He may be opposed to violent video games like Hitman: Codename 47, but an FBI document alleges that New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) was known as Client 9 to an upscale, international prostitution ring.
Spitzer is seen at left with Silda, his wife of 21 years.
The New York Times is reporting a breaking story that Spitzer will make some type of announcement this afternoon about the case. (UPDATE: Spitzer briefly apologized, but didn't 'fess up to anything specific...)
Federal prosecutors apparently caught Spitzer on a wiretap arranging for a prostitute to travel from New York to Washington, D.C., where he was visiting on business. It is a federal offense to transport someone across state lines for the purpose of engaging in prostitution.
During his 2006 gubernatorial campaign, Spitzer pledged to regulate video game content and called for a universal rating system. Video game legislation approved by the New York Assembly during his first year in office seemed fast-tracked for passage, but eventually stalled due to a bitter political feud between Spitzer and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R). The video game bill was expected to be revived in 2008, but that is certainly questionable now, as is Spitzer's future.
During the 2006 campaign Spitzer called out the video game industry for excessive violence and, ironically, sexual content in its products:
Like all parents, I know it is increasingly difficult to protect our children from negative influences... we have learned that when self-regulation fails, government must step in... we must do more to protect our children from excessive sex and violence in the media...
Media content has gotten more graphic, more violent and more sex-based... Currently, nothing under New York State law prohibits a fourteen-year old from walking into a video store and buying... a game like 'Grand Theft Auto,' which rewards a player for stealing cars and beating people up. Children can even simulate having sex with a prostitute...
GP: The hypocrisy meter is just about off the scale... Check out page 36 of this FBI document for some of the dirty details of Client 9's hotel encounter with a hooker named "Kristen."
UPDATE: Spitzer is a superdelegate for another frequent video game critic, Sen. Hillary Clinton.
RANDOM THOUGHT: Can a homemade Client 9 game be far behind?
Comments
GP - actually, PA, I got a CNN news alert on this one... Didja e-mail me? I'm not seeing it...
...busted by the Patriot Act? Ouch.
The whole MAVAV thing is pretty funny (and sad) isn't it. When I first heard of Spitzer using MAVAV as a reference, I acted. I edited the MAVAV wikipedia page to include the story of Spitzer using MAVAV as refence in that video. Not only that, I added a link to the MAVAV wikipedia page on Eliot Spitzer's wikipedia page (under the "See Also" section). But it gets even better.
I checked Spitzer's wikipedia page today and my inclusion of the MAVAV wiki link is still on it. Better yet, his wikipedia page is currently locked (thanks to the whole prositute controversy). That's means that link to the MAVAV wikipedia page can't be edited out :) . That means anyone that visits Eliot Spitzer wikipedia page will be treated for a pleasant suprise involving his MAVAV BS. I'm a pretty happy guy today :)
Heres the link to the wikipedia page in question
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Spitzer
- MR.B ,your friendly neighborhood wikipedia ninja
....go Obama. :D
It's page 36 as counted by the Acrobat viewer. The actually page numbers as the appear on the document don't jibe with the Acrobat page numbers.
Long live the watchdogs! :)
LOL@ random thought
The further right you travel, the bigger the hypocrisy gets I guess.
Pretty much every politician that stands for family values, breaks them on a daily basis...
and every one that is against games is a corrupt, morally bankrupt or just completely un-informed politician...
at least this kills his stupid law...
I wish GP could get an interview with him after this. It's funny how this fool can accuse video games of corrupting society yet he is involved with prostitution which has links to organized crime which is linked to narcotics and violent crime. Elliot Spitzer is the world's biggest hypocrite right now. For a guy who was elected on the promise to clean up NY, he sure doesn't practice what he preaches.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Am I the only one that almost fell over laughing from this?
Love the irony here.
Irony at its finest.
Use the Invisible Cars cheat. She works really hard for her cash, doesn't she?
From....the mouth of a sex obsessed paedophile.
Gamers aren't the problem, and THIS proves it.
Hahhahahah
Just the ESRB rating system. Which has exactly as much weight as the MPAA rating system does in stopping that same fourteen year old from walking into a theatre to see Saw IV or Natural Born Killers or Showgirls.
Well, not exactly as much weight. According to research from the FCC, the ESRB rating carries a little more weight, since it has a better rate of enforcement.
----
That said, while this shows Spitzer to be quite the hypocrite, I don't know that there's much of anything to use here in opposition to the stupid politicos gunning for games everywhere else. Well, except maybe to point to Spitzer and say "he frequented whorehouses and we all know he sure as hell DIDN'T play any video games."
You Cheeky Bastard..
Gift.
Talking about kids being idiots, how come politics think that kids are smart enough to get what they want, and avoid parental supervision, but not smart enough to tell the difference between fantasy and reality?
Spitzer says he visited prostitution rings after getting all horny from playing Grand Thief Auto...
Wait thats a Jack Thompson move but I wouldnt be surprised.
They say the ones that are heavy critics of Blah are heavily doing Blah
Like those against gays then caught being gay.
Those against drugs then caught doing drugs.
and
etc.
Why is it that people with these particular skeletons in their closets go on such crusades to demonize and vilify those who are free about it?
In this day and age, any and all information can be obtained, thus making themselves look incredibly hypocritical and foolish.
Insanity
Now, back to your regularly scheduled laughing!
Hahhahahahahahahahahah
Hahhahhahahaahahahahaha
I can't breathe. I'm laughing so hard.
HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA
You bloody corrupt hypocrite.
So you see, GTA should have new rating, "AONP"; "Adults Only, No Politicians".
Welcome to America, where the gaming industry is being treated as a plague and politicians are pimps.
Hahhaha. Busted.
That is all.