Officially, he will quit his office on March 17. Unofficially, it was clear that 48-year-old Spitzer, who was considered presidential material two years ago, ruined his political career and probably lost his family on the day that the New York Times published the spicy bits of his phone order for a small brunette. She was delivered to the Washington-based Mayflower Hotel, where Spitzer spent the night before attending hearings in Congress. What a sad story of moral decline! Even worse, it took place during a presidential election year.
It later transpired that Spitzer used the services of this brunette and other call girls from the Emperors Club VIP, and paid $80,000 for sex in the last ten years. Considering that he paid $1,000 for this brunette, he must have had 80 of them during this time. This is quite an appetite for versatility even in ten years.
This is a brief description of the downfall of the now resigned governor of one of America's major states. Apart from having to quit politics, he will be accused of encouraging "illegal prostitution" - the call girl was ordered from the New York City. Under U.S. law, transporting someone across state lines for prostitution is an even bigger offense than just prostitution. Moreover, he can be deprived of his title of lawyer. Simply, it never rains but it pours.
Those who are not familiar with Spitzer's record of service and the background, against which the scandal unfolded, may get the impression that accusations of illegal sex have come like a bolt from the blue. Sex scandals are nothing new in America - almost every other president cheated on his wife, while John F. Kennedy set a real record in this sphere. Congressmen and governors have had even more scandalous careers.
But the scandals differ. Some are not as loud, whereas others sound like thunder. The Spitzer story is in the latter category because this is the year of presidential elections. It is embarrassing to again talk about political hypocrisy in the United States. It would be a pity to devalue this meaningful notion by making it trite through frequent repetition.
Spitzer was looking for trouble in his political career and family life. Before being elected governor of New York, he was the New York state chief prosecutor and won "fame" for two major deeds. First, he scored success in countering Wall Street financial and banking abuses. He was even nicknamed Wall Street sheriff, and made many enemies in the U.S. financial center (almost all of them Republicans). Second, he cracked down on prostitution networks (which he happened to use himself, as it transpired), and even destroyed two of them.
When he became governor, it appeared that he was so abrasive and arrogant that his former popularity went up in smoke in the two years after the 2006 elections. He quarreled with everyone. By March he made many enemies, and his enemies had many reasons to arrange a small scandal for him with far-reaching consequences.
Only naive people may think that this scandal was not arranged. As a Democrat and personal friend of Hillary Clinton, who had officially promised to vote for her at the upcoming Democratic convention, he fit the role of a target perfectly. As a governor, Spitzer was one of about 800 super-delegates who will decide in August who will be the Democratic presidential nominee - Clinton or Barrack Obama.
Who would believe that the FBI suddenly received information from the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) about Spitzer's involvement in a prostitution ring, conducted an inquiry and published its results in a matter of two weeks? Maybe, the answer is that the Republicans have more apprehensions about Hillary than her Democratic rival Obama?
To summarize, this is completely dishonest and inappropriate, and not at all new for America. After all, it is no accident that one of Britain's most famous writers Bernard Shaw said wittingly after his visit to America in the beginning of the last century that for all his irony, even he was losing a sense of humor at the sight of the Statue of Liberty.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
