Hernando Today
Email
Print
FBI Takes 'Client 9' Down In Ultimate Hypocrisy
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: March 13, 2008
Updated: 03/12/2008 04:22 pm
It was the shaggy-dog scandal of the century, thus far, gratefully dropped from above for every amateur blogger, professional pundit and even a Hernando Today columnist to enjoy.
News of "Client 9"girdled the globe in just a matter of hours. Some 90 minutes after New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer held his infamous news conference, "Client 9" was even registered as its own "domain," or Internet Web address.
Before the day was over, Washington's high-gloss Mayflower Hotel was known in the travel trade as "Hotel 9."
From Spitzer's time as a prosecutor and state attorney general, it wasn't even clear (to me, anyway) whether he was a Democrat or Republican. Indeed, in early reporting on the scandal, very little was made of the fact he is a Democrat.
If Spitzer had been a Republican, his party's name would have been mentioned at least half a dozen times in most lead paragraphs. If he'd been a typical European politician instead of an American celebrity, his escapades would have made a paragraph on an inside page of most newspapers.
But, then, prostitution isn't really a crime in many European countries. The "pros" are union members, income taxpayers and subject to monthly health check-ups.
Look for the Spitzer scandal to have negative repercussions on the Democrats in this election year. The sex escapades involving Florida congressman Mark Foley surely contributed to the Republicans' weak showing two years ago.
Some feeble attempts were made to parallel Spitzer's Valentine party with ex-President Clinton's White House dalliance with Ms. Lewinski. It's by no means the same. Almost everyone already knew about Clinton's skirt-chasing proclivities and anticipated the worst.
All anyone knew about Spitzer is that he was allegedly "Mr. Clean," a straight-shooter who made a powerful career out of ruining other careers. Several of us even envisioned Spitzer, on a white horse, commanding a trip all the way to Washington as our first Jewish U.S. President.
It was obvious in same-day statements from New York's financial world that the self-appointed Sheriff of Wall Street hadn't left too many friends behind. You could almost hear all the champagne corks popping, even here in Florida.
Spitzer had used wire-tapping to bag some of his prize trophies among corporate elite and Mafia families alike. Now, there is a clique of once-fidgety executives who took some pleasure (quite a bit, in many cases) in seeing the governor himself apparently caught up in some of his old tricks.
In scanning the hundreds of blogs that sounded off by the evening of the revelations, it was sad to see most write that Spitzer had gotten what had been a long time coming to him.
U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-New York, perhaps spotlighted the titillating scandal best when he told various TV talk shows, "I've never known anyone who was more self-righteous and unforgiving than Eliot Spitzer." "Hypocrisy" was the fashionable byword.
The questions were raised, of course, why the media had not uncovered Spitzer's Shakespearean tragedy earlier. Was it media bias that left him untouched? Didn't the press dare bite the hand that fed them so many scoops? Spitzer had a habit of leaking allegedly gory details of upper-class businessmen-gone-wild to lowly reporters.
A few blogs wondered if the FBI couldn't use its time and money to pursue "real" criminals, instead. In fact, that had been my initial reaction, too, until the seriousness of the whole Spitzer mess really sunk in.
It is serious, indeed, to be accused of anything under the federal Mann (what a name!) Act, which outlaws the transportation of anyone across state lines for immoral purposes. Which begs the question: Why weren't Washington's home-grown "working girls" good enough for the governor of New York?
A regular columnist for Hernando Today, John Herbert lives in Spring Hill.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
