GG:

Do you know if she knew? Do you know if she minded?

Why would he have said he must now dedicate his time to "rebuilding" her trust, if she knew all about it? I concede it's a remote possibility they had some sort of arrangement and the "violating trust" thing was for show, but it is highly unlikely. I mean, she didn't look, say, only mildly irritated. She looked stunned.

And actually, it probably isn't half her money

I doubt that's the case; but perhaps, if we're really, really lucky, we'll find out all about it via some extended unceasing news coverage of their messy and ugly divorce?! One can only dream!

Does one spouse have to approve of every activity where the other spouse spends money?

Well, that's how it works in my household, at least when the amount involved is $4,000. YMMV.

And is any of this really any of our business?

It's none of my business, as I don't live in NY. I'd say it is the business of anyone who was counting on their Governor/husband/team leader to act ethically and responsibly.

I would not be surprised if he was targeted, btw, and for political reasons; I'm only amazed he didn't anticipate it.

Can you really not see the difference between answering the phone for someone and sucking his dick?

Emotionally, yes.

Rationally, not really.

If you have read my previous posts you'll know that many jobs go far beyond "answering the phone", they require risking your life, health and even sanity in some cases.

I have a relative with a commercial painting business that does a lot of office building interiors in high rises buildings. They almost always have to work at night with the AC turned off and they are often putting toxic stains and finishes on woodwork. Spend ten hours in an enclosed space with lacquer based stain fumes and no ventilation and you'll be very ill for a while afterward, respirator or no.

The cumulative toxic effect of working that sort of job can alter your mental state and in some cases literally drive you out of your mind.. Rather like delirium tremens..

is not Spitzer and his stupid dalliance.

What is reprehensible is that the Bush cabal and unknown forces got away with immense and unforgivable crimes on and after 9/11.

Still doubt that 9/11 was the willful creation and ploy of a dark sinister government hellbent on enslaving us all? See 9/11 False Flag, a GERMAN documentary.

In Germany apparently, they still THINK (what the fuck IS in our water?!?).

Spitzer is nothing compared to the loss of ALL of our rights and our subjugation under an evil hegemonic empire.

I’m completely with Glenn on this. One of the more interesting and ironic rhetorical techniques I’ve seen from some of the commentators is for those who say how really, really big this is and then go on for paragraph-after-paragraph how excitable, weird, what-have-you Glenn seems to be for arguing to the contrary. After having a president who has absolutely wrecked our country put into office largely on the strength of a similar scandal, it should be those who self-righteously and breathlessly decry Spitzer and deem him not worthy of his office who may want to take the deep breaths. Spitzer may take personal pleasure in screwing prostitutes, but, his successor, like Clinton’s successor, may take political pleasure in screwing 99% of everyone else. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had more than one friend who had voted for Bush say, “Maybe a blow job wasn’t so bad after all!”

I was glad to see Glenn’s second update discussing Scott Horton’s take on what we really should be focusing, issues which JKP1000 touched on in his comment. Several disturbing narratives (to early for me to call them facts since some of them seem to conflict, which is problematic in itself) already are emerging:

• As Glenn discussed, the rarity of prosecuting those who hire prostitutes at any level of law enforcement, much less at the federal level.

• As Glenn also discussed, the Mann Act has a history of being used in this country for politically-motivated prosecutions, including, as Scott Horton pointed out, Jack Johnson and Charlie Chaplin.

• ABC News indicates that Spitzer may be prosecuted under an obscure statute called structuring, which, according to their article, is making a series of financial transactions designed to obscure the true purpose of the transactions. David Kurtz at Talking Points Memo gives an example of this as follows:

If I'm remembering my white collar crime law correctly, structuring is basically trying to avoid triggering the federal reporting requirement for any cash transaction that exceeds $10,000. So a series of $9,000 payments to the same person in a short period of time would raise suspicions, for example.

• As David Kurtz put it, "If ABC's account is accurate, the whole case is sort of anti-climactic. The feds start out thinking they have the New York governor on the hook for bribery -- and instead discover that he's just skulking around with high-priced call girls," then it would appear that the Justice Dept. was focusing on the individual rather than the crime, which, as former Attorney General Grant Woods (Republican) pointed out in the recent segment on 60 MINUTES regarding the Gov. Siegelman case, is strongly indicative of a political prosecution.

• Scott Horton also pointed out how expensive this investigation seemed to be to bust someone on either hiring a prostitute or to divide up a few checks to hide that fact.

• According to Talking Points Memo, the fateful phone call took place on Feb. 13, which is not even four weeks ago. Pretty quick work for a Justice Dept. that apparently has been sitting on investigations of Republican lawmakers for a year or two, cannot seem to find time to get Siegelman’s paperwork in order so he can appeal his case, and cannot muster the resources to look into several incidents of rapes allegedly committed by Blackwater employees on their female co-workers while in Iraq or the multiple deaths of Iraqis committed by Blackwater employees. Also, it didn’t take much time for this secretive and security-conscious bunch to let the prostitution angle get out to the public sphere

When these narratives are placed in the context of the demonstrated conduct of the Bush/Cheney/Rove Justice Dept., past and present, serious doubts arise only hours into this.

As for those who are dealing with the moral side of this, and have come to their own conclusions regarding the motives and relative victimization of prostitutes vis a vis their customers, Taylor Marsh has a very solid take on this side of the issue. I’m not a very big fan of hers since she began attacking Barack Obama and John Edwards mercilessly several months ago while under the guise of a politically-neutral observer, but I recalled her saying she had written a book or something several years ago on the prostitution game. I don’t like the way she went about supporting Hillary Clinton, but she does a good job on this, especially in pointing out that prostitutes are not necessarily the victim and that it’s often not about the spouse. Link:

http://www.taylormarsh.com/archives_view.php?id=27198