In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

Oops.

zuzu

NY Governor Eliot Spitzer seems to have been a patron of the world’s oldest profession:

ALBANY – Gov. Eliot Spitzer has informed his most senior administration officials that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, an administration official said this morning….

Just last week, federal prosecutors arrested four people in connection with an expensive prostitution operation. Administration officials would not say that this was the ring with which the governor had become involved.

But a person with knowledge of the governor’s role said that the person believes the governor is one of the men identified as clients in court papers.

The governor’s travel records show that he was in Washington in mid-February. One of the clients described in court papers arranged to meet with a prostitute who was part of the ring, the Emperors Club VIP on the night of Feb. 13.

Mr. Spitzer appeared on a CNBC television show at 7 a.m. the next morning. Later in the morning, he testified before a Congressional committee.

An affidavit filed in federal court in Manhattan in connection with that case lists six conversations between the man, identified as Client 9, and a booking agent for the Emperors Club.

He was so good as an activist Attorney General, but as governor, he ran on a promise of reform, but then ran smack into the entrenched interests in Albany, which have effectively stymied him. And now this.

I just hope it doesn’t come out that he got caught because he used his own credit card or a number traceable to him. Every time one of these things goes down, I shake my head in wonder at how many people do the utterly stupid thing and leave evidence like that lying around.

37 thoughts on Oops.

  1. Opps, Yeah, like he accidentally called a prostitute and accidentally …..

    Everytime Bill Clinton did something similar I wondered if Hillary would stand up to to man, or continue to stand behind her man.

  2. GNOC, Bill Clinton was never caught as part of a prostitution sting. AFAIK, any affairs he had were off the books.

    Let’s focus, please.

  4. What gobsmacked me is that some of the prostitutes charged $5,500 per hour. What kind of sex could possibly be worth that much?

  5. What gobsmacked me is that some of the prostitutes charged $5,500 per hour. What kind of sex could possibly be worth that much?

    Has anyone seen my ten-foot pole? I need not to touch something, and could’ve swore I saw it here yesterday …

  6. What kind of sex could possibly be worth that much?

    There are far to many horrible possibilities to comtemplate there.

  7. I’m furious at Spitzer, who I already was angry at for his hamhanded squandering of a historic mandate. Now I’m also furious at him for keeping a tab with a pimp. And, if one credits the hearsay in the wiretap evidence, and does some rudimentary reading between the lines, for trying to pressure women into having sex without condoms.

    Patterson probably will be a more effective operator anyway.

  8. for trying to pressure women into having sex without condoms.

    Where did you hear this?

  9. The Complaint, with the Warrant Affidavit, is here. Spitzer is Client 9. At one point, the woman says in substance that he sometimes asks sex workers to do things that they feel are unsafe, “basic things”, but that her approach was to say, “do you want the sex or not?” I’m reading between the lines that he tries to pressure/plead/bribe them to have sex without condoms, since it reads to me like that’s what she’s referring to.

  10. I forgot to mention that the Client 9 portion begins at Paragraph 73, which is way in the back of the document, a large .pdf.

  11. I want to quibble with the wording. To repeat the non-truth “world’s oldest profession” about prostitution, even in jest, seems out of place on a feminist blog. It just reinforces the idea that all women are slutty and they are willing to trade sex for anything. I’m pretty sure the world’s first profession was gathering food. If you want to talk about who traded what for what, anthropologists probably have some data. Just a thought.

  12. yes, spitzer broke the law which, as an elected official and all, he should not have done. and yes, he cheated on his wife which, as a husband and presumably decent human being and all, he shouldn’t have done. but let’s not go decrying his sleeping with prostitutes on the basis of their being prostitutes. lets not fall back on that idea that women who get paid for sex and men who pay for it (and vice versa) are categorically immoral or (in the sex worker’s case) without agency. i understand that the issue of sex work is a complicated one within feminist discourse, but i can see this leading down a really awful road…

  14. To repeat the non-truth “world’s oldest profession” about prostitution, even in jest, seems out of place on a feminist blog. It just reinforces the idea that all women are slutty and they are willing to trade sex for anything.

