AS CONGRESS FAILED TO REACH CONSENSUS on the Wall Street two-party compromise bailout bill this week, we are haunted by the words of Eliot Spitzer, New York’s former Governor and former Attorney General–also known as the “Sheriff of Wall Street” whose career was destroyed by his own doing, with quite a bit of help from some dirty tricksters. In an op-ed in the Washington Post written February 13, 2008, Spitzer wrote:
When history tells the story of the subprime lending crisis and recounts its devastating effects on the lives of so many innocent homeowners, the Bush administration will not be judged favorably. The tale is still unfolding, but when the dust settles, it will be judged as a willing accomplice to the lenders who went to any lengths in their quest for profits. So willing, in fact, that it used the power of the federal government in an unprecedented assault on state legislatures, as well as on state attorneys general and anyone else on the side of consumers.
Within one day of that appearing in print, Spitzer was in hot water, accused of soliciting prostitution after a search of his tax records revealed the funds transfers allegedly used to pay sexworkers. Eric did a weekly edition in mid-March covering the Spitzer resignation press conference. Near the end of the article, he wrote:
The 10th ruler, Mars, also rules the president of the country in question, and that 12th house Mars in Cancer bears a striking resemblance to our secretive, war-obsessed Cancerian president, George Bush. He is still lurking in the wings of the 12th house, in total denial, and at odds with all sensibility or respect for the law. All of these facts are consistent with a process which is not the investigation of a crime, but rather an attempt to target and build a case against an individual
Of all the Democratic governors to get, Spitzer probably ranked as one of the highest trophies for Alberto Gonzales’ politically-motivated Department of Justice. Too many corporate friends of the administration were threatened by Spitzer’s investigations. By the time Spitzer’s op-ed appeared in the Washington Post his former officeВ was either arriving at the conclusions of the investigation heВ conducted on Wall Street,В part of his purview as Attorney General, or his last official act as New York’s governor with some credibility intact before the shit hit the fan and they ruined his career. You may think it was a crime he committed, rather than politics; that nobody is really above the law. But in politics, everything is above the law, and it’s all politics.
— Fe Bongolan in San Francisco
Oh wow, thanks! Win fun prizes, meet interesting people — how could I go anywhere else for my astropolitics?
“Ayup. Or…he’s just real pissed at his dad.”
JanesDefense:
You have won today’s prize for Planet Waves most astute comment today on this thread.
You deserve a steak dinner or the equivalent (tofurkey) — given the Planet Waves reader demographic profile.
“If anything, the guy still wants to bust some heads, legally. That’s probably more of his soul’s style, not the subtleties of running a state governorship, particularly one as complex as New York.”
🙂 Ayup. Or…he’s just real pissed at his dad.
Janesdefense:
There are some in NY state who believe Spitzer really didn’t want the governorship. What he really liked being was Atty. Gen of New York. I think if he was showing that kind of behavior in the governor’s office, there was a bit of self-sabotage involved.
If anything, the guy still wants to bust some heads, legally. That’s probably more of his soul’s style, not the subtleties of running a state governorship, particularly one as complex as New York.
I appreciate this about Spitzer, but I hope this is not going to fuel some misguided impulse to mythologize the guy. He is a very wealthy kid from a very wealthy family who did nothing but pick fights on streetcorners the entire time he was in office. He knew what a lot of people in his position knew, only these other people were actual politicians and would tend to perhaps observe the results before they started some inept windmill-tilting swordfight with the White House.
Just sayin. Because you just *know* he’s not giving up the spotlight that easy.
You, Fe, are one interesting correspondent. Order me up a juicy tofurky while I google that final sentence of yours 🙂
“Once we take our eyes off the salacious and follow the money (I say watch goldman sachs) we’ll get closer to the real rape of the populace.”
…ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have winner.
IMO, Marymack, if Planetwaves could offer a steak dinner on astute thread commentary of the day, your would be a beautifully done ribeye.
The sub-gothius’ cartoon on “The Trust Runs Out” is another.
I’m reminded of Capone and how Ness and Co failed to nail him on his more egregious crimes and instead got him on tax evasion. It happens time and again that men are felled by petty BS by their nemesis or those in opposite parties. The sex stuff is just a grand distraction, which obviously works as we witness the incredible popularity of Sarah Palin. Once we take our eyes off the salacious and follow the money (I say watch goldman sachs) we’ll get closer to the real rape of the populace.
Pluto enters Cap and all kinds of male structures fall … phallic, eh?
T:
From your will to the Goddess’ ear!!!
Tachikata:
Remember, its KISSINGER we’re talking about!!
😉
Kissinger said: “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac”.
So right! We feeble humans make the laws and we bend them 🙂 to suit various needs.
Not unlike John McCain, Elliot Spitzer had no friends on either side of the isle and when the shit hit the fan NO ONE came to his defense. Though we can say it was just a sex crime, frankly I think it’s nuts too, but those were the crimes he prosecuted … well, before he set his sites on Wall Street and the rest of the world.
A hypocritic and a lawyer, Elliot Spitzer may very well have been well positioned to prevent this fiasco … we’ll never know.
There’s crime and justice and then there’s sex and politics.
When its a Republican who has gay sex in a bathroom like Larry Craig, his vehement denial is given benefit of the doubt, though we all know better.
When its David Vitter and his penchant to get prostitutes to put him in diapers and spank him, he is still in office.
When its Democratic Governor Spitzer, who visits to call girls probably ranks in the fair-to-middling range of what EVERY politician does, he faces political seppuku.
Whoa. This sounds more like a b-movie than reality in the US. It is a sordid and murkey swamp this place where power resides and those who are willing to dip their big toe in it pay the price. I was sure you were going to say in politics everything is below the law meaning underpinned by as well as nepharious. My thoughts are that in politics everything is above, below, at, before, after and in between the law.
I can’t get Paulson kneeling before Pelosi out of my mind. Let’s watch Goldman and see what happens to them during this shakedown.