The Cafferty File: Should Eliot Spitzer Resign?
By Logan Murphy Monday Mar 10, 2008 7:01pm
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Following the shocking revelation that New York Governor, Eliot Spitzer, had been caught in a prostitution sting, Jack Cafferty put the question to his viewers -- Should Eliot Spitzer resign? Jack felt that CNN had devoted too much time to the scandal, goes over the laundry list of recent political sex scandals then has fun with a few e-mails. Spitzer has apologized, but is that enough? Should he fight it out, or should he resign?
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First, Vitter & Craig. Then........
He should resign, just as soon as David Vitter resigns.
When the repubic-hairs resign, then so should Spitzer.
herr dubyah should be the first to resign.
P.S. Obama is leading in Mississippi
Spitzer Escort: Governor Was a Nice Guy, Good Tipper. Says Spitzer "didn't do anything that wasn't clean."
I agree with post #1. After vitter and craig, then resign.
Spitzer should bargain with his resignation to lower any criminal charges brought against him. Simple as that.
I agree with the replys above, however, if he violated the Mann Act how can he just resign?
Republicans in NY want Spitzer to resign or they will seek IMPEACHMENT.
Funny how Repubs think cheating on a spouse is so much worse than, say, shredding the Constitution, internal corruption and voter fraud, among other things.
The New York Legislature should give him a standing ovation when he shows up, then dare the Republicans to impeach him.
if he had championed decriminilizing and regulating prostitution during his tenure i would have said no to resigning. he however supported opposing views. he should resign.
Of course he should resign, we hold ourselves with higher standards than republicans.
With that being said, I have this guy at work who is a republicans and we always take cheap shots at each other. First thing in the morning he asked me if I saw the newspapers and I said: - Too bad he didn't have sex with an underage boy, I'm sure Limbaugh and Fox News would come right on his defense.
I really can't believe Cafferty had the nerve to leave out David Vitter. Cafferty is the one who should resign.
It really doesn't matter; as someone who lives in the region, I can tell you he is a dead man walking. He'll be gone before Friday.
nyguy @ 12:
What he said, in both parts.
Maybe Congress can grant him retroactive immunity.
If he's going to quit, sooner is better than later.
I can't believe that the republicans have the nerve to mention impeachment. But then I think they all hid when Foley, Vitter and Craig were brought up in the newspapers for a nano-second.
This scandle about Spitzer is going to be around til the election. Wanta bet. And with all bush has done in violation of the Constitution of this country they crap their pants when anyone mentions impeachment of him.
COULD SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME, WHY SEX IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN LYING TO THE COUNTRY TO START A WAR AND EVERYTHING ELSE HE HAS DONE BUSH IS BYPASSED.
There should be no "if so and so Republican resigns..." requirement. Spitzer should go, just like any other hypocritical law-breaking politician who gets caught. All the liberals (and I'm a big tree-hugging, pussified liberal) who are making excuses should be ashamed of themselves. Just because right wingers make a habit of bending principles doesn't make it okay for you to.
The man should resign, shut up, and go away....in that order.
L.A. Confidential @ 5:
Heck give the guy some credit. He wasn't at one of the White House Ped parties or Gannon fests.
Sidney Scooter III @ 16:
lol -- yeah, but that only works with AT&T, not STDs
Spitzer should resign. Although he's been a progressive champion and a strong proponent of good government he had the hubris to believe that the rules did not apply to him, and at this point I don't think there's any reason to believe that he didn't hire prostitutes or engage in a violation of the law.
An additional factor for politics-heads to consider: this scandal seriously jeapardizes the chances of the democratic party from winning the NY Senate this year. It is absolutely essential for the democratic party to win the state Senate in order to be able to take charge of redistricting in 2010. As it stands now, Rochester and Buffalo (the second and third largest cities in NY) share a single representative. As a resident of Rochester, this galls me to no end. The sooner Spitzer is off the political stage the better it will be for the NY Democratic party.
