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
This is one of those days.
Dennis, you ought to try an interview Spitzer about his past comments on sex in videogames and see what he thinks now.
Hypocrisy: a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not; especially : the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion
By that definition... I think Hypocrisy fits very well into this story...
Again I think this is a case of a politician taking a stand against video games to distract from another issue.
I wonder how he feels about his false god now.
BTW, according to my knowledge, being an idolater(worshipping anything other than the christian god) is a sin.
You know what really angers me to absolutely no fucking end? What god damn business did the FBI have wiretapping his damn phone? What possible use could they have had? Are our elected officials now suddenly potential terrorists? Even when it outs disgusting hypocrites I'd still rather not Big Brother be here. I hope the man can pull off some 4th amendment thing if he tries to be convicted.
"Did you see his [Spitzer] wife on the news? She looked like she was gonna fuckin’ kill him!"
She'll castrate him first and then make the prostitute eat it. THEN kill him.
What does this guy being involved with a prostitute have to do with his stance protecting children from violence / sex in media?
I like to drink beer, but I don't think children should drink beer.
"What does this guy [Spitzer] being involved with a prostitute have to do with his stance protecting children from violence / sex in media?"
Spitzer wants to outlaw games that show virtual sex, because he wants to cover up the fact he did the real thing to a prostitute.
My theory anyway.
Because he made out that the existence of things like Prostitutes in GTA 4 was somehow 'detrimental' to society, whilst making use of real-life prostitutes. That in itself is simply a matter of hypocrisy.
Secondly, there's a proven reason why children should not drink beer, which is a lot more than there is for Video Games.
That's a good point. Why were they tapping his phone? I don't know if they were tapping his private line or his governor's line. It is a little different if it was his work phone and not his private phone, tho, I think.
If I call up a hooker from my private phone, it's my private business, but if I call from work, it's my company's business too. Here in Detroit, the mayor's in trouble for (allegedly) texting with his (alleged) mistress on their city-owned phones. A cop may have been fired for investigating -- that's the real story -- but their (allegedly) steamy text chat would probably still be secret if they'd done it on their own private phones.
Still not sure why the Feds would be tapping the governor's line, but it seems a little less of a civil rights violation (and even more and act of bonehead arrogance, on Spitzer's part) if the hooker call was overheard on a NY State-owned line.
"Spitzer wants to outlaw games that show virtual sex, because he wants to cover up the fact he did the real thing to a prostitute."
He wants to _regulate_ games that show virtual sex (to minors), not outlaw.
All I'm saying is that this isn't hypocrisy. Hypocrisy would be if he showed a video tape of himself with a prostitute to children. Definitely irony though since he'll probably lose his job and the bill won't be passed because of this...
I didn't see anything he said about prostitution in games being 'detrimental' to society. He seems to me to be focused on adult material in possession of a minor.
If people like Speltzer were suggesting a rating system that covered ALL media, I'd be staying out of the discussion, but they aren't.
It's kind of hard to tell your child not to emulate the actions they see in games when the local politician, who was complaining about these actions in games, is actually doing it. I see that as hypocrisy.
"As a governor, I wonder if he will try to give himself a pardon."
Wouldn't be suprised. George W. Bush did, pardoning himself for future war crimes.
If we're going to get picky about the proper use of "hypocrisy," let's be honest about the way some of the other terms are being used here too.
If you are going to call Hitman and GTA "adult material," you also need to apply that label to all the "R"-rated movies sitting the shelf at your local Blockbuster, and all the "unrated" DVDs on the shelves at Wal-Mart and Target, and all the "MA"-rated shows on cable. (Who'd've ever guessed there was so much "adult material" available, all out in the open, just waiting to corrupt our poor children with its very existence?)
Perhaps you do not know anything about the games he mentions, but Spitzer is not talking about keeping "virtual sex" from being "shown to minors." He is talking about restricting the distribution of mainstream games according to his uninformed moral judgment of their expressive content. In my opinion, that alone should be considered hypocritical for any politician who has ever extolled the virtues of American freedom, regardless of whether you want to call it a "regulation" or a "ban."
@Father Time
It sounds like the Feds were wiretapping the brothel, not the governor, so they prob had a warrant. Not sure why I didn't think of that before, but it makes more sense that way.
I agree. How can politicians seriously think we will fall for the whole "DO as I say, not as I do" routine? Politicians are supposed to represent the people, state or country. When they do these sort of things, the sully that image.
Just saying what he did about video games is bad enough. The biggest problem is that he was breaking the law while in office. If it was before or after his terms, it would have been a different issue (not a lesser issue, a different one).
But I have to agree. This is hypocrisy. If I were to rail against something, it would be expected that I followed my own advice. Not just in word but also in spirit. If I were to say that virtual prostitution is bad, it would be expected that I feel the same about real prostitution.
But as some have pointed out, he says that kids shouldn't play sexually explicit games. That is true. He did say that. But as I said, he is a representative of the state of New York. To a child, he should be someone who they can look up to and that parents wouldn't mind their children emulating. Yet he has broken that trust. He has shown that while he is against bad influences of media children, he does not want to be a good influence on them.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
Technically, the Feds never tapped Spitzer's phones. They tapped the phone of the service. Spitzer got caught up when he allegedly called that number to make arrangements.
That brings up an interesting point. Perhaps the reason kids want to play all these M rated games is because they are so saturated with adult content from all other medias, they have to play M rated games to feel fulfilled.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
Today's March 10.
I'm not sure how many kids really want to play "M" rated games. There was no ESRB when I was I kid, but I remember being too young to get in to "R" rated movies. I remember wishing I was old enough to be able to see those movies, but I don't remember many of those movies I actually wanted to see. When there was a particular "R" rated movie I really did want to see, my parents usually took me to see it anyway.
I can't believe it's all that much different for kids today. I'm sure they all look forward to being old enough to purchase a copy of the latest hyped up "M"-rated game, but that is not the same thing as really wanting to play that game. In other words, kids always want to grow up faster, and adults always wish they could be young again, and I don't think it has much to do with video games, or movies, or television, or any other influence of the media.
It'd be even better if developed by Suda51.
I kinda see your point there. I was pretty damn suprised when I saw this story on Yahoo earlier today, and quite frankly, I didn't really think Game Politics would cover this.
Then again, as we know, Spitzer was aiming to regulate video game content. And where's that article about Spitzer's flawed report?
I wonder if being with 'Kristen' did something to his train of thought in the months after that? I wonder if he never got involved with a prostitute, he'd never think MAVAV was a legit site? ^_^
(Okay, I know that was a stretch, but I couldn't resist mentioning Spitzer and MAVAV...)
Yeah, this is one of those few moments where many people would thank the Patriot Act.
Way to go Spitz! First, I get Smash Bros. Brawl. Now I get a good laugh from our Gov'ner. I think this whole week will be good...
>_>
Erectile dysfunction is a "personal problem." Transporting a woman across state lines for an immoral purpose is not a personal problem, it's a federal offense.
Yet again is demostrated that politicians are useless beings.
Sorry for the rant, but is just so delicious...
FMQB.com, a radio and music news site, is also covering this story, as Spitzer had gone after those companies regarding payola allegations.
It is hypocrisy on a number of levels, besides the video game angle: He had shut down prostitution rings as an attorney general.
How does it not rate as irony that a man who is trying to make it illegal for children to be able to access videogames that might contain violence or (limited) sex is supporting already-illegal sale of sexual acts that are quite frequently engaged in by minors (included in many prostitution rings)?
How typical, it seems almost everyone who criticises videogames is a disgusting hypocrite or a techno-barbarian ludite. How absolutely typical in this world.
Men like this disgust and revoult me. I wouldn't expect any better from a politician. Honest politicians are as rare as Ron Paul, the rest are lying scum.
Not that this story will mean anything. $10000 says that it will be conveniently forgotten by those who believe they hold the moral highground.