Some Notes on the Spitzer Scandal

Once – just once – I want to see a politician get busted for a girl actually worth risking a career for. I’d really like to see a press conference where the guy walks up to the podium and says, “It is with great sadness and tremendous remorse that I submit my resignation… but damn, she was so worth it.”

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There have been a few interesting commentaries on why the wives of disgraced politicians stand by their husbands as they reveal their indiscretions to the world. But if you’re going to do it, at least have some fun with it. For example, start clapping when your husband gets to the really juicy parts of his formal apology, and coax the press corp to give your husband a rousing standing ovation at the end. And then afterwards, grasp his face in your hands, give him a passion kiss, then back away and bitch slap him.

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From Newsweek:

Last week, federal prosecutors in New York arrested four individuals on prostitution and money laundering charges in connection with the case, including Mark Brener and Cecil Suwal, the alleged founders of the Emperors Club. In a raid on their New Jersey home, authorities seized more than $600,000 cash and two Israeli passports.

Hold on a minute. So New York Governor Eliot Spitzer falls for a call girl working for two Israelis. Former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey falls for an Israeli aide who was once a naval officer with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). And former President Bill Clinton fell for Monica Lewinsky.

One is curious. Two is suspicious. Three is a pattern.

I’m just saying, if they were Muslims from Pakistan we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.

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Speaking of Muslims, it’s funny where some of them pop up these days:

Over on Facebook, Dupre has been both lauded and loathed. Groups in her name range from congratulatory (“Fans of the Other Mrs. Eliot Spitzer”) to contemptuous (“The Ashley Alexandra Dupre Disdain Club”); collectively, they have a few thousand members. Amir Nadjmabadi, a fifth-year student at Virginia Tech, started the largest group, “Ashley Alexandra Dupre for President ’08.” Nadjmabadi is a finance major and says that in his department there was a lot of celebrating of Spitzer’s demise. That spurred his creation of the Facebook group Wednesday night around 10 p.m. Within 30 seconds the group had two additional members. “There was one guy from Australia, another guy from Venezuela,” he says. “I was kind of dumbfounded.” By Friday morning membership had grown to 356.

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And just in case you thought this one might wash over soon:

The charging documents also contain some humiliating tidbits about Client 9. Some girls were apparently wary of him and considered him “difficult.” Shortly after her appointment with Client 9, Kristen called the booker to discuss it. The booker said that she had been told Client 9 “would ask you to do things that, like, you might not think were safe.” But Kristen replied that she was unfazed: “I have a way of dealing with that … I’d be like, ‘Listen, dude, you really want the sex?’ … You know what I mean.” Who knows how many more embarrassing morsels like that remain to be disclosed. (source)