Be Careful Where You Poke That Thing

So, of course I can't let this one go untouched...

New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, who vowed to root out corruption in the state's government. Spitzer, a Democrat (full disclosure: I'm also a Democrat), is serving his first term in office... and was allegedly caught on federal wiretap TRYING TO BUY A PROSTITUTE. Investigators say he paid for the girl to take a train from New York to Washington...which makes it a federal crime since the girl crossed state lines. Spitzer knows all about the young women. After all, he's 48 years old and is the father of three teenage girls.

No big surprise that republicans want him to quit. Duh. No word yet on whether he will resign...unless you were watching Fox News Channel on Monday (3/10/08). Shepard Smith, doing his reporter duty by covering the story in MISSISSIPPI (to be fair, he was covering the Tuesday primaries) and said "(Spitzer) came in, he resigned and that was it." (Smith corrected himself minutes later.) 45 minutes later, a graphic aired that said Spitzer was expected to resign later Monday. Uh.....no. But thanks, Fox, for playing and we have some lovely parting gifts:
A libel/slander suit,
another round of accusations of conservative "reporting,"
AND A YEAR'S SUPPLY OF TURTLE WAX!

Poor reporting aside, let's not overlook that a governor in New York is accused of paying for a prostitute. A little more illegal than Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who's rep is falling for apparently sending his secretary illicit text messages...without his wife knowing. Oh, THAT guy's a piece of work best reserved for another post...

But if it turns out to be true, does Spitzer's "purchase" (provided it was not paid for by Joe Taxpayer...now THAT'D be a case of blowing your money) make him unfit to serve as governor? I mean, if anything, it shows he knows a lot about interstate commerce and business relations. Heck, I hear they're even considering a new state bird for New York in his honor...

The Spitzer Swallow.
-B-