Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Republicans Call for Spitzer's Resignation. What Hypocrisy


So here we have the holier-than-thou Democratic Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, building a career keeping us safe from bad guys, hookers and crooked Wall Streeters, and all the while he's out there spending $6000/hr on call girls (BTW, what exactly do you get for $6000? Can any woman really be that good?). Cries of condemnation and calls for resignation can be heard from the throngs of sanctimonious hypocrite Republicans across the land. The same hypocrites who have had absolutely nothing to say about Republican Senators Larry Craig (ID) and David Vitter (LA), both of whom have been embroiled in sexual scandal themselves. Vitter, like Spitzer, was linked last Summer to prostitution rings in both D.C. and New Orleans. He has been fully supported by his party and still serves in the U.S. Senate. Craig, the now-infamous "I'm Not Gay" alleged heterosexual who was arrested for attempting to pick up a male undercover cop in a Minneapolis Airport men's room, also still serves with his fellow Republicans' backing. No cries of condemnation here. No calls for resignations.

In a display of unbridled, shameless hypocrisy, the Republican Governor's Association (RGA) is aggressively calling for Spitzer's resignation, while Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who sits on the group's four-member executive committee, continues to lavish praise and support on his crooked Senator.

"The Governor of New York should immediately resign from office and allow the people of New York to pursue honest leadership. The American people are tired of corrupt and hypocritical politicians," said RGA executive director Nick Ayers. "The Governor of New York is just another in the long list of politicians that have failed their constituents."

In response, Chris Whittington, Chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party, said "...Louisiana Republicans, including Governor Bobby Jindal and state Treasurer John Kennedy, got together last month and hosted a fundraiser for Senator Vitter that raised him nearly a half a million dollars."

And this from Jindal: "While we are disappointed by Senator Vitter’s actions, Supriya and I continue to keep David and his family in our prayers. This is a matter for the Senator to address, and it is our hope that this is not used by others for their own political gain."

Too bad the Governor, like his Republican brethren, doesn't practice what he preaches down there in N'Orleans.

As for Spitzer, if naughty boys like Craig and Vitter can continue to serve, so should he.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Exactly! What Hypocrisy!

A prosecutor turned governor, who got famous by putting prostitutes and corrupt people in jail has been proven to be a prostitute using, money funneling, corrupt liar.

Send Spitzer to Jail!

Anonymous said...

The republicans have no say about Spitzer. The democrats will see to it that he steps down because we try to do better. Sure, we aren't perfect, but when one of our own breaks the law we try to get them to step down rather than cover up the crimes like the republicans do. Sad for New York, certainly and even sadder for Spitzer and his family. I think New York will survive, however. I understand their lt gov. is a pretty good guy who will make a dandy governor.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Andy. Thank you SO MUCH! The only reason Spitzer is under attack is because he's a Democrat. Republicans never practice what they preach and they never will. They're nothing but a bunch of sanctamonius bastards. How about this: we have the single most corrupt U.S. president in history serving in the White House who should have been impeached years ago for the death of thousands of U.S. troops and countless innocent Iraqi civilians. He has covered up every corrupt action by any other republican in the country (including the ones you mentioned who have also been caught in sex scandals). I say if Bush steps down, so should Spitzer. If he does not, people can shut the hell up. I'm tired of hearing about it. Spitzer did NOTHING that has affected the people of New York or this country. What Bush and other republicans have done AND CONTINUE TO DO affects every single one of us. Who is worse? You do the math.

Sidney Condorcet said...

Hypocrisy aside, Spitzer has to resign. He hasn't been terribly effective to date and has been oddly ham-handed. I look forward to Governor Paterson, who has much better relations with the State Senate, where he once served, than Spitzer ever had. Paterson gives us a better shot at taking back to Senate, whereas the longer Spitzer stays on the more the Dems' prospects diminish.

Anonymous said...

This is definitely a disappointment, yet I believe he is safe in his office.
1) He admitted his transgression.
2) It did not involve being caught red handed with a 'dead hooker' or a 'young boy', the traditional metric (however absurd) of whether a pol should step down.

I enumerate the above, because as we know, the Republicans have denied first no matter what the evidence, and attempted cover ups in their defense, blowing a simple misdemeanor into felony territory.

The detail of the investigation have not been completely revealed as it is an ongoing investigation and trial. There is an obvious partisanship in the revelation, as we know Justice has been politicized. This revelation serves the political interest of Republicans all over, especially NY.
Currently the Democrats need one seat to evenly split the senate. If Spitzer resigns, current Lieutenant Governor, Democrat David Paterson the tie breaking vote in that scenario becomes Governor. Spitzer's nemesis Bruno becomes Lieutenant Governor creating the situation that the Democrats need to pick up two seats in the Senate instead of one this fall to have a majority.
This revelation also serves the revenge aspect of the prostitution ring as Spitzer seriously clamped down on this type of organized crime.
Also prostitution is well known tactic in CoIntelPro and opposition research to corrupt targets further through bribery. These revelations and quick admittance by Spitzer indicate to me he was not able to be bribed and he has a conscience.

