Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Too Republican Even for Republicans
Via Rawstory1 comments
More background on New York's Governing While Democrat scandal...
Increasingly, it's looking like Eliot Spitzer was brought down like a deer with a .22.
We're seeing a trickle—that the people of New York can only assume will become a flood—of articles where political insiders start the chatting wheel moving on just how, why—and by whom—Eliot Spitzer was brought low.
Which buttresses the call in Gotham Notes for the Governor to not resign, but to hang tough and return fire on those political dogs of war.
1) Robert Novak, who has often been in the middle of the dung heap in his career, is finding the Spitzer case doesn't pass the smell test. Novak even spots that the DINOs in Albany are as bad as the Republicans when it comes to being held accountable and being forced to do the People's Business, and could just pay a dear price for helping set up the popular-with-citizens Spitzer. They have no political cover in what should prove a Republican onslaught. Morons.GOP strategists at work
The disgraced Eliot Spitzer had hardly resigned as governor of New York when Republican strategists began calculating a return to power in Albany via New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Lt. Gov. David Paterson, Spitzer's successor as governor, is considered a weak prospect for the 2010 election and might not even be the Democratic nominee. Bloomberg, finishing two successful terms as mayor in 2009, might find life as a private citizen boring enough to try for governor.
Bloomberg, who changed his affiliation from Republican to independent, could obtain the Independence Party nomination for governor and then be endorsed by the GOP.
A footnote: Democratic state legislators watching television Monday cheered when they heard the disliked Spitzer admit his guilt. But that joy faded as the Democrats contemplated that Spitzer's fall could trigger a Republican comeback in 2010. Democrats contemplate a takeover of all branches of the state government to control decennial redistricting.
Predicting Spitzer's departure
Republican political operative Roger Stone, Eliot Spitzer's longtime antagonist, predicted his political demise more than three months in advance.
"Eliot Spitzer will not serve out his term as governor of the state of New York," Stone said Dec. 6 on Michael Smerconish's radio talk show. He gave no details.
Spitzer's entrapment by federal authorities investigating a prostitution ring raised speculation that Stone, with a 40-year record as a political hit man, somehow was behind it. In truth, Stone had nothing to do with the investigation and said he had not heard about it when he made a prediction based on his general view of Spitzer.
That's Stone's story. Gotham thinks it bears greater scrutiny. Plus, Bob, Bloomberg became an Independent because he was so angry at the Republicans. He's also toyed with rejoining the Dems at different times in the last couple of years. So, this part of the story is no lock.
2) Establishment lawyer Alan M. Dershowitz writing in The Wall Street Journal notes:In this case, they wiretapped 5,000 phone conversations, intercepted 6,000 emails, used surveillance and undercover tactics that are more appropriate for trapping terrorists than entrapping johns. [GN emphasis] Unlike terrorism and other predatory crimes, prostitution is legal in many parts of the world and in some parts of the U.S. Even in places like New York, where it is technically illegal, johns are rarely prosecuted. Prostitution rings operate openly, advertising "massage" and "escort" services in the back pages of glossy magazines, local newspapers and television sex channels.
If the federal government really wanted to shut down these operations, they could easily do it without a single wiretap or email intercept. All they would have to do is get an undercover agent to answer the ads, arrange for the "escort" to go from New York to New Jersey and be arrested. But many in law enforcement would much rather reserve these statutes for selective use against predetermined targets.
In this case, if the serendipitous bank audit really led federal agents to Mr. Spitzer, and Mr. Spitzer led them to the Emperor's Club, and federal prosecutors really wanted to get the Club, they could easily have sent an undercover cop to pose as a john, instead of tapping phones and reading emails—tactics designed to catch and embarrass Mr. Spitzer with his own recorded words, which could be, and were, leaked to the media. As this newspaper has reported: "It isn't clear why the FBI sought the wiretap warrant. Federal prostitution probes are exceedingly rare, lawyers say, except in cases involving organized-crime leaders or child abuse. Federal wiretaps are seldom used to make these cases . . ."
Lavrenti Beria, the head of Joseph Stalin's KGB, once quipped to his boss, "show me the man and I will find the crime." The Soviet Union was notorious for having accordion-like criminal laws that could be adjusted to fit almost any dissident target. The U.S. is a far cry from the Soviet Union, but our laws are dangerously overbroad.
Both Democrats and Republicans have targeted political adversaries over the years. The weapons of choice are almost always elastic criminal laws. And few laws are more elastic, and susceptible to abuse, than federal laws on money laundering and sex crimes.
H/T to Crooks and Liars
3) The slackers' favorite neo-con, Ben Stein, came out with this on Sunday:
It feels odd when Republicans have Gotham's back. But at this juncture, all political hit-job consideration is welcome, and theories entertained.
posted by Gotham 1:14 AM
1 Comments:
I kinda agree w/Mr. Stein. Perhaps, the answer is to hold elections in 6 months. That way the will of the people is truly observed and represented. Just a thought...
By 
Kiko Jones, at
March 18, 2008 2:39 AM
