I haven't gone into much depth on this so far because I'm reluctant to pile on a situation where someone's family is destroyed, even if that someone is a hideous jerk. I'll try to give you the sterilized version. Spitzer came in as a guns-blazing prosecutor who went after big business types with a vengeance. He often picked fights with entire companies, using his office to bully the top leaders in the company into stepping down or making a deal with him to avoid prosecution, even though there usually wasn't any concrete evidence of wrongdoing. He apparently liked to hammer on big business using sex scandals. Now that he's been caught in his own sex scandal, some of his opponents are enjoying his current situation immensely. So what happened? A wiretap investigation happened to catch phone calls connecting Spitzer (he was 'client #9') to a high-priced prostitution ring, and things have been unraveling from there. Spitzer resigned as Governor, though it doesn't sound like he was able to cut a deal to avoid prosecution, so the ordeal may not be over for him yet. In addition to the prostitution charges, he could face penalties for using taxpayer money to get his jollies. The prostitute that he frequented is a 22-year old girl who tried to make it in New York as a singer but fell into drugs instead, and things went downhill from there. Her clients -- including Spitzer -- apparently paid her well over $4,000 per hour for her 'company', so she's got money and a high-dollar attorney to help her out. The Drudge Report currently has a bunch of links about the whole thing, if you're interested. It's a sad situation full of irony and ugliness, and the real losers -- as always in a situation like this -- are the Spitzer kids.
Not to be outdone by Spitzer, though, a prominent religious leader in Iran was recently caught naked with six prostitutes (hat tip Right Truth). The irony here is that he is one of the leaders responsible for the 'moralization' of Iran. He's probably wishing he was in America right about now - the punishment over there tends to be much more...uh...harsh. Chop!
Moving on...how about some election news? The fireworks continue to fly, as Clinton campaign adviser (and former VP nominee) Geraldine Ferraro made the statement that Obama had only gotten to where he was because of his race. This isn't the first time she's made racial remarks like that, but this time it got her fired.
ABC is reporting that the downtime between now and the Pennsylvania primary should be good for Clinton. It gives her time to attack Obama without having to go through the humiliation of losing primaries. I kid you not, that's what this article is about! I love this quote:
But Clinton's campaign has proved more adept at seizing control of the race when no one is voting.
Seriously?! They're actually saying that Clinton wins until the voting starts?? :) I've mentioned this phenomenon before - if you look at poll numbers for Hillary, she always loses ground when she's out there talking. Apparently it applies to voting, too. I can't tell from this report if ABC is in the tank for Obama and trying to poke fun at Hillary, or if they're actually in the tank for Hillary and just let this slip out, but either way it strikes me as funny.
James Lewis muses at American Thinker about the Clinton nuclear option. He admits it's speculation at this point, but he raises some good points. Some key excerpts:
Here's the problem if you're Hillary and Bill. You're going to need those unelected superdelegates to get the nomination. You have a lot of clout with them, because they are the Democrat establishment. They owe you, and you might have some background files on them. But if the Democrat masses see you winning, you're in big trouble, because you'll be a white couple beating up on a black couple. You lose. So you have to have an outcome that shows the Obamas jumping on board your parade of their own free will.
Billary might be able to arm-twist enough superdelegates to beat Obama, but can they hide the blood stains if they do? This has to be staged perfectly.
You have to have a lot of clout to beat the Obamanation. Like a real dirt bomb against Obama if he wins, so he's sure to crash in the general election. Suppose, for example, that you have a lot of inside dope about Rezko and the Chicago machine. Or suppose you can find a Syrian connection to the Obama campaign. (Monica Crowley just claimed that Rezko has traveled to Damascus 26 times in the last three years. Could be perfectly legit business travel. Or just maybe he is linked to some bad guys? The Clintons probably know.)
If this is the case, they'll work out a back room deal with Obama that if he beats Hillary for the nomination, they'll tank him in the general election, so he might as well become the VP for Hillary and take his own shot in 2016.
How would we know if something like this happens? Because after a wild convention the Democrats will come together in love and harmony, with Hillary on top and Obama as heir-apparent-in-eight years. And the Obamas will be smiling and waving to the mosh pit right along with Hill and Billary. It will be a unity ticket, and nobody will ever talk about the backstage deal.
Very interesting speculation, huh? We'll find out in just a couple months...
On the other side of the aisle, McCain's campaign continues to broadcast that it's not going to put up much fight in the general election. Under the guise of keeping to the issues, the campaign is actually releasing talking points about how to address the Democrat opposition! This reminds me of a phrase I saw a few weeks ago: if a woman has to tell you she's beautiful, she ain't. If McCain was serious about hammering the issues rather than tip-toeing around race and gender, that's what he would be doing. He's not. There are moments when I actually believe McCain could have a chance at winning this thing in November, and then he goes and does something like this that tells the entire world he's not going to get out there and fight. Don't get my wrong - I'm not saying he should engage on race and gender issues (that's what the Democrats do). What I am saying is that he needs to stop using kid gloves and start hitting hard on the issues. Just saying he's going to do that doesn't mean that's what he's actually doing. I hope he starts walking his own talk soon.
There's my two cents.
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