Elliot Spitzer has been identified as Client 9 of the Emperor's Club V.I.P. prostitution ring. He was identified as Client 9 through a federal wiretap. Whether he is a victim of this administration's illegal spy program is something we'll likely never know. What we do know is that this administration wants to be able to wiretap "potential terrorists" without authorization from any outside party and that they have been doing so since they took office - even prior to 9/11/01. What we also know is that presidential administrations of the past have used wiretaps as a tool against their political enemies. After all, Nixon was charged in Article II of his bill of impeachment with illegal wiretapping for what he too claimed were national security reasons.
Elliot Spitzer is indeed an enemy of the Republican Party and Corporate America. Not only is he a Democrat, he is the Governor and previously the Attorney General of New York who has made a name for himself by taking up civil actions and criminal prosecutions relating to corporate white-collar crime, securities fraud, internet fraud, and environmental protection. Wikipedia provides a list of cases Spitzer has taken up in the course of his career while serving the state of New York.
Elliot Spitzer was a rising star in the Democratic Party. Many Democrats believed he was the future of the party and very well may serve as their presidential nominee in elections to come. Today that possibility ended. Elliot Spitzer with his wife at his side apologized to the public. In his statement he showed shame and left the podium with what is certain to be a tarnished legacy. We've all seen the ramifications of a sex scandal on the political stage before.
While what Governor Spitzer has been accused of and owned up to is not morally right, it is not a scandal which impacts his constituency. It is a matter which is between he and his family. It pales in comparison to political scandals of the past such as those that have occurred between Jack Abramoff and the Republican Party. Further, it is hardly relevant when compared with the likes of lying a nation into an illegal war, or ousting a CIA agent as political payback or infringing on the Constitution and our civil liberties.
And by no surprise should it be that what has happened to Elliot Spitzer may very well be a consequence of this illegal spy program. We were given protections to our civil liberties by the founders of this country to protect us from potential acts such as what we have seen occur today. The Democratic Party is about to cave into the White House's newly drafted legislation which expands the spy program and grants the companies which have helped facilitate it to date immunity from prosecution.
We cannot let this happen as a people. We must urge our Representatives and Senators not to let this legislation pass. Should this legislation pass, the integrity of our political process and our entire nation is in jeopardy. What we're seeing is the foundation being constructed for a police state.
8 comments:
I'm convinced now. The wingnuts on the left have departed the realm of reasoned discourse and has fallen off the cliff of Bush derangement conspiracy. The Onion could not have written a more laughable post.
Politicians have never used wiretaps against their political enemies. Nixon was never going to be impeached. The wind doesn't blow.
You're kidding me.
This post isn't a satirical joke?
r.c. - What I know is that a dangerously corrupt administration has been illegally spying on Americans.
Would you put it beneath them to use the program to sabotage political enemies? Are you arguing that this administration is more ethical than that of Richard Nixon's?
So... why did Spitzer publicly apologize and cop to it???
Anonymous - I am not arguing about his innocence. I am making the point that with a spy program which requires no authorization other than that of the president's office, knowledge can be acquired and political attacks can be made such as this one.
I do not know for certain that what Spitzer is being accused of is a result of the spy program. I am just making the point that it is very well within the realm of possibility.
From what I understand Spitzer was caught because a bank noted unusual transfers of monies from various accounts and notified the IRS which then contacted Justice which then authorized that FBI wiretap. Are you in possession of information showing that this wiretap was not the result of a vetted legal inquiry? Are you intimating that Spitzer was the only target in this investigation or was he an unfortunate victim of his own lust?
John - Its early. There are unusual circumstances surrounding this story already. Apparently his name was leaked while the investigation is still in progress.
I'm going to let some of the facts come to the surface before I comment further. My post was simply to address the reality that things such as this could be carried out through the use of this administration's current spy program.
We need checks and balances for each branch of government, that is why we have three separate but equal branches - or at least that is what was intended to be by the founders of this country.
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