Democratic governor caught with his hands in the nookie jar
Bookworm at Bookworm Room on Mar 12 2008 at 11:00 am | Filed under: Feature Article, Political Beat
Webloggin Update III: No deal has been made with the prosecutors; this could mean jail time for Spitzer.
Webloggin Update II: Eliot Spitzer resigns - David Paterson to take the role of NY governor Monday, 3/17/08. Spitzer said that he has began his atonement for his private issues. Of course, most public officials do atone for the bad things they do…..after they get caught.
Webloggin Update: In a news conference Eliot Spitzer responded to the allegations:
“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.”
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I would be remiss if I did not point out to you that Democratic NY Governor Elliott Spitzer has some problems with prostitution — and it’s not that he disapproves of it:
Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation.
The wiretap recording, made during an investigation of a prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP, captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.
The governor learned that he had been implicated in the prostitution probe when a federal official contacted his staff last Friday, according to the person briefed on the case.
The governor informed his top aides Sunday night and this morning of his involvement. He canceled his public events today and scheduled an announcement for this afternoon after inquiries from the Times.
If the story is true, my deep sympathies to his wife. If it’s false, I wish him the best of luck.
Of note is the fact that nowhere in the New York Times article from which I quote is Spitzer ever directly identified as a Democrat. Instead, there is a single oblique reference to his party buried in paragraph 9: “In recent weeks, however, Mr. Spitzer seemed to have rebounded, with his Democratic party poised to perhaps gain control of the state Senate for the first time in four decades.”
The “spot the party” trend continues in other news stories on the subject:
The AP story never once uses the words “Democrat” or “Democratic.”
The CNN story never once uses the words “Democrat” or “Democratic.”
The LA Times blog breaks ranks and reports on Spitzer’s status as a rising Democratic star.
USA Today’s story, which is being repeatedly updated, as of 3:36 EST has no mention of Spitzer’s Democratic ties.
Reuters Canada (which is the only Reuters story I’ve found so far) is mum about Spitzer’s political affiliations.
Once again, as interesting as the story itself is the story about the story. The underlying story is a typical political plot: rising young prosecutor and political can’t resist temptation. Frankly, as a story, it’s been done before. The much more interesting story, of course, is the chronic inability members of the MSM have, when one of their own (i.e., a Democrat) is caught doing something bad, to fulfill their obligation to report the story, with all the who, what, where, why and how questions answered. In the case of Spitzer, given his prominence in the Democratic party, the who question should properly be answered by identifying his party affiliation. It’s shoddy, deceitful journalism that reporters are persistently trying to hide that ball.
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UPDATE: It’s emerged that the prostitution ring was fairly ritzy, with hourly rates (!) running from $1076 to $5921. AJStrata asks the right question, which is “where in the heck did Spitzer get that kind of money?”
UPDATED II: Apropos the above, Spitzer was paying at the high end, coming in at $4,300 per hour. Big money for a government employee, right?
Others:
