Eliot Spitzer with Fareed Zakaria on CNN

[cal04]

Run time: 07:48 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We_XPDb1_38   Posted on YouTube: March 22, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: March 22, 2009 By DU Member: cal04 Views on DU: 1342

 

[Joanne98]

1. I saw this. Thanx for posting.

[CTyankee]

2. I am dismayed that we seemed to have brought Spitzer down on such a personal issue.

I come down on the side of the civil libertarians here. I just don't know what he did wrong to his constituents. His private life was his own. He's a smart guy otherwise and his usefulness was cut short as a result of the scandal.

Do I like him as a man? No. If I were his wife I'd divorce him immediately. But as a public servant he was good and that is the standard I believe should be established and followed.

[ihavenobias]

3. Agreed. n/t

[greenbird]

4. I agree with you on that.

Absolutely.

[Nite Owl]

8. What he did was illegal

he prosecuted cases just like his. On the other hand I'd like to know who else was on that list that got a pass. It was a stupid thing, he was arrogant not expecting someone to try to get him for something. NY would sure be in a lot better state if he was still here though. I hope he is able to make a comeback of some sort.

[Karenina]

5. So as I'm watching this, I'm rocking in my backless swivel

as my head nods up and down and utterances emerge, "Yes, Eliot. YES, exactly that."

[tomm2thumbs]

6. I think it goes beyond 'discretion'

Sleeping around with someone on your wife may be one issue, but participating in illegal activities while claiming to be enforcing the law of a state is a throw down to your very soul. When someone isn't simply meeting girls at the office and having flings, but committing a crime and then claiming to be a law enforcer in the same breath, there is a problem.

I personally don't like what appears in the madam's book about Spitzer, that he didn't want to use a condom and “he’d be a real weasel about it, too" given that his wife's health is at risk and it sounds like he doesn't give a flip – just wants what he wants. Also in the book, the madam said he "was getting rough and too aggressive with the girls - repeatedly pressuring them to do things they didn’t want to do” - so it sounds as though this isn't some innocent fling he is having. Mistreating women is not a good sign to me if what I hear in that statement from the madam is indicative. Sounds like it was pretty bad if they had to finally tell him they didn't want his business any longer.

I don't expect those enforcing the law to be perfect, but to slap subpoenas on lawbreakers with one hand while secretly handing money over to prostitutes for sex on a weekly basis with the other is entirely objectionable - that person loses all credibility on 'honorable' at that point.

[xiamiam]

10. most of this is sensational crap..way too much irrelevant info...sorry

i dont give a hoot about any of that...they found his weakness...they took him down but not out....he knows who the players are and so should we...
what eliot spitzer did, cavorting with members of the oldest profession, while hypocritically, prosecuting..yep, that's illegal...in new york...having information about the "usual suspects" as he called them is more important than any of that...helping to point the way to prosecution of those criminals is crucial ...i dont see anyone else doing it or calling out goldman sachs..

[slipslidingaway]

7. K&R "Financial services should be a conduit..." n/t

[Iwillnevergiveup]

9. A brilliant, deeply flawed man

P-O-W-E-R corrupting once again. What always amazes me about these guys is they think they'll never get caught. But I'm glad he's speaking out - he knows where some bodies are buried.

[BrklynLiberal]

11. I was discussing him last night with a group of friends. We were wondering who he

would have put into Hillary's Senate seat.

He had the goods on AIG and Wall St a long time ago and they knew it. That is one of the reasons he was targeted.
They brought him down with his own hubris.

[Barbara2423]

12. Spitzer needs to get back into the game.

Was this his first time being charged with something? The gov't needs this type of expertise - somebody that can play hardball. Geither is too soft.

[underpants]

13. I agree. This did seem to be his coming out

very informed and very clear in his description of what happened.