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Eliot Spitzer's Seven Deadly Sins

businessweek.com — Lust is the least of it. Here's a look at the mistakes New York's sex-scandal-scarred governor made, and the lessons for any leader—in politics or business

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skored 110 days ago, made popular 109 days ago

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davidleeroth, on 03/18/2008, -2/+17It's funny how people make a big stink about a sex scandal, but pretty much just sit there watching the country rotting away.
Jovensdesciple, on 03/18/2008, -10/+3He just should have ***** a fat chik There would have been no probelm there. Fat chicks never tell, (or else they wouldnt ever get *****)! unless she was jewish. Dont ***** a fat jewish chick, they always tell. They just cant keep theyre fat yaps shut.
rosco01, on 03/18/2008, -3/+58: Being a reasonably successful Democratic governor in the era of the Rove/Gonzales Justice Department.
countmischief, on 03/18/2008, -3/+3Gold and Oil are the highest they've ever been, the fed lowers interest rates every 2 weeks, the Dow is going down rapidly, Banks are being bought out in droves, peoples incompetence has led them to living in tents on the side of the road, more people can't afford their mortgages every day, unemployment is rising, poverty is rising, educational quality is decreasing due to the emphasis on testing, gang activity and racial supremacy groups are on the rise, criminal activity is on the rise, natural disasters are on the rise, the majority of the nations top economists agree we are in a bad recession, all our money is being diverted into wars overseas, we're lending from china to pay of the debt we owe china, the deficit increases exponentially each day, Scandals plague the executive branch nearly every week, and all we hear about is how the governor of New York got laid.

I think we'll get past this rough patch, but only if we have the convictions to concentrate on what matters.
MrMaster2, on 03/18/2008, -4/+9"Lesson: No one is above the law; no one is untouchable, and no matter how smart you are, it doesn't matter. "

Are they serious? Look at Bush and Cheney; plenty of bood is on their hands, and some say they committed (and got away with), war crimes.
- countmischief, on 03/18/2008, -2/+3Get your priorities strait, politicians engaging in sexual activity hurt the innocence of a nation, war only kills a few people physically. /sarcasm.
jesuswuzanalien, on 03/18/2008, -1/+28. Having the last name Spitzer. You know that that name was gonna come crashin right back on him. Eliot "Slut-Spitzin'" Spitzer.
nitsnipe, on 03/18/2008, -2/+5Pardon me, but John F. Kennedy makes this guy seem gay.
papipablo, on 03/18/2008, -3/+2Sin #8--having a penis
bustergonad, on 03/18/2008, -1/+9Actually in his defense, the public was outraged that he was paying a prostitute for sex for the outlandish sum of $4300 for 2 hrs, so about $2150 per hour. Now if he had instead chosen to consort with Heather Mills for 4 years, like Paul McCartney did, it would have cost $48.9 million.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/arts/18arts-MCCA ...
So, as we break it down to her hourly rate,..
let see :
1 year, 365 days x 24 hours per day == 8760 hours a year.
4 years x 8760 hours == 35040 hours in 4 years.
Divorce settlement of 48900000 / 35040 == $1395.55 an hour!!

So I ask you,... what the ***** is the difference?!?!?1
- eryximachus, on 03/18/2008, -0/+2Well, I doubt Paul McCartney was going around pretending he was the king of morality.
  
  Personally, I don't have any problem with Spitzer getting some action on the side. It's the hypocrisy that gets me. What's worse, is his hypocrisy has put men in jail. It's worse than that gay Republican congressman. Not wanting to support gay marriage, or grant "gay rights", is vastly different than putting gays in jail. Spitzer is just the worst kind of hypocrite in a free society. I mean - the man is like a Pharisee.
FizzanoMatrix, on 03/18/2008, -2/+4People forget that Spitzer was one of the forerunners for getting Gentoo installed on inner-city network servers to combat all the packet loss they were getting from normal WinNT... Plus he never once admitted to openly installing Gimp on several of his aides' Tablet PCs.
fnv2001, on 03/18/2008, -2/+3
For $4300/hour (or whatever ridiculous price it was), I'd expect to get a better product. I would've asked for a refund.
rz8472, on 03/18/2008, -1/+4It's ironic that Spitzer, the "Sheriff of Wall Street", is crashing and burning this week while Bear Stearns gets away with a big fat government welfare check.
funkspiel, on 03/18/2008, -5/+1i thought his whore looked JAPish.
edgedmurasame, on 03/18/2008, -2/+38. Pissing off Wall Street, which is perfect and untouchable.
/sarcasm

It's a shame we don't have more of his kind. Wall Street deserved all of it and more - there would be plenty of states glad to return the non-favor Wall Street has returned upon them.
Ellidi, on 03/18/2008, -3/+1I don't get it. He payed for several prostitutes. So what? Why does that determine if he gets to be governor or not?
- eryximachus, on 03/18/2008, -0/+11) It's a serious misdemeanor
  
  2) The very first law he signed as governor upped the penalty for paying for sex from like 2-4 weeks to a YEAR. A year is along time for paying for a hooker.
  - Ellidi, on 03/18/2008, -0/+0Yeah, I guess.
seejunaid, on 03/18/2008, -2/+0Spitzer V USA
http://politicallyspeakin.blogspot.com/2008/03/spi ...
mobling, on 03/18/2008, -1/+0RE: Oghhh Ellidi? Have you not heard about the institution of marriage? It is considered to be a solemn oath of allegiance to your partner for as long as you live. Well it used to mean something like that. ***** has a damn nice looking wife and two daughters at home. What about the wasted babe years she gave up for him? I don't understand why she is sticking by his side while he is sticking it to hookers for a tune of thousands a whack. Now she will get old and start looking lig a fig newton while standing by her man.
VitriolAndAngst, on 03/18/2008, -1/+2This could be true of almost any politician.
The difference with Eliot Spitzer is; he was investigated to find something to get him out of the way. Why? He was coming down hard on Wall Street and the Ratings Companies that are complicit in massive fraud. Bear Stearns -- how did it go from $170 a share to $2? How did the value sneak out the back door while shareholders were told sweet lies? That is a much more interesting story.

Or do you think it is every day that the IRS looks at a millionaire's thousand dollar money movements and tracks them down? The FBI got involved, and apparently, there is a "secret" informer who, after a life of $4500 dates as a call girl, decided to phone in her information on one particular customer. Then we have two FBI agents who broke the law and gave all the details to the press -- a worse crime than renting a call girl in my mind. This is too much like the Clinton years, where after a string of investigations, the catch him with his pants down. It does not exonerate anyone to talk about this abuse of power. The way that Spitzer was taken out is a much bigger issue.

Let's hope there is more investigations against Wall Street and Bankers.
- oldhick, on 03/18/2008, -1/+1The IRS didn't look into him idiot, his bank did the investigating and turned him over to the IRS once they realized something was wrong. Way to ignore everything in the article, make up some facts, and reach an illogical conclusion.
  Spitzer was taken out for breaking the law and being a ***** hypocrite.
  - SoftwearSlash, on 03/18/2008, -0/+1Sure, Spitzer obviously broke the law and was a hypocrite. But how many other suspicious activities were turned over to the IRS and were not investigated? Nobody knows except the IRS, and they're not telling.
    - oldhick, on 03/19/2008, -0/+1How does that matter? The IRS has repeatedly said that it will prosecute high profile offenders.
      You're taking actual facts and discounting them because of possibilities. Thats just ridiculous and doesn't merit discussion. The argument that goes "sure he