Client 9 has become Disgraced ex-Governor 1.
Eliot Spitzer, the moral crusader who, as GamePolitics reported, was so offended by the interactive prostitution in Grand Theft Auto, has vacated his office following revelations by the New York Times that he was a regular patron of high-priced call girls.
Here's what Spitzer, a rising star in the Democratic party, had to say about GTA during his 2006 election campaign:
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…
FBI wiretaps captured him singing a different tune to the managers of the Emporers Club VIP service. Spitzer haggled over payment details as he arranged for a petite brunette named Kristen to rendezvous with him at a Washington, D.C. hotel. Later, Kristen and the escort service manager were overhead discussing Spitzer's proclivities:
Manager: [Spitzer] would ask you to do things, that, like you might not think were safe. You know - I mean that - very basic things...
Kristen: I have a way of dealing with that. I'd be like, 'listen, dude, do you really want the sex?"
And, apparently, Spitzer did. We wonder whether he'll be picking up a copy of GTA IV now that he will have plenty of time on his hands...
UPDATE: The NY Times has identified Kristen as 22-year-old Ashley Alexandra Dupre (left), a struggling, would-be singer. You can check out her MySpace page. We're willing to bet that this will be a boost to her career. Expect to see her on Larry King within a few days.
The next revelation will likely be the release of the audio tapes of the Guv's, uh, dickering about the arrangements.
Comments
Spitizers future washing away in a torrent of bad hooker sex is so delicous that if it were food, then it'd be a perfectly cooked steak with a massive side salad and Au gratin potatos served up with your choice of drinks.
Hope you rot in prison you Dirt bag.
The mainstream news media won't care about the game angle, of course (as it's a blip in Spitzer's career irrelevant to anyone besides nerds like us), but I wonder, if game regulation issues come up in New York again, maybe someone in the media or the rhetorical opposition can draw the connection?
On an unrelated note, governor-to-be David Paterson will be the USA's first blind governor. Kickass! (My mom is blind, so I feel a completely irrational bit of pride at this.)
"What destroys me, strengthens me."
Just how Spitzer probably likes 'em, hot and stupid.
"The next revelation will likely be the release of the audio tapes of the Guv’s, uh, dickering about the arrangements."
Seems like GP ate the funny flakes for breakfast!
Now if something like this would fall out of Jack Thompson's closet.
I'd call that cynisim in that case.
Seriously, it sounds like all those little saying that you follow with the obvious truth that contradicts it and she probably knows it.
And GP took something this morning, it was worth looking around at midnight to check out the developpements and the snarky comments only make the whole... affair sweeter. ("Affaire" means business in French, not sure about its use as that in English though.)
But hey I m willing to pull an Anna Nichole (yeah I know a low blow)
Last night I watched Bill O'Reilly discuss the whole Eliot Spitzer prosititution mess (and Angelina Jolie's adoptions) with Cooper Lawrence (a real shock, I know). There is video of the discussion on the Fox News website.
The-Lawyer-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named already tried to interject himself into the mix by filing a request with the N.Y. courts that Spitzer be suspended from practicing law. And cc'ing the media, of course.
Psh, JT could prolly be convicted of murder and still keep his license, at the rate he's going... (Judge Tunis, feel free to prove me wrong!)
But the question of whether to step down or not would only arise once the dirty little secret became public. Once it became public, it could no longer be used to blackmail. Or am I not following you?
Johns usually aren't prosecuted; it's normally the people running the ring. Also, soliciting prostitution is only a misdemeanor in most places. The only way to get that up to a federal felony is with a law that hasn't really been used since the 20's. Cracking out an obsolete law to go after him would smack of political persecution.
If public funds were used to transport the "goods", well that's a whole different matter. (Of course, his archnemesis, Bruno, misused state transportation as well and got away with it.)
"Johns usually aren’t prosecuted . . . "
Guess again. In many major cities where prosititution is a perceived problem, the police frequently conduct reverse stings that target nothing but the johns. And in many cases (e.g., Orange County, FL) they post the booking photos of the arrested johns on their website. And, while it is a misdemeanor, many cities have passed forefiture ordinances that allow them to confiscate the vehicles of the arrested johns. And beating the rap is no guarentee that you'll get your vehicle back.
But aside from that - and please forgive me to reverting to my angry-european-mood here: The freaking *FBI* goes after prostitutes? That's... I don't know, unsettling. What's the big deal with prostitution you got ober there? Seriously, I just can't see what's so bad about it, in principle.
I really don't want to offend anyone, but: America *desperately* needs to get layed.
And the Mann Act ain't all that dusty. Just this past January, a Georgia defendant caught 15 years on a Mann Act violation.
http://news.findlaw.com/prnewswire/20080125/25jan20081915.html
Why am I not surprised? It’d be just like Jack to turn on his allies like that. Of course, you’ll never get him to admit that at one time he was praising Spitzer to the high heavens. :P
What’s with the hate-on for Kristen? I haven’t seen her Myspace page yet (I’ll do that when I get home), but she ain’t half-bad looking. I wouldn’t kick her out of my bed for eating crackers at the very least! ;)
"I’m surprised no one made a Myspace whore joke."
I'm a pimp from Omecron Ceti IV, and this here be my space whore!
There ya go ;-)
@JackDon'tKnowJack: While the Mann Act may not be all that dusty, that example is drastically different from Spitzer's pit that he dug for himself. That example is comparing deliberate exploitation of individuals to a situation in which all involved parties gave their willing consent.
The truth be told!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I say he got what he asked for! As for the hooker eh… I see better looking girls at best buy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)
theres no such thing as bad press =p
and i thought all my tax money was being wasted on road "work"
And which Best Buy would that be? Would it be the one next to the strip club?
you were half right they were "screwing around" with your money lol
Unfortunately for Spitzer, that the transportee consented to being transported doesn't vitiate a Mann Act violation. Indeed, you'll find that many notorious Mann Act prosecutions (e.g., Jack Johnson and Charlie Chaplin) involved women who more than willing crossed state lines with the offender. Nor where the cases Johnson and Chaplin cases about exploitation. They weren't even about prostitution. The "for an immoral purpose" requirement was satisfied by the fact of consentual but adulterous sex.
Like hell he is. (If he willingly resigned or ever once admitted he was wrong, then I'd agree with you... but since I've yet to see either happen, there you go.)
Still, he brought this upon himself. The hypocrisy's amusing and all, but I really feel sorry for his wife. Cheating on her with prostitutes is a pretty horrible thing to do to her.
I will give him a little credit for resigning so quickly though. It spares a lot of people that aren't him a lot of grief and lets the rest of the local government move on quicker.
2) Will he try to carry on his anti-gaming agenda?
1) Who’s Spitzer’s replacement?
From an AP article on the whole resignation matter:
Lt. Gov. David Paterson - Notable points about him being: Democrat, New York's first black governor, legally blind (as in enough sight in his right eye to walk around unaided and get by as a very very very nearsighted person, but for the purposes of things like drivers licenses he's considered blind), Harlem as his political base, 53 years old, has been in New York government since his election to the state Senate in 1985, reputation as a conciliator.
2) Will he try to carry on his anti-gaming agenda?
Hard to say, but personally I'm not considering it too likely. The gaming complaint was a pretty small part of what Spitzer went after; he's better known for going after corporations and prostitution. Paterson will likely be busy for a while cleaning up the current mess, then if "carrying on" anything, it'd probably be the corporation thing.
Plus it'd be a lot more difficult for him to look at something and get offended by it. He probably would need to be two inches from a screen or picture to make out any detail, and that's not exactly conductive to instant offense.
Schadenfreude.
It doesn't mean I endorse prostitution : it just means I don't think that being a client of prostitutes makes you a better or worse politician. Of course, Spitzer's case was a bit different, because he said something in public and acted the contrary in private.
have to love politics.
can't trust em over here, can't trust em over their!!!
such a shame really.
Game Over
Sorry for the late reply I just saw your post... But tell me about it. I mean why not treat it like a band-aid and just rip it off and get it over with?
Why was this guy wiretapped in the first place?
Doesn't that go against his rights? Was this approved somewhere?
And is having sex with a prostetute (his private buisness) a real problem at all? Okay, I'm not sure but IF prostitution itself is already illegal in ... whereever he did that.
At this moment I really fail to see the problem. So what if he was an idiot, foaming at the mouth about video games. So what if he was having sex with a prostitute, so what if he had a wife and kids, it's none of my damn buisness, or yours, or anyone elses but his and his wifes, if he cheated on her. Sure deserves punishment from her if he cheated. But no public outcry.
Because ripping of the Band-Aid is just the beginning of the pain. It's the slimy bacteria that's going to rush in and infect the wound once the Band-Aid's off that's going to cause severe suffering.
Is it just me or have we all forgotten how to speak other than figuratively? Thank God WordPress doesn't support graphics or maybe we'd be posting picture-books.