hourly rates depending on whether the prostitutes were rated with one diamond, the lowest ranking, or seven diamonds, the highest. The most highly ranked prostitutes cost $5,500 an hour, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the defendants arranged connections between wealthy men and more than 50 prostitutes in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Miami, London and Paris.

The Times reported that the governor's travel records show he was in Washington in mid-February, and that one of the clients arranged to meet with a prostitute on the night of Feb. 13.

The case is being handled by prosecutors in the Public Corruption unit of U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia's office. Garcia spokeswoman Yusill Scribner said the office had no comment.

Spitzer, 48, built his political legacy on rooting out corruption, including several headline-making battles with Wall Street while serving as attorney general. He stormed into the governor's office in 2006 with a historic share of the vote, vowing to continue his no- nonsense approach to fixing one of the nation's worst governments.

Time magazine had named him "Crusader of the Year" when he was attorney general and the tabloids proclaimed him "Eliot Ness."

But his stint as governor has been marred by several problems, including an unpopular plan to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and a plot by his aides to smear Spitzer's main Republican nemesis.

Spitzer had been expected to testify to the state Public Integrity Commission he had created to answer for his role in the scandal, in which his aides were accused of misusing state police to compile travel records to embarrass Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno.

Spitzer had served two terms as attorney general where he pursued criminal and civil cases and cracked down on misconduct and conflicts of interests on Wall Street and in corporate America. He had previously been a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, handling organized crime and white-collar crime cases.

His cases as state attorney general included a few criminal prosecutions of prostitution rings and into tourism involving prostitutes.

In 2004, he was part of an investigation of an escort service in New York City that resulted in the arrest of 18 people on charges of promoting prostitution and related charges.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

1) Did you see his speech? With his wife standing next to him, looking disgusted and ill? What kind of putz would put his wife through that, having to stand up next to him? I can understand if you are denying it, it is helpful to have your wife standing up next to you to show support. But to make her endure the humiliation of standing beside you while you admit . . . that . . . it's almost abusive.

2)What a NY'er! He doesn't think any of the women in DC are good enough for him, so he imports one from NY. I love it.

3) $4,300!! This inflation thing is REALLY getting out of control, now. How much is that per minute??

Ed said...

LOL on the $4300. Man I know high priced hookers are, well, high priced. But damn!

As for his wife, I don't know if I have much sympathy. Dude like Spitzer doesn't just wake up one day and says Hmmm I think I'll get a $4300 hooker today. He's probably been doing this for years and she's known about it.

But, she lives on 5th Ave, she's the governor's wife and up until recently a potential, although long shot at being first lady.

Not a bad trade off.