No one is asking the question "Who else has been involved that has not been revealed?" Just remember the Palfrey case where hundreds of names were not revealed. So why was Spitzer exposed in this? It served a political purpose for a politicized Justice department.

Anonymous said...

Forget about whether he is a democrat or a republican. He aggressively and sanctimoniously went after pimps and business people ... and should now get what he deserves. The irony is palpable. Prosecute him to the full extent of the law, and put him in jail.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, you can not separate the politics from this. Patronizing a prostitute is not a jailing offense, it is a small fine. So to call for other sanctions as you do politicizes the event, just as you sanctimoniously say "forget about politics".

Anonymous said...

spitzer is getting ready to step down as we blog at this moment,I would say la. gov,now needs to have mr. vitter think about stepping down,but of coarse you know he won't.repuks are good at telling other people what morals they should follow while committing ever sin in the book,thank you, we now have the first black and blind(and I do mean blind)governor in new york state history

Anonymous said...

See Obama supporters! This is the Republicans at their best.

Wake up!

Anonymous said...

(BTW, what exactly do you get for $6000? Can any woman really be that good?)

Andy, Andy, Andy. In an otherwise well written article you had to ruin it with this.

It makes you sound like a neanderthal.

Anonymous said...

In response to tenikal's post at 12:38, I have always been a democrat, but never liked Spitzer and his tactics. My view has nothing to do with politics, it has to do with an individual. Patonizing a prostitue may not be a jailing offense (and I do not think it should be), but moving money around ssecret bank accounts, probably is (see Al Capone and taxes, or Barry Bonds and lying).

Anonymous said...

The problem with any governor soliciting hookers or commiting adultery or breaking decency laws is that it makes them vulnerable to blackmail (as we saw with McGreavy). By taking this kind of risk, Spitzer exposed himself to unacceptable compromises to protect his secret. Imagine what he would have been willing to do to keep this secret. This failure in judgement is absolutely grave enough to warrant resignation.

Anonymous said...

he will step down as soon as he is assured (in writing) that he will experience no other prosecution...however, someone needs to do a full investigation as to how this prosecution came about...the bank reported funds being moved around to the irs and not the treasury dept? the irs then reported to justice? who then started a corruption investigation? usually a crime has to occur before an investigation takes place...the irs and justice went on a fishing trip...they werent ever investigating the escort service, until they started looking at spitzer...the whole thing stinks

Anonymous said...

By Monday America can be two steps better, if only:

1. Spitzer will be gone
2. Hillary steps out of the race for the good of the party.

Anonymous said...

I hope spitzer enjoyed the ride. Now he is about to pay the piper.

* Money laundering for trying to conceal the source and recipient of financial transactions.

* Tax evasion, if he was a knowing party to an all-cash business that wasn't filing taxes.

* Violation of the Mann Act for paying for the trip from New York to D.C. by the call girl known as "Kristen."

* Misuse of state resources, if he used his state-issued credit card for hotels or meals with prostitutes as well as if he was being protected by State Troopers during his dalliances.
* And finally, soliciting prostitution.

Anonymous said...

The author of this article is right on...the republican outrage over this incident is pure hypocrisy. Sure, what Spitzer did was deplorable, but WHERE was the outrage (by republicans) when Vitter was doing the same thing? Or when then-Rep. Mark Foley was found to be soliciting pages for sex? Or what about Gingrich or Giuliani cheating on their wives? No outrage....just "concern for their well being"....please, pass the barf bag.

Anonymous said...

"but WHERE was the outrage (by republicans) when Vitter was doing the same thing? Or when then-Rep. Mark Foley was found to be soliciting pages for sex? Or what about Gingrich or Giuliani cheating on their wives? No outrage"

Baloney. Unless you had your hands over your ears, and your eyes were shut tight, there was ALOT of outrage from Republicans about those incidents.

You set up a strawman. In order to make the Republicans out to be hypocrites in calling for Spitzers ouster, you need to lie about what the Republicans didnt do on their side. Though I do feel that the New York Republicans getting outraged over Spitzer's actions is mere political grandstanding.

Greg Pawelski said...

The $200 billion bail-out for predator banks and Spitzer charges (and the Carlyle Group) are intimately linked.

While I've believed that the frenzy of loans and home building was promoted and allowed in order to keep Americans otherwise occupied and feeling all warm-n-fuzzy, I never suspected this. I hope a lot of people will be surprised by this. I wonder how many will actually learn the details.

Bernanke's Fed, for the first time in its history, loaned a selected coterie of banks one-fifth of a trillion dollars to guarantee these banks' mortgage-backed junk bonds (the very banking predators who have brought two million families to the brink of foreclosure).

On Wednesday, March 12th, Carlyle Capital went bankrupt. Who? Carlyle as in Carlyle Group (James Baker, George Bush, the Bin Laden family and more dictators, potentates, pirates and presidents than you can shake a stick at).

And up until Wednesday, there was one single, lonely politician who stood in the way of this creepy little assignation at the bankers' bordello: Eliot Spitzer.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/13/AR2008021302783.html