Albany's own Metroland has a piece by Chet Hardin that makes interesting reading.
Whodunit
Eliot Spitzer screwed up—but why was the federal government listening in?
Remember GOP political hitman Roger Stone? The guy Joe Bruno hired to take down Spitzer but failed miserably after being caught threatening Spitzer's father? Didn't matter.
Stone resigned over these allegations but continued, he claims, his war against Spitzer. On Dec. 6, 2007, Stone cryptically, and, as it turned out, presciently, told radio talk-show host Michael Smerconish that ‘‘Eliot Spitzer will not serve out his term as governor of the state of New York.’’
Go read the whole thing - and ask yourself who's next. (more)
Is there any doubt that the Republicans are using "Dirty Tricks" as their means of governing? From planting fake news stories, buying off reporters, selectively leaking 'secrets', and worse, the only question is how far they'll go - and if they'll ever get called on it. We're rapidly heading for a third world style economy, and why not? We've already got the government to go with it, and a corrupt press as well. From the last paragraph of Hardin's article,
Did the Bush Justice Department zealously go after Spitzer, as Horton, Palast, and Dershowitz wonder? Was there a partisan agenda behind the investigation? A use of the most powerful police agency in the country to crush an inconvenient and voracious opponent? If this is a political thriller, and there was an acknowledged effort to bring down Spitzer at all costs just to please powerful interests, have the villains gotten away the perfect crime?
Short answer: yes.
Let's not omit the role of the media in making all of this possible, from the over-hyping of the story and the continued pimping of it, while largely refusing to look outside of the careful framing. ABC news 20/20 is using Spitzer as the excuse to run a long awaited Diane Sawyer piece on prostitution. (The Times Union got the network name wrong in the headline.)
NEW YORK -- Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's call girl scandal prompted ABC News to give the go-ahead to a two-hour prime-time special on prostitution that includes Diane Sawyer's visit to a legal brothel in Nevada.
The "20/20" special, which airs 9 p.m. Friday, has been in the works for two years. It was expected to be on sometime in May or June, but ABC moved it up because Spitzer's resignation last week put the topic in the headlines, said David Sloan, executive producer of ABC's newsmagazines.
"It has taken a lot of time and I think it's going to be very provocative," Sloan said.
Provocative - and a useful distraction from the important story: selective prosecution for political purposes.