The NSA tracking system (NSA quite bi-partisan, a fact overlooked by the usual bourgeois Dems.) which caught Spitzer should alarm us as much as politicians hustling some pricey call-girls does: the entire scandal somewhat reminiscent of PK Dick's cop-narc-freak scenarios in "A Scanner Darkly", or maybe Wm Gibson's noirish dystopias. The case, if a case there be, looks a bit like entrapment (as many solicitation busts are--). Additionally, since it was a legal escort service, there's only a crime assuming Spitzer's "assignations" were caught on tape, and call-gal testifies. The Guv. would do well (next R n R session) to remember one good rule (from Erica Jong): pay ho's upfront in cash.
The HuffPo’s like Ephron, Jong, Maher (an obnoxious little punk, but he has some interest in what used to be called Freedom) deserve some credit for not doing the righteous indignation rant du jour. The real issue, then as Ephron sort of hinted at, would concern whether Spitzer misappropriated funds for his phun or did it on state time. It appears he may have. In that case, he’s guilty of some type of bunko case (misprision of funds or something) as well as the solicitation. Spitzer, however, has not been found guilty of any crime, and therefore crimefighters like this person violate Spitzer’s presumption of innocence rights: false accusations (i.e. asserting X's guilt before X has been found guilty by jury of his peers) itself a crime. Spitzers are obnoxious: not quite as obnoxious or scary as the New American Cheka aka the NSA.
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Update from WSJ via Greenwald (who we do not approve of most of the time, but he does understand the absurdity of the Spitzer-hunt):
""""It isn't clear why the FBI sought the wiretap warrant. Federal prostitution probes are exceedingly rare, lawyers say, except in cases involving organized-crime leaders or child abuse. Federal wiretaps are seldom used to make these cases; search warrants usually suffice. Wiretap applications generally are reserved for serious crimes, such as drug, weapons and terrorism-related cases. There typically are no more than 1,400 wiretaps in use nationwide at any given time."""
Yes, rather odd, isn't it. We suggest it's a payback of some sort, probably arranged by one of the Wall Street money boys who Spitzer hounded--rightfully hounded--as NY AG.
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