The corporate media is all over this shit about Spitzer, but they continue to ignore real crime and the criminals of the repubic-hair party. They now have the magical impetus of "coochie potential" to distract the masses. Nothing distracts from reality like someone either getting laid or showcasing their goods, i.e. Brittany, Paris Hilton et al. The media will certainly bone up to the task at hand and give us a fair and balanced report, over and over and over ad nauseum. Never a word will be said by the corporate media about the real fuckin' taking place in D.C. by a corrupt regime bent on raping the Constitution and the Nation's constituency.
gee Jack, what do you think?
I recall sex being reason enough to demand an impeachment but now they're asking if this idiot should have to resign?
And don't you just love the conservotards who don't see the problem with it.
But that's the conservotard rule "Do as we say, not as we do."
As the former king of moral rectitude -- but now the king of hypocrisy -- YES he should fucking resign. And this is coming from someone who voted for him as I once believed he was a Pit-Bull Democrat that wouldn’t put up with bullshit and corruption.
All that said -- I think he should state that he is going to resign -- but not until Vitter and Craig do -- that might bring some more attention back to those cocksuckers.
Obama takes miss. 5 min. ago
Impeach cheney and bush @ 8:
I thought the Mann Act concerned itself with taking minors across state lines. Are the escorts in question under age?
Pol Pot-O-Cheesesauce @ 29:
Actually it's transporting women across state lines for "immoral" purposes. After all, we are but chattel.
Pol Pot-O-Cheesesauce @ 29:
No, the Mann Act makes it a crime to take any woman across state line for paid sex, not just minors (although there are separate provisions and harsher penalties for minors). Plus he may have violated banking laws as well as the Mann Act. In any case, there is no way he could effectively govern with this hanging over him. He's going to make a deal with the U.S. Attorney's office and he'll resign by the end of the week, if not earlier.
viva @ 28:
Shocking!!! Another southern "red state" win. Yawn.
i for one am tired of the fucking hypocracy of the
gop. they all can go fuck themselves.
if a gop gets caught in sexual misconduct, they give them a standing ovation.
if it's a democrat, then the most fowl law has been broken and we must impeach.
well, repugs.........when you are for Impeaching the worst law breakers in the
history of the USA, that is bush and chenet, then you can pursue Eliot Spitzer.
until that time, please just take your hands out of each other's ass.
what a bunch of fucking lowlife gop bastards.
Larry Craig Demands Equal Treatment Under ‘The Mann Act’
nyguy @ 12:
Not me. The only question is whether the Governor is doing the people's work, or not.
If he is, then he should continue, unless indicted in a felony.
President PNACcio @ 10:
i am with you here. fuck all the repugs and their hypocracy
Can't he just go to rehab like everybody else?
Why is there so much interest in and condemnation of a politician's sex life in the US, and so little outrage over the fact that we have a mass-murdering lying criminal in the White House? Further, why can some perverted Repiglican solicit sex in the bathroom in the airport and the rest of his party leaps to his defense, but moments after Spitzer's peccadilloes were revealed, same Repiglicans were screaming for impeachment.
Something is very wrong with our sense of values.
@27 - what a great idea! He'll resign when Vitter and Craig resign. I like it. And I voted for Spitzer too ... here in Manhattan, he's hanging on tenterhooks.
Should he resign?
hmmmm? let me think about that one for a second.
Yes,he should resign.
But since the GOP has been reluctant to do so,I say sure,after you guyz.
Now personaly,I think he should resign.He was a DA,and this whole thing makes him a hypocrite.
And I'm sick and tired of hypocrites.
Then there's a side of me that says,Screwum..........(no pun intended)
I think there should be new legislation that prohibits transporting a man across state lines for sex. I feel so cheated!
A marine biologist developed a race of genetically engineered dolphins that could live forever if they were fed a steady diet of seagulls. One day his supply of the birds ran out, so he had to go out and trap somemore. On the way back, he spied two lions asleep on the road. Afraid to wake them, he gingerly stepped over them. Immediately, he was arrested and charged with transporting gulls across sedate lions for immortal porpoises.
Distraction.
And who else patronized the call girl service?
