New York Governor Spitzer caught in prostitution ring, resigns

This week I have been rather busy helping move my brother and sister-in-law into their new house. But amidst the packing and moving of boxes, I did catch a little of the story of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer getting caught in a prostitution ring, and his subsequent resignation as governor.

First, Spitzer had too much hubris. Spitzer makes a name for himself in the New York district attorney's office breaking up prostitution rings and bringing down the "Gambino family's control over Manhattan's garment and trucking industries." Spitzer is later elected at New York's attorney general, after which he goes on a crusade against Wall Street CEO's excessive paychecks, and the corruption of financial firms using their research departments for making IPO sales pitches to investors that would greatly benefit such firms. Spitzer made powerful enemies at Wall Street. Now Spitzer felt that, as governor, he was just too powerful to be taken down. Or maybe Spitzer's Wall Street enemies had somehow found out about Spitzer's high-priced sex habit, and tipped off the Feds. It really doesn't matter here. Spitzer had too much hubris, and the trappings of power in the New York governor's mansion, and the bevy of hot, sexy ladies at the Emperor's Club, were too much of a temptation for Spitzer. He got caught with his pants down. The meteoric rise of Eliot Spitzer had flamed out due to a $4,300 sexual escapade with this girl.

Should Eliot Spitzer have resigned from the governorship? Probably not. I could care less who Spitzer had sex with--be it with his wife, a prostitute, bi-sex, gay sex, porno sex. What he does in the privacy of his own home, or in a hotel room, makes no difference to me. Granted, he was caught in a prostitution ring. And in that case, Spitzer should have been fined and placed on probation. Look at Larry Craig and David Vitter. Craig was a Republican U.S. senator from Idaho, who was busted for soliciting gay sex in a Minneapolis airport restroom. Craig was fined and then placed on probation for his crime. And even though he first announced that he would resign from the U.S. Senate after this sex scandal was publicized, Craig never followed through with his resignation, saying that he would continue serving his term. Republican senator Larry Craig is still in the U.S. Senate, even after getting busted for soliciting gay sex. Democratic governor Eliot Spitzer is forced to resign after getting busted for having sex with a prostitute.

Let us look at David Vitter. Vitter is a Republican senator from Louisiana, whose phone number was included in the phone records of Deborah Jeane Palfrey as she was operating a prostitution house--We're talking about the D.C. Madame scandal. Vitter is still serving in the U.S. Senate, and has not faced any criminal charges, or even censure by the Senate Ethics Committee for his actions. Vitter has not resigned from the Senate. And yet, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is being forced to resign after getting busted for having sex with a prostitute.

Do you see a pattern here? If you're a Democratic politician, you are forced to resign for having sex with a hooker. But if you are a Republican politician, it is okay if you had sex with a hooker or a gay prostitute--it is not your fault, and thus you are not going to lose your job. There is a double standard being played out here that I find very disturbing. This double standard even includes a certain Republican presidential candidate who was caught having an affair with a female lobbyist. In that situation, I seriously wonder just what political favors John McCain gave Vicki Iseman after their hot bopping time in bed. I don't care if a politician wants to have sex for pleasure. But I do care if a politician is exchanging political favors for sexual pleasure--to me, that is corruption because it harms the constituents in that the politician is using the office for gaining sexual pleasures at the expense of the constituents of that office. John McCain may have given political favors Vicki Iseman for helping her telecommunications clients, as they were enjoying their little sexual tryst. That I don't like.