Hookers N' Stuff

Ah well...it had to happen sooner or later.

New York's Democrat governor Elliot Spitzer was caught with his hand or some other appendage in the sugar cookie jar. Hizzoner was traced via a tab to services rendered to him by an expensive call girl ring, the Emperor's Club, which specialized in discreet play for pay for wealthy and high profile men.The mayor has apparently been patronizing these sort of businesses for around a decade.

Adding a little bit of extra flavor to the mix was the fact that the self-named 'crusader' was popped for violating some of the same laws he vigorously prosecuted others for during his tenure as a prosecutor.

Aside from the prostitution bust itself, Spitzer also apparently made a routine of transporting his female companions over state lines, a violation of the Mann Act, which is a federal bust.And there's even some evidence that some of the money Spitzer was spending on hookers might even have been diverted from his campaign funds. If nothing else, he deserved to get busted for sheer punk ass arrogance and stupidity.

Spitzer made a brief public statement that came across rather like a robot on crack, taking no questions afterwards. His wife was standing on the podium next to him, which is a lot more than I can fathom, frankly.From what I could see, she stood there as white as a ghost, saying nothing and giving no indication she was connected to the man speaking except by virtue of being on the same stage with him.

I really felt for her,but at the same time it really made me wonder.Just what was she trying to say by showing up here? And what did Spitzer have to gain by subjecting her to what had to have been a further, gross humiliation?

The Spitzers, after all,have three teenage daughters. Is this the sort of behavior Mrs. Spitzer wanted to model for them? That your husband totally trashes your marriage vows and humiliates you but you still do your best to provide a cover for him at the inevitable news conference?

And the governor...what did he have to gain by having his wife there? His political career was likely over anyway in New York because of his borderline unlawful attempt to provide illegal aliens with driver's licenses in the city where 9/11 happened. As it is, he'll likely resign tomorrow, and he'll be lucky not to wind up doing time, even if it is in a country club prison like Allenwood. So why drag the wife on the stage?

Passing strange, it is. Although in her defense, Mrs. Spitzer was probably operating out of instinct. After all, she probably had very little time to prepare or plan for this.

Morality aside, let's consider the legal and political implications.

First of all. rather like his good buddy Mr. Bill, Governor Spitzer was not guilty of a misbehavior on a 'private matter', as I heard one liberal commentator say today. Laws by their nature either apply to all of us or none of us. And frankly, some of us still think that an elected official in the public trust should be held to a higher standard.

It's a bit ironic that Spitzer, a stanch Hillary backer and Clintonista has now been scrubbed from the Clinton `08 website for merely doing a low-rent imitation of Mr. Bill - because he could. At least Spitzer apparently paid these women well, unlike his role model.

Yes Bubba, Mr. Bill was a major league play-ah, and he changed the rules of the game bigtime when it comes to what we expect out of our political leaders.Spitzer barely got on the ballfield, so to speak.

There's another aspect to this,I think, that I haven't really heard anyone talk about.

Whenever there's a high profile case of a husband betraying his marriage vows(and let's face it....a female public figure who strays in this way is rarely publicized) I can't help but think that it raises a shadow of doubt in many wives towards ther husbands. Like the old line in 'Cold Cold Heart' lots of guys probably pay some dues for things they didn't do, and a clown like Elliot Spitzer demeans men generally ,more or less, in the eyes of women. And that's too bad.

At any rate, after Spitzer resigns, he'll probably do what people do nowadays to escape the consequences of bad behavior...go into rehab.

And with that, let's change the channel,shall we?