LOOKS LIKE WE NEED A NEW SHERRIFF!

As this is written, it appears that New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, long famed as "The Sherriff of Wall Street", is preparing to resign from his office. Although there are many, including Gov. Spitzer himself, who are trying to portray this scandal as "a private matter", the fact remains that he has abused the public's trust and must resign immediately.

Of course, just like the good Democrat he is, he is trying to cut whatever deal he can to avoid any real penalty for his misdeed. Hopefully, Republicans in New York won't allow him to stay in office, the way the Senate Republicans did with the priapic Bill Clinton.

Let's examine briefly the life and times of one Elliot Spitzer. Fred Dickers column in the New York Post, Bully Gets His Comeuppance, is most illuminating:

A disgraced Gov. Spitzer has been publicly and privately described for more than a year by New York's top political figures as a ruth less, sanctimonious, amoral man whose righteous public persona was regularly contradicted by the realities of how he
conducted his political life.

We are talking about a man who was raised in the tony environs of wealthy suburbs and Ivy League schools, who preposterously claimed to have been raised in the Bronx. He affected an accent and used Brobdingnagian words to burnish his image. Yet his thuggish behavior, as a district attorney, as state attorney general, and as governor was legend.

Although he was caught red handed, in 1994, violating election laws with improper loans from his wealthy father, he eventually went on to being elected New York State Attorney General. The press was oddly silent about his past campaign misdeeds, even letting his repeated lies about the matter stand. He was helped along by his opponent, Dennis Vacco, who had foolishly rejected the endorsement of the Right to Life Party, thereby denying himself thousands of votes and ensuring Spitzer's win in 1998.

Spitzer then went on something of a rampage, prosecuting or threatening prosecution of various Wall Street firms, which may have endeared him to the Liberal elites by raising millions in fines and penalties, but did little to help New York's problematic job market, since firms simply up and left the state for more congenial climes.

And it wasn't just Wall Street executives who were threatened. Sean Hannity has a recording of then Attorney General Spitzer, threatening to use his office to destroy the talk show host for some rough questioning he'd endured on Hannity's national radio program. Can you say "abuse of office"? Sure you can!

From the very first, Gov. Spitzer has been in trouble. Right from the start, he tried using state troopers and the State IRS to discredit state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. When word of these abuses of power went public, Spitzer pulled a Nixon, throwing his lead Dirty Trickster, Darren Dopp, under the bus in an effort to deflect the dubious operation away from himself. The spurious nature of these attacks was underscored by the finding of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, ostensibly a "friend" of Spitzer, that exonerated the Senator. Afterwards, Sen. Bruno had this to say:

"There's something wrong with Spitzer, something wrong in his head. He's a
liar, he's a hypocrite and he cannot ever been trusted,"

It's, to be sure, a delicious irony, that Spitzer's Dirty Tricks squad was trying to pin Bruno to the misuse of the very same state-owned aircraft that the Governor most likely used in his trysts with call girls over the past ten years.

Yes, as a district attorney and as Attorney General, Elliot Spitzer styled himself as a sort of White Knight, defeating Wall Street "crooks" (although John Whitehead's op ed piece in the Wall Street Journal raised some doubts) and escort services alike. And guess what? He was tripped up by the very same laws that he used against his targets of prosecution.

The AP's Samantha Gross and Devlin Barrett describe how Spitzer's illicit activities came to the attention of federal investigators. Banks, it seems, are required by law to report any activities that appear to attempts to conceal (or "smurf" as it is termed) transactions that might be violations of the law. Spitzer's hurried effort to get his hands on $4,000 in cash, coupled with previous instances of similar behavior, set off red flags to investigators.

Spitzer's phones were then tapped and his perfidy was uncovered. It turns out that he'd probably spent upwards of $80,000 on sex with prostitutes, according to the New York Post.

Now, also according to The Post, it seems that he "is likely" to resign tomorrow, depending on if he can get a deal that avoids his prosecution. Of course, earlier in the day, his aides suggested that he'd like to finish off the remaining three years of his term. But GOP legislators gave him a deadline: resign immediately or impeachment begins in forty eight hours.

Now this all may seem to be a local New York State matter, but it can have repercussions on the presidential race. After all, Elliot Spitzer, so long as he's governor, is one of those Democratic Party superdelegates we've been hearing so much about. In fact, he's already pledged to one of the two candidates: Hillary Clinton, the wife of well known philanderer, the priapic Peroni Bill.

God! Don't you just love the irony? What's Hillary to do? Stand by yet another man?

Just a couple of last thoughts on the matter. Is it just me, or is there something really creepy about Democrats who get caught in sex scandals who trot their wives out for the press conference? Jim McGreevy in New Jersey, now Elliot Spitzer. What is most frightening about these spousal appearances is that they seem, well... drugged... for lack of a better word. It's not bad enough that their husbands are cheating (McGreevy with another man, for Pete's sake!) but that the humiliation has to be so public. No wonder they appear over medicated. Either it's the shock alone, or the shock that made the medication so very necessary.

But what goes on in the minds of these women? Why would they even think of appearing in public with these pigs when the news gets out? And how is it that they are the last to hear about these troubles?

My most profound sympathies go to Spitzer's children. These are the real victims of his calumny. The pain they must be going through is unthinkable. And the humiliation to come will be even worse. For that alone, Spitzer should resign.

Elliot Spitzer has finally met his judgement, whether he resigns or not. He has finally been brought down, which given his sordid and vicious career, is only right.

See, Liberals? There really is a God!

Copyright March 11tn, 2008