So, okay, maybe it wasn't the best time to ask about Eliot Spitzer, but DraftSpitzer figured this might be the only opportunity. Here's the breakdown:
DraftSpitzer: (interrupting actual book buyer, who wanted her book inscribed to Uncle Basil, or some such piffle) "Senator Sanders, do you think there's hope for a resurrection of Eliot Spitzer?"
Senator Bernie Sanders: (furrowing brow) "Spitzer? Well, he has a talk show on CNN."
DraftSpitzer: (panicky) "But... a talk show? That's not enough!"
Granted, it wasn't the wild endorsement one might hope for. Hadn't the Senator seen Alex Gibney's "Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer"?
To be fair, Senator Sanders had only flown in that afternoon, and by the time he finished speaking, it was after midnight Eastern time. Otherwise, I'm sure he would have sung the many praises of Eliot Spitzer. Because... who wouldn't?
Chalk it up to a Brooklyn-Bronx rivalry.
what spitzer has on them is a lot worse than anything they had in their desk drawer on mr. spitzer.
ReplyDeletehe was set up, of course, that was obvious.
we would be lucky to have him in a position of governance, and i would vote for spitzer early and often (kidding).
draft spitzer. where do i sign?
Given the ignorance, hypocrisy, prudery and stupidity of so many Americans, I have no doubt that his having had sex with a prostitute would always and forever trump whatever good he could do in government.
ReplyDeleteI give up on this country, really.
Dear tb and judy,
ReplyDeleteIf it's any comfort (and, one hopes, some inspiration), Spitzer was the only Democratic politician who consistently polled higher with men than with women, based largely on his tough, law-and-order position on white-collar-crime.
That may indicate that Americans were never as hypocritical, prudish, or stupid as the media would like.
The trick is circumventing the media's obsession with sex scandals to get the message out about the reforms Spitzer actually accomplished as New York State Attorney General.
Spitzer's heroism and formidable accomplishments in that role may be an increasingly strong motivation amid the ongoing corruption of the banking sector - even among Republicans.
Ironically, Spitzer's work as Attorney General in New York makes an intriguing conservative argument for the efficacy of state government, over the ineptitude of the Federal Government.
In the late-trading case against Canary Capital/Bank of America, Spitz accomplished in a matter of months what the Feds would take years to do - if they did it at all. Which, as we all know, they didn't.
Full disclosure: I have quite a few conservative friends who genuinely respect and appreciate Spitzer's work as Attorney General. They're not about to support him for a presidential bid, but we all agree that he should at least have an essential role as the head of a new Pecora Investigation or as a candidate for U.S. Attorney General.
There is common ground between ordinary people on both right and left when it comes to bank reform. I always suspected that, but I would never have known if I had not reached out to "the other side" and tried.
The problem is, whenever we find "real" bipartisanship (e.g., bipartisanship that works for ordinary citizens, rather than the banks) we get shouted down. It has, sadly, given bipartisanship a bad name.
I'm sorry I didn't know Sanders was in town; would have gone to see that (former Vt resident). I'm originally from NY and unfortunately, if one plays, one pays. I was an enthusiastic Spitzer supporter for his spearheading New York's conscience with regard to the careless use of pesticides (my blog's emphasis). His RICO work was a huge asset to society but also made him ridiculously careless in his poor choices of off-duty recreational activity.
ReplyDeleteHe is unelectable and perhaps should be so, given his flouting of the law. Prestige doesn't offer unlimited license as was apparently presumed by him. There is a reason why men preferred him over women voters - his crime shows a degree of misogyny. I am not a believer that prostitution is a victimless crime.
That said, there is no reason to bar him from appointments within the justice system since he's paid his dues to society and wasn't disbarred. This man has tremendous skills and tenacity essential to overturning extensive corruption within the legal system.
http://armchairactivist.us
Hi Barbara,
ReplyDeleteI have to take issue with the "if one plays, one pays" canard. The heads of the malefactor banks certainly played - and at grotesque expense to the taxpayer. But only Spitzer tried to make them pay. Sometimes he was successful. But in the end, as they say in Vegas, the House always wins.
And in the end it's not Spitzer who paid, not really. It's us for accepting the B.S. that Spitzer's "crime" amounted to a hill of beans compared to TARP.
As for $3,000 an hour escorts somehow being victms, who do you think you're kidding?
Maybe you should look a little deeper into what AIG pulled off.