Elliot Spitzer

[werepossum]

Elliot Spitzer, governor of New York (USA for you non-American types) resigned today, after being caught up in a prostitution sting (interestingly enough, one of the crimes for which he prosecuted and sent to prison many people whilst serving as attorney general.) I'm surprised there isn't a thread about this, since one of his campaign promises was to restrict violent and sexually explicit video games from minors. I suppose not enough Americans on the board? (And yes, I know ONE American per board is quite enough! LOL) He had introduced a Jack Thompson-type bill into the New York legislature, where it will now presumably become radioactive and rot. Governor Spitzer was considered a possible future candidate for president based on his energetic prosecution of crime and his willingness to prosecute on any technicality, and has been mentioned as a possible VP for Hillary. Yes, he's a Democrat.

Anyway, one of the USA's most strident opponents of violent video games (and most humorless proponent of the nanny state government) has bitten the political dust today.

 

[monodiabloloco]

See, if prostitution were just nationally legalized, things like this wouldn't be such a big deal. Our (yeah, I'm the one allowed American on the post..) government spends so much time and money.. our money.. fighting petty drug issues and prostitution. If they would simply legalize it and then regulate it, they would be MAKING money. Commercial pot alone would bring the country a fortune in taxes both in the pot and the sales tax from snacks. (I would buy Cheetos stock as soon as the legalization law was passed.) Prostitution also could become a taxable institution. They fear the spread of STDs. Regulation and free manditory check ups and protection would actually decrease the spread over what happens now. The usage of some of the harder drugs would possibly fall off if people could get really high legally at home. Possibly...
Also, there is much fear of lowering the drinking age here in the US to 18. So, it's OK to make these young men sign up for the draft where, if activated, they would go off to die for the country, but they can't have a beer or two after work/class. Wake up, ass-hats, if the 18 year olds want to drink, they will drink. Check your local college for the proof in that.
I believe that the core of the questions are where the money was coming from.
Sorry.. too much java today.
Back to the OP:
I have never in my life met a woman whos vagina could POSSIBLY be worth $5000. I have come face to labia with more than a few.. some may have been worth a bit of cash had I not been there already, and at least a couple would have been worth a decent amount, but all it really took was a few drinks and some conversation.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

Goes to show that if you want to campaign on the "holier than thou" model, you really should work hard on that "holier" schtik. (Or work *really* hard on hiding the foibles.)

If this had happened to pretty much any other politician I'd be decrying the pointless invasion of privacy and the pettifogging to make this some sort of serious charge, but since all of the above were standard practice for Spitzer I'm having trouble surmounting the tidal wave of pent-up karma to do so.

-- Steve

 

[Joe]

The best part about this whole deal is he made a name for himself as a DA taking down prostitution rings.

This goes to show you: never, ever trust someone willing to take a pay cut to put people in jail. They're unhinged.

 

[Melty Blood]

The best part about this whole deal is he made a name for himself as a DA taking down prostitution rings.

[wildspeculation]Maybe he had some sort of dealie with a pimp? You never know[/wild speculation]

Um... Why exactly is prostitution illegal in the first place? it's their lives, after all.

 

[Necrohydra]

@monodiabloloco: I'm an American, does that mean I have to leave now? >.>

I also am a citizen of New York State. Yep, the state that this guy was governor of.

My opinion? Irony's great, isn't it? Our state's government is horribly broken, anyways. You think no prostitution and pot's bad? We can't use FIREWORKS!

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

Judging by the photos of some of his choices:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/12/AR2008031204425.html?hpid=topnews

He should've been spelling District Attorney with two D's, for a double dose of that pimping.

 

[laikenf]

I always thought he was an arrogant prick. But at least it was with a 22 year old girl, not 14 and 15 year old boys.

 

[Ciarog]

The best part about this whole deal is he made a name for himself as a DA taking down prostitution rings.

[wildspeculation]Maybe he had some sort of dealie with a pimp? You never know[/wild speculation]

Um... Why exactly is prostitution illegal in the first place? it's their lives, after all.

Technically it's not, at least not in most states. Soliciting sex is illegal in all but 2 states, and it's hard for one to be a prostitute unless one does that.

Also, I would like to think this is relevent less because he got himself some under-the-table loving, and more because he may have done so with taxpayer dollars (I deluding myself, but whatever). Because we all know that Northeastern politicians are at the very pinnacle of moral integrity!

 

[Ciarog]

From another forum:

What I find shocking is how stupid Spitzer was. And not so much the moral/legal end of it. That was certainly bad. But the way he got caught was unbelievable.

Here is how it went down. Spitzer paid for "services" by way of a $10,000.00 wire transfer to a holding company owned by the escort service. After placing the transfer request with the bank, he realized he put his real name on the transfer. In a panic, he called the bank and asked for his name to be removed and to list no payee. Not surprisingly set red flags waving. The bank officers notified the feds.

So what did he do wrong? This:

1. A documented transaction: One shouldnt leave paper trails when doing illegal shit.

2. $10,000.00: The federal government reviews all wire transactions in the amount of $10,000.00 and above.

3. Blanking his name: In spite of 1 and 2, he likely would have gotten away with this. But pointing out the name thing and requesting removal was supremely stupid. Probably would have been more efficient to just say, "Yeah, Im making a shady deal. Could you have the feds look into this for possible criminal indictment?".

Any lawyer with a year or so of experience ought to know not to do this shit.

 

[Dakan Kurano]

Thanks for posting this.

 

[Knight Templar]

The best part about this whole deal is he made a name for himself as a DA taking down prostitution rings.

[wildspeculation]Maybe he had some sort of dealie with a pimp? You never know[/wild speculation]

Um... Why exactly is prostitution illegal in the first place? it's their lives, after all.

Because most people involved, don't want to be.

 

[ShadeOfRed]

Yeah I heard about that. To celebrate, some show did a review of sex scandals in history. It wasn't funny, but the host was on the verge of laughter. A lot of laughter.

Our (yeah, I'm the one allowed American on the post..) government spends so much time and money.. our money.. fighting petty drug issues and prostitution. If they would simply legalize it and then regulate it, they would be MAKING money.

America, chop chop. Seriously, people are addicted to drugs like nicotine and caffeine, equally bad for you, but are perfectly legal. Put an age requirement and a hefty punishment for doing drugs under that age and you could have yourself a richer country. More people wouldn't be getting stoned, it'd just be legal. Monodiabloloco, ten points to you.