Spitzer is a dumb fuck (not even a scumbag). But to put his misdeed in perspective, we need to see who else was involved.
Anyone?
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/11/757137.aspx?GT1=43001
Ok, maybe not "set up" exactly ....but it looks like they were looking for other "dirt."
Hmmmm.
Resign and find Jesus.
[kidding!]
He was an Attorney General. If he had come from any other background, I'd say stick it out.
He should resign and go back to doing what he was good at: going after white-collar crooks and fighting corruption.
It's the hypocrisy that pisses me off too. Generally I don't think a person's sex life should factor into politics. However, in this case we have a former Attorney General and "tough on crime" guy who has blatantly flouted the law.
I don't care about how progressive he is after that. I hate hypocrites. He should go and the sooner the better.
Indeed, Democrats should be united in calling for him to resign. That way we can point at Rethuglicans and say "Gee, why don't you have the moral fiber to do that to your own hypocrites?"
Many of you guys are a bunch of hypocrites.
Spitzer is a scumbag.
I am a strong democrat and to suggest that he should "wait" until another disgraced politician resigns before he does is disgusting.
How about having the balls to do the right thing and set the example?
What the hell does anything any other politician have to do with this?
Nothing. Period.
dadams @ 36:
Absolutely, he goes when Vitter goes. Why should we loose an advocate for rank and file Americans and New Yorkers when they keep a corrupt advocate for the rich and powerful for their side over the same thing? Give him a Vitter standing ovation!
go already. no discussion.
Oh, for crying out loud! Dumbest fucking Cafferty report I've ever seen!
What is it about politicians and illicit sex? It's not politicians, it's human beings. If our society would shed its Puritan remnants, politicians wouldn't have to go around pretending that they aspire to heterosexual monogamy.
Why should I care if Larry Craig solicits gay sex? Why should I care if Elliot Spitzer goes to prostitutes? Why should I care if Bill Clinton cheats on his wife?
Friggen legalize and regulate prostitution. Make it safe, and tax it. And then let's give up our hang ups about all the salacious gossip, and let politicians be human beings, whether they're straight, gay, have mistresses on the side, have bizarre fetishes or whatever.
You can't make the sex go away, but we can at least aspire to take the illicitness out of it.
His first action should be to pardon anyone he prosecuted and convicted for prostitution, then resign. Then he should explain to his daughters that not every men are piece of crap like him.
Can someone clue me in on what happened here? From all I have read, he (Spitzer) solicited sex from a working girl, previously known to him. He then made arrangements to meet her at some destination in another state. However, the story headlines state he was "involved with a prostitution ring".
Now, when I see that, it suggests that he is a pimp, career planner, a talent recruiter, or just generally involved with the 'ring's operations. Yet, I do not see any actual involvement that way. Amy I missing something?
dadams @ 33:
Well said.
Congrats to Obama on another fine win and Texas too. The momentum is back!
Simple answer? You shouldn't care about the sex lives of politicians.
What you SHOULD care about very much is a scumbag who dedicates his life to putting people in jail for doing the exact same thing he has done.
You SHOULD care about the lies and the corruption and the hypocrisy.
Who he sleeps with is irrelevant.
Karen @ 51:
Al M, Boston MA @ 47:
Agreed.... screw Spitzer. (no pun intended)
VoR
4300 bucks for an hr.
W0W............can you imagine?
Prostitution is illegal. He isn't supposed to break laws. He should resign. Doesn't matter what initial is behind his name. The Repub assclowns should resign as well.
Al M, Boston MA @ 47:
This would be the ONLY reason I would recant my earlier post and say he should go.
As client no.7, I assure you; money well spent!
PEI @ 55:
I don't disagree with that, PEI. I was commenting on the tenor of the Cafferty report. He asked the question, "What is it with politicians and illicit sex?" He also asked why they think they can get away with it.
This whole situation is ridiculous. Yeah, for Spitzer or anyone to dedicate their lives to ruining the lives of others for participating in activities that he himself participates in is infuriating.
But as long as we have these ridiculous laws and standards, that's the way it's going to be. Schmucks like George W. Bush will become coke addicts, and then call for tougher laws against doing cocaine. People like Spitzer will rail against the prostitutes they hire. It's always going to be this way when we try to outlaw basic human demands. The demand for sex isn't going away, and the demand for drugs isn't going away.
Until we shed our repressive, Puritanical unease with human nature, we'll continue to have stories like these.
Al M, Boston MA @ 47:
I don't disagree with your point. Realize, though, that we'd be taking the high road for its own sake. There's nothing wrong with that, but we have to realize that. You can't shame the modern GOP into changing. Its members don't have the gene for shame.
Someone brought up Dick Cheney's Escort problems....
The guy was Attorney General. It sends a bad message when the chief crime fighter breaks the law. I like the guy, but he should resign.
Find an orderly succession strategy that gives the Republicans no gains, and then move on. He got caught, so now he needs to take one for the team.
I call bullshit on planning to meet with a hooker qualifying as "being involved in a prostitution ring"
Let me get this straight....they want to impeach this guy for sex...but we cant impeach two guys for two bogus wars and tons of dead people???
The real story here is WHY did the FBI target Spitzer in the first place. Generally you suspect a politician of accepting bribes when he takes in too much money, not when he spends his own.
Why did the IRS or Spitzer's own bank feel compelled to rat him out for spending his own money? Who asked for a wiretap based on money transfers of less than $10,000? What judge approved the tap?
What probable cause allowed a federal case to be made, here? Who did the FBI think Spitzer was taking bribes from? Why didn't they drop the matter after it became apparent that there was no public corruption taking place?
The press is again dropping the ball by not asking the right questions.
nyguy @ 12:
Love it!
i spit out some of my corona as jack called larry craig a 'mutant.'
hahahaha...
oh for goodness sake just give cafferty his own show already, CNN!
Unless I'm wrong, this is how political power works. Oppos (or seppos) in charge, you're fuc&ed.
Git yer own people in, oppos are fuc&ed.
It's very unenlightened basic mammalian groupthink.
When you reckon we might attempt to graduate from that?
Johnny2Bad @ 32:
They are only red states until they turn blue. I love the 50 state strategy.
The thing is, if he resigns, we will have a Democratic politician resigning for his indiscretions being exposed while Republican politicians won't resign for theirs.
If he gets impeached, we'll have a Democratic politician being impeached for something that, while hypocritical, is harmless compared to all we know about the top two Republicans in office for whom impeachment is off the table.
All animals are equal, but some pigs are more equal than others, huh?
perhaps if he had tortured the hooker, the gop wouldn't be making such a big deal out of this. it's my opinion that he needs to resign.
NY Legislature said to Spitzer, "Resign, or you'll be impeached." Strange, Bush, when he committed war crimes/ NSA violations, got a yawn.
Why is the legislature challenging "lesser" offenses like war crimes with an impeachment; but Pelosi isn't willing to challenge, with the same threat "resign or impeach" for war crimes?
This man betrayed the Democratic party with his unbecoming actions. I don't know why we have to treat him with kid gloves just cause he's on our side. Send him on his shameful way just like any other. Make an example out of him and show the repugs that we don't tolerate this hypocritical crap.
Sidney Scooter III @ 42:
Thanks!
He should resign. I say this as a Spitzer donor and volunteer. He can't achieve his reform agenda now. He is a laughingstock and exposed as a hypocrite, having prosecuted others for the same offense.
More at my blog:
http://hudson.typepad.com
Note, regarding the comment about wire transfers under $10,000:
There is a lot of bad info out there. If you make multiple transfers under $10,000 that add up to a large number, it can also trigger the system.
Spitzer is now reported to have spent upwards of $80,000 on hookers.
Let's stop with blaming the (admittedly awful) Bush Justice Department and start facing the fact that a Democrat who set himself up as Mr. Clean -- including prosecuting people for exactly the crime he was committing -- let us down.
Who else was in the emperors club? Spitzer had to be enticed by someone that made him feel he was in safe company.
He should resign. I'm a Democrat. Hypocrites should burn twice as hot. We all remember Bill in times like these and hope for change and better times.
Reply to #30...Fanon
I don't know
I keep flip flopping on this one..
i say let him hang in there for a while and see what happens
It all seems like too an easy set up for a misdemeanor
For all the good he has done for the state and the nation to take him out over seeing a hooker is nuts.
He has set the ground work to keep it a family matter yet an embarrassment to the great state of New York none the less
Oops...reply to #30 Fanon.....they shoulda just dropped the gal at the state line and let he hop over. Would it then be a crime?
gwen @ 65:
Well, from what I've read today, the reason he was caught is because large amounts of money were being moved around in his banking accounts for a while, and this activity may stretch back to when he was AG.
I find it disturbing that the government requires banks to alert the FBI if employees notice any "Suspicious Activities." I don't think that prostitution should be illegal. However, Mr. Spitzer was very willing to follow-up on Suspicious Activity Reports when he was AG and a prosecutor, and he actively pursued criminal charges for sexual acts illegal under the law. So, regardless of what you may think the GOP gets away with, Spitzer deserves to be treated exactly like he would have treated anyone else in his position.
Stop using their bullshit to justify an ally's bullshit. You know how it pisses you off when every GOP scandal becomes a comparison study of something Bill Clinton was accused of? Well, that's what Spitzer appoligists sound like now.
Aren't his pants or lack of, his biz? The USA's office involved? They are prosecuting small call girl rings instead of dealing with terrorists and actual crime where there are victims?
justice doesn't exist in this country any more. law enforcement is going to need to do a lot of damage control to look anything other than corrupt, bought, and frankly, retarded. Our highest law enforcement officials are inept or crooks. How can the little guys find anything to look up to?
do we have any priorities left as a civilization? this is really embarrassing, again.
bj @ 83:
Apparently. They found a guy guilty under the Mann act for travelling with his "wife" in a polygamous relationship. (check wikipedia for the case). Good news, though, if you transport a whole bunch of females it still only counts as one infraction of the Mann act.
He ought to explain to anybody he prosecuted for prostitution related offenses why the law doesn't apply to him.
Should he resign? Not being a resident of New York, I don't really care.
He should resign for the sake of consistency. And if he doesn't, we'll hear wingnuts whining about how Democrats never resign when their sex scandals hit, ignoring the ratio of scandals. In fact, we'll hear it anyway but it'll be easier to argue back.
when will this country stop the hypocracy and legalize prostitution and drugs?
$80,000. bucks in call girls? Did he expose his wife to Aids or any number of other sexually transmitted diseases? Is someone so unconcerned with the effect he has on his own family and the people who elected him fit for office? I think not. I think he deserves jail time and whatever else the Republicans can dish out for for him.
rainbird @ 91:
Why do you think it's so expensive?
The call girls of politicians are not a major disease vector, except perhaps in reverse.
[Deleted-Sitemonitor]
Has he been indicted for a felony?
No, he has not.
How many other hundreds of politicians on the East Coast can be linked to the same sort of petty crime?
• The transfer of a prostitute across state lines was a set-up.
Being a lawyer, he should have known better. The real question, though, is why has this come out now? What work is he in the middle of doing that they are trying to stop?
If you said (gay rights) you were probably correct.
U.S. Senators from the States, I meant.
Did he harm or steal from anyone? Sure he probably devastated his family by the revelations... which I might add the government saw fit to make such a public spectacle despite that he has daughters. Yet I still think his "crime" is very weak here, and when I think of the BIG crimes going on in Washington, maybe that's why I feel that way.
NO NO NO. Democrats need to stop caving in and start FIGHTING back. These REPUGNICANS are the lowest slime of em all. Spitzer is a great guy no matter what he allegedly did or did not do in his PERSONAL life. Need to focus on PUBLIC issues and not on the PRIVATE issues of PUBLIC people.
This is a Republican vendetta against the one guy who has put those CROOKS and LIARS in jail. Call and support Eliot!!!!!!
Hudson @ 78:
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