    I’ve never though that was what “oldest profession” referred to. Just that (some) men have always been willing to buy/trade for sex. Which doesn’t really reflect well on men either, but…

  15. but sigh, you are simply assuming that “women who trade sex” needs to have a negative connotation, that prostitution needs to be something viewed negatively, that all women who do it are “sluts.” people have been having sex for money for an awfully long time–FACT. it hasn’t always been positive by any means, it won’t always be positive, but to associate it with “sluttiness”–to associate any sexual behavior with sluttiness–isn’t really doing anyone any favors

  16. I was talking about what OTHER PEOPLE associate with prostitution for monkey’s sake. BTW, money hasn’t even existed as long as people have been trading sex for other things (I noted that, mind you). It just is NOT true that the first profession was prostitution. And admitting that prostitution is viewed negatively (why does the politician have to resign otherwise?) is the first step… visiting. Changing that discourse about when it might have begun (when women lost power in the old religions maybe -again ask an anthropologist instead of repeating cliches) could actually help sex workers.

    Again, it is imprecise and damaging (whether you like it or not) to use the old chestnut of world’s oldest about prostitution.

  17. Similar means, well similar.

    reader, did you say “prostitution won’t always be positive”?

    When is it positive?

    I personally would not think of a prostitute as a slut, rather as a person who was taken advantage of, sold a false bill of goods, or is in a desperate situation. Does a young girl really dream of one day donning the attire of a street walker?

  18. but let’s not go decrying his sleeping with prostitutes on the basis of their being prostitutes. lets not fall back on that idea that women who get paid for sex and men who pay for it (and vice versa) are categorically immoral or (in the sex worker’s case) without agency.

    Who did that?

    He did something illegal, which is kind of a problem for someone who’s sworn to uphold the laws.

  19. The problem here is that he prosecuted prostitution rings as attorney general, so that makes him a hypocrite. We have always argued that standard with republicans, that these things are fair game because they are using their public position to condemn/pass laws against/prosecute people doing the very thing that they themselves are doing. We have no need to get into the ethics of prostitution in general to unequivocally state that this guy is a hypocritical ass that the democratic party DOES NOT NEED.

  21. it hasn’t always been positive by any means, it won’t always be positive, but to associate it with “sluttiness”–to associate any sexual behavior with sluttiness–isn’t really doing anyone any favors

    No one did this. Even acknowledging that prostitution is exploitive and most times not freely chosen doesn’t give the connotations you injected.

    We’re all assuming these women have this job of their own free will. We don’t know that.

    That still doesn’t inject the connotations you are talking about.

  22. I personally would not think of a prostitute as a slut, rather as a person who was taken advantage of, sold a false bill of goods, or is in a desperate situation.

    Many sex workers fit this description. Generally speaking, call girls charging $5,500/hour do not. No one is “desperate” for $5,500/hour.

  24. “The problem here is that he prosecuted prostitution rings as attorney general, so that makes him a hypocrite.”

    I think that as AG he had no choice but to prosecute people who had broken the law. I’m not sure it makes him a hypocrite. If he was the type of person to go on television and denounce the evils of prostitution, and then engaged in the behavior himself, that WOULD be hypocritical.

    I must confess to having mixed feelings about prostitution. In a perfect world, women would earn the same as men, would have the same opportunities, there would be no glass ceiling or sticky floor, and would therefore have more options. We are not there yet.

    I have met women who worked as prostitutes, because it paid more than working at a minimum wage job. I would feel less conflicted about it if I thought it was truly, and absolutely, their choice because it was the kind of work they wanted to do.

    I’m not sure it’s the best use of our resources for the FBI or any law enforcement group to be working on this. Not when a young guy I work with was robbed at gun point just last week. Where was the surveillance camera protecting him?

    BAC

  25. Amazing how fast we moved from decrying the governor’s recklessness to slut-shaming. Zuzu, you ought to have had a pool going.

  26. Making this about Spitzer’s supposed “hypocrisy” misses the point. The point is, the people we choose to run the country should be smart enough not to do things that could a) ruin their careers and b) end in jailtime. I would really like to believe that our elected officials would think, “Gee, I’d like to get laid tonight. I suppose could hire a prostitute. Of course, if that’s exposed, it would suck a lot, and these things do have a way of coming out. I’ll just rent a porno and jack off.” But no, they either decide that nothing could possibly go wrong, or that sex is important enough to risk being run out of office on a rail. That’s the kind of reasoning I expect from an average person. I expect stronger reasoning from the people who are meant to understand nuanced political and economic realities. Which is very silly of me, I suppose.

  27. To take this in another direction: should Spitzer resign, which is anticipated, Lt. Gov. David Paterson would serve out the remainder of his term. Here’s his bio:

    DAVID A. PATERSON David A. Paterson was elected New York’s 74th Lieutenant Governor on November 7, 2006. As Lieutenant Governor, Paterson leads the administration’s charge in several critical areas. He focuses on stem cell research, alternative energy, reducing domestic violence, and increasing the role minority- and women-owned businesses play in New York State. Governor Spitzer chose Paterson to be his running mate because Paterson had a strong record of championing issues such as these for over the two decades he served in the New York State Senate.

    Throughout a long career in public service, Lieutenant Governor Paterson has demonstrated an ability to effect change at every level and has been a strong progressive leader for all New Yorkers. Lieutenant Governor Paterson entered public life in 1985 when he began representing Harlem in the New York State Senate. In 2002, he became its Minority Leader — the first non-white legislative leader in New York’s history. He made history again in 2004 when he became the first visually impaired person to address the Democratic National Convention. And in 2006 Mr. Paterson was elected New York’s first African-American lieutenant governor.

    Lieutenant Governor Paterson, who is legally blind, is nationally recognized as a leading advocate for the visually and physically impaired. He is a member of the American Foundation for the Blind, serves as a member of the Democratic National Committee and is a board member of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. In addition, he is a member of the board of the Achilles Track Club, having completed the New York City Marathon in 1999.

    Lt. Governor Paterson was born May 20,1954 in Brooklyn, NY to Portia and Basil Paterson, the first non-white secretary of state of New York and the first African-American vice-chair of the national Democratic Party. The Lt. Governor earned his bachelor’s degree in History from Columbia University, graduating in 1977, and completed his J.D. at Hofstra Law School in 1982. He continues to give back to his alma mater by serving as an adjunct professor at Columbia’s School for International and Public Affairs. David Paterson lives in Harlem with his wife, Michelle Paige Paterson, and their two children, Ashley and Alex. Ashley entered Ithaca College in fall, 2006, and Alex, attends public school in New York City.

  28. Pingback: the fshk blog » say it ain’t so!

  29. Every time one of these things goes down, I shake my head in wonder at how many people do the utterly stupid thing and leave evidence like that lying around.

    Yeah, breaking the law doesn’t help either.

  30. Though I am saddened….I am not totally surprised. From what I’ve seen in my historical studies and from my cynical side…his behavior is par for the course for politicians and other famous powerful people who may have felt their political power, socioeconomic status, wealth, and/or connections exempted them from the rules and laws the rest of us are expected to follow.

  31. The 5500$/hour is probably the price of discretion. I bet that client list is mostly prominent people.

  32. assuming the sex worker is in charge of her own business and not being run by a pimp or madame, and assuming he/she is safe and responsible about his/her work, and assuming there is consent between the sex worker and his/her client, i see no negatives involved other than the illegality of it.

    rather like drug use. it’s illegal. and boy, there’s a sh*tload of bad stuff around illegal drug use. guns, death, od’s, etc.

    but responsible use of recreational drugs, like responsible sex work, should be a victimless crime between the people involved.

    now, to addres spritzer: he’s an idiot and a hypocrite. to run on a law and order platform, on a cleaning up corruption platform, and then to flout those very laws, is the height of hubris.

    tho i would bet money that the big money men he’s p’o’d over the years probably went out of their way to investigate him.

  34. It’s either arrogance or the political equivalent of a deathwish that would lead New York State’s No. 1 Law Enforcer to break the law by hiring prostitutes. His position has got to be that no one is above the law. Now I wonder if he performed other favors for the prostitution ring to insure against exposure.

  35. Generally speaking, call girls charging $5,500/hour do not. No one is “desperate” for $5,500/hour.

    This is untrue. The price tag can also be an indicator of the risk involved in getting the goods to the buyer. If what the buyer wants involves higher risk, or even more law breaking (i.e. he wants a child), the price goes up.

    We know nothing about these women. They might be willing workers, they might not be.

    Price tag is no indicator.

  36. Pingback: Feministe » It’s worse
  37. Pingback: Spitzer Resigns

Comments are currently closed.