Selective prosecution is not justice. It's a crime.

[EFerrari]

Targeting Democrats is not justice. It's manipulating our Justice system to consolidate power.

Going on fishing trips to find something on your opponent has nothing to do with morality or the law. It's political opportunism.

Spitzer most likely is guilty of hiring a prostitute.

The Bush "Justice" Department is more guilty of political prosecutions, of attempting to tamper with our elections via these prosecutions, of subverting what little democracy we have left by manipulating our system to their advantage. Of browbeating us all into agreement: "He is guilty, he needs to go down".

How many Republicans have been given a pass? What kind of justice do we have when how you are judged depends upon what your affiliation is?

This is not to say that Democrats should be given a "pass", too.

But, who the Bush "Justice" Department goes after is wholly political. It has nothing to do with upholding the Constitution or the law.

Selective enforcement of the law is not justice. It's a crime.

[mak3cats]

1. Hear, hear! (n/t)

[EFerrari]

2. I'm sorry for what you guys are going through, mak3cats.

It's such a shame. And, there is this whole OTHER political aspect, too. :(

[mak3cats]

18. Thanks for the sympathy...

...I've wanted to cry all day. It's such a god-damn waste.

[EFerrari]

29. I woke up feeling ill, no lie.

All we can do is go forward from here but, this whole episode has been really hard to surf.

[Ichingcarpenter]

3. It was a federal witch hunt and fishing expedition

Spitzer, however was an idiot and played right into their hands.

[EFerrari]

4. Sure. But what we have is one stupid person and

one wholly politicized department of the Executive branch.

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. Yep, no disagreement, however on edit

The owner of the escort service is a foreign national
that had $600,000 in cash and a passport ready to book out of the country.

International Blackmail could have happened later on.

[EFerrari]

8. The Thuggery plays on our values.

We're so quick to cop to our faults, we overlook their outright criminality. :shrug:

[suffragette]

5. Spot on

They've worked to get the mechanism in place at the DOJ and now they're using it politically and blatantly.

[babylonsister]

7. You said it. If there was an (R) behind Spitzer's name, would any

of this even be happening?

[EFerrari]

9. No, especially if the state were about to be swung for the Republicans

as New York state was about to be swung for the Democrats.

:shrug:

[blm]

40. Exactly - like Dallas and Houston don't have high-priced callgirl rings?

Remember Ashcroft set up for 8months in New Orleans monitoring prostitutes while Sept.11 was being planned?

[theboss]

10. I think, so far, one Republican has been given a pass on this

Vitter seems to have survived by the skin of his balls because the statute of limitations expired.

[EFerrari]

35. How can we ever know the cases they didn't bring?

:shrug:

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. Why don't they allow us to selectively prosecute a Republican and

we'll call it even?

My vote is for Bush.

[Beetwasher]

12. Indeed!

:thumbsup:

I smell some serious trolling going on around here w/ this Spitzer story. It's not hard to get the concept that he can be guilty of hiring and yet still be targeted for a political hit and that they are two separate things and both crimes. The political hit being the FAR greater transgression. Those that feign outrage at Spitzer and deny the possibility of a political hit by screaming "CONSPIRACY" are nothing more than trolls and I'm not afraid to say it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. I am not a troll

And I think if he hired a prostitute, he is guilty of a crime. Prostitution is illegal.

It is troubling if he was targeted. However, that doesn't erase the fact that he did indeed break the law.

[Leopolds Ghost]

15. No, it is a CRIME if he was targeted. JOHNS DON'T GET PROSECUTED in NY

So this is selective prosecution and thus the DOJ's BEHAVIOR is a crime by DEFINITION.

Worse is that you and theboss aren't familiar with the history of the
Mann Act which was created to politically prosecute wealthy celebrities.
Google Jack Johnson.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. So if it can be proven he was targeted, he isn't guilty of hiring a prostitute

or violating the Mann act? The Mann act is still on the books, is it not?

[Beetwasher]

24. NOBODY IS FUCKING SAYING THAT

Jesus christ, quit the stupid act. No one is saying Spitzer is innocent, only that the prosecution of him stinks of politics and THAT is a GREATER crime if he was politically targeted. You are being intentionally obtuse at this point.

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. "JOHNS DON'T GET PROSECUTED in NY"

Just a few posts above yours.

[Beetwasher]

33. Seriously, WTF Are You Talking About?

That's not excusing Spitzer of his wrongdoing, it's merely pointing out that it's unusual for a john to be prosecuted in NY. You really go out of your way to throw out strawmen and misconstrue just about everything you read don't you?

[Beetwasher]

16. Except You Refuse To Acknowledge

That that's not the crime he was being investigated for. He was being investigated for MONEY LAUNDERING and possible bribery and those charges at first glance seem to be complete and total bullshit and were what the approval for wiretaps were supposedly based upon.

"It is troubling if he was targeted."

Yes, that's the whole fucking point. No one is arguing that what he did by hiring prostitutes was illegal and wrong. No one. Not a single person. It's TROUBLING THAT IT'S QUITE POSSIBLE HE WAS TARGETED BECAUSE OF HIS POLITICAL AFFILIATION. Good grief, it's really not a difficult concept and if someone doesn't get it and keeps being dense about it, then frankly, I suspect trolling.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. And I suspect rude and nasty responses

The whole point is he broke the law. He knew what he was doing was illegal. And he got caught. Period.

If in your fantasy world it can be proven that he was targeted and selectively prosecuted while others got off, (Vitter?) then we have ANOTHER case for selective prosecution. However, that doesn't negate the fact that he is still guilty of a crime.

[Beetwasher]

22. No, It's Not "And he got caught. Period. "

"However, that doesn't negate the fact that he is still guilty of a crime."

Holy fucking shit, no one is saying it negates anything, jeenyus. We are discussing the fact that if he was targeted because of his political affiliation that is ALSO a crime and ARGUABLY an even GREATER crime.

See, when people consistently and totally keep missing the point so egregiously, I reasonably suspect them of trolling. Just like I reasonably suspect political motivations for the DOJ's involvement and prosecution of this case based on prior experience.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. Well you are wrong; I am not a troll

I don't suppose it is possible that you could be wrong about other things as well. :eyes:

[Beetwasher]

26. Whatever

You certainly act like a troll when you so egregiously keep missing the point everyone is making. no one is saying Spitzer is innocent. No one. Yet you keep beating that dead horse.

[FogerRox]

44. I am curious who the 2 law enforcement officials are that leaked info.

I am also curious who are clients 1 thru 8. @ $1.000 an hour the list of folks who can afford this are very small, and I would assume, they are movers and shakers. An operation of this size does not have just 9 clients, they have many more.

I see this as a political takedown. I am not defending Spitzer. I am questioning the political motivation behind the leak. If a Grand Jury was empaneled, this may be prima face violation of Grand Jury secrecy, section 3E IIRC, that is a crime within its self.

This whole story starts with Spitzer as AG of NY getting laws passed that kept better tabs on money flow below the $10,000 federal limit for reporting. A Long Island bank spotted a pattern of transactions, reported this to the FBI, who seems to have centered on client #9.

The story originates at the Long Island bank, who spotted these financial transactions. This suggests that they spotted money being paid to the "club". Its fair to say the club had 50 clients or more.

Or was the Spitzer name the only "name" personality involved ? I seriously doubt that.

[EFerrari]

20. I tthink that's right. But, there are two crimes here.

And only one is being pursued. The greater one, by the Bush "Justice" Department is being ignored

[proud2BlibKansan]

34. Thank you for a reasonable response.

:)

[EFerrari]

36. It's hard to hold both ideas at once.

He did it. And, they also went out looking for a way to get him. The mofos.

[EFerrari]

37. I'm right there with you on what he did. You know that.

:)

But, there's that whole other piece that the Thuggery is working.

[EFerrari]

28. I don't think it's trolling. It's just hard for most of us to believe

our "Justice" Department has been so corrupted.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

13. Hmm. Selective prosecution.

You mean like prosecuting prostitution rings while being a john the whole time?

[EFerrari]

21. Yep. Like prosecuting Democrats for corruption while being a Republican

targeting Democrats.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

25. Cognitive dissonance much?

[EFerrari]

27. Not at all. You're mistaking letting someone off

for letting the whole system off.

He is guilty.

The Justice Department is also guilty.

It's both, not either.

[truedelphi]

31. Let us not forget - the DOJ is also the authority that has the

Oversight of voting irregularities - it is my belief that a whole lot of DOJ's protocols are now politicized.

And its a heckofa bigga shamefulla mess that most of us are outraged over Spitzer and not over the mess the Bush administration has made of what should be a smoothly running government with a non corrupted voting process ticking along nicely.

Instead this country has been so compromised that most voting activists are ill from it.

[EFerrari]

41. We just lost a good fighter. I didn't agree with all his positions.

But, it's a loss regardless. There's so much corruption to muck out. Damn.

[EFerrari]

32. Kick

[FogerRox]

38. Tell me sfexpat2000, who are clients 1 thru 8 ?

Just sayin.

And what are the names of the law enforcement officials who leaked this info to the press ? Just before a grand jury might be empaneled. Thus poisoning the waters for the grand jury, which means Spitzer cant get a fair trial in the tri-state media market.

I'm not going to defend Spitzer here, but this smells of person prosecution, not the investigation of crimial activity prosecution.

[EFerrari]

39. That was my thought, too. Who are the other nine guys?

At those prices, the pool of potential johns gets pretty small, doesn't it?

Spitzer just fed himself to a shark tank. I can't understand it. He's a smart guy and surely he knew about Don Siegelman. What possesses people. :shrug:

[FogerRox]

42. Right on, sfexpat2000. was it Spitzer and 8 republicans? It just stinks.

This was a political take down, not that Spitzer didn't incur liability thru his actions, he did. Ken Starr was compelled to defend the leaks that came out of his 2 grand juries, I wanna know who did this leak ?

[EFerrari]

43. I wouldn't be surprised if a Fed walked into his bank and

asked for his records. We have no privacy any more. We've been trained to comply.

So, I don't think there was a leak. I think Justice sent someone to get the records and the records were handed over.

[FogerRox]

45. No, there was a leak, the anonymous sources are whats driving this

"Speaking on condition of anonymity, a law enforcement official said Tuesday that Spitzer, in fact, had spent tens of thousands of dollars with the Emperors Club. Another official said the amount could be as high as $80,000. But it was not clear over what period of time that was spent."

"Still another law enforcement official said investigators found that during the tryst with Kristen on the night before Valentine’s Day, Spitzer used two rooms at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington —"

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/northeast/view.bg?articleid=1079507



Sources told CBS 2 that Republicans were literally popping open bottles of champagne in a festive celebration as if they'd just hit a shared ticket on the Mega Millions.

http://wcbstv.com/breakingnewsalerts/spitzer.prostitution.ring.2.673848.html

Speaking of condition of anonymity, a law enforcement official said Tuesday that Spitzer, in fact, had spent tens of thousands of dollars with the Emperors Club.

http://cbs2.com/politics/spitzer.prostitution.ring.2.675022.html


But an Associated Press story says the total spent could be higher. It quotes an anonymous law enforcement official who said Spitzer may have spent as much as $80,000 on prostitutes employed by the club.


http://www.abajournal.com/news/spitzer_resigns_cites_his_private_failings

though a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation said he is believed to still be negotiating one. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.....Later details leaked from investigators alleged he was a repeat customer who spent as much as $80,000 with the high-priced prostitution service over an extended period of time.

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=104&sid=1361424

HAd enough ?


LOL

[EFerrari]

46. Holy cr@p.

:wow: