I love it when hypocrites get caught with their pants down. But the most disturbing fact is that he was caught via wire tap from the US Government. Is this the Patriot Act protecting us from terrorism? Doesn't the FBI have more important things to do?

I would love it if I could afford a $5,000 whore... I would even brag about it. Lighten up, America. No crime here... just poor judgment.

HOW those ladies can "stand by their man" after suffering the biggest of humiliations, I don't know. And they're always there. Time after time, scandal after scandal. Sure hope they bargain for a good reward--before stepping out into the cameras. Time to say bye-bye to silent yet supportive behavior--what an awful message they send

["I'll stand next to you, to lend credence to your 'family values'".] Women used to be silent about rape, too. Can't see too much difference here.

What is it with these guys that cannot keep their zippers up? I know, I know, there's some mysterious, deep psycological excuse as to why guys like Spitzer do these things: Have adulterous sex. Bullcrap! Guys screw around outside their marriage, because 1.) they can can get away with it; and, 2.)they can get away with it.

Human behavior really isn't that complex. Knowing right from wrong, and choosing to do wrong is as old as dirt. Spitzer chose to do wrong. He knew it could wreck his career, the public's trust, and his family life. He didn't care enough about any of those things to not do it.

I am sick of these guys dragging their wives on stage with them while they stand there either lying and denying, or confessing and asking for forgiveness. And what's up with these wives allowing themselves to be dragged up on stage? Does it occur to them to "just say no." As a woman, I am just as personally offended by them as much as I am by what their husbands have done.

Good riddance to bad trash!

He once busted up "sex rings" himself, but the New York governor's hiring of a pricey prostitute has shattered his political career.

By Walter Shapiro

Especially on Spitzer's prosecution of "sex rings".

What tends to get lost in all this is the nature of his work as attorney general. White collar crime is not the priority of the Bush DOJ now, is it? I doubt Spitzer was busting many johns or hookers, no matter who they were. I read Salon for Glenn Greenwald, Kamiya, a few others. Mr. Shapiro isn't a priority.

Work as Attorney General

As Attorney General, Spitzer stepped up the profile of the office, taking on cases of types that Attorneys General had avoided. Traditionally, state attorneys general have pursued consumer rights cases, concentrating on local fraud while deferring national issues to the federal government. Breaking with this traditional deference, Spitzer took up civil actions and criminal prosecutions relating to corporate white-collar crime, securities fraud, internet fraud, and environmental protection.

A number of experts, including economists, lawyers, and political analysts have commented on Spitzer's active role in public policy debates. The New York Attorney General's office has Wall Street (and thus many leading corporate and financial institutions) within its jurisdiction. Also, the New York Attorney General wields greater than usual powers of investigation and prosecution as to corporations under New York State's General Business Law. In particular, under Article 23-A, § 352 (more commonly known as the Martin Act of 1921) the New York Attorney General has the power to subpoena witnesses and company documents pertaining to investigations of fraud or illegal activity by a corporation.

Spitzer used this authority in his civil actions against corporations and criminal prosecutions against their officers. It proved its usefulness in the wake of several U.S. corporate scandals that began with the collapse of Enron in 2001. Several of these corporations, as well as the brokerage houses that sold their stock, were accused of having inflated stock values by unethical means throughout the 1990s. When inquiries into the allegations by the SEC and the Congress failed to gain traction, Spitzer's office used its subpoena power to obtain corporate documents, building cases against the firms both in courtrooms and in public opinion.

Spitzer used a New York statute to allow his office to prosecute cases which have been described as within federal jurisdiction.[7][8] In January 2005, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce described Spitzer's approach as "the most egregious and unacceptable form of intimidation we've seen in this country in modern times".[9]

Notable cases

In addition to prosecutions and civil actions in the financial sector, Spitzer has pursued cases in both state and federal courts involving pollution, entertainment, technology, occupational safety and health and other fields in which New York plays a part in setting and maintaining national standards of conduct.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Spitzer

You should read the notable cases at the link. No mention of "sex rings". I'm sure he went after some. Left or right, you've been played, unless you are one the lucky few that golf with the likes of Bush and Cheney.

All of our Democratic politicians had better assume they are under NSA level surveillence.

Given what I've read recently, you'd be a fool to behave otherwise.

This has some chilling parallels to former AG Carol Lam's case against the San Diego City Councilmen who reportedly took bribes from a strip club owner. The FBI wiretapped Zucchett for several years, built a case, (one of the council members died before he went to trial), and the jury returned a guilty verdict. Then the judge threw out the case, calling the evidence prejudicial. Carol Lam promised to to retry the two, but then she was gone, and Zucchett won a counter suit. The case was never brought up again. While a city council member is generally considered small fish, Zucchett was deputy mayor, and the sitting mayor was under a cloud, and eventually resigned. Zucchett was replaced with a pro-business candidate. The mayors race turned in favor of the Republicans, after a local favorite actually won the election as a write in candidate but was disqualilfied on a technicality. The head of a local school district became state party chairman, (close friend of Grover Norquist).

What was the FBI doing wiretapping a guy for two years, gathering flimsy evidence that wouldn't hold up in court? Some think the strip club owners were turning tricks as part of a plea bargain, but that was never substantiated. There was no way to be sure if Lam was pursuing the council members on behalf of the FBI, or the other way around. Meanwhile Duke Cunningham was doing his thing. If this pattern holds don't be surprised if all these allegations turn out to be baseless, or at the very least useless in a court of law, but then perhaps exacting political change is the real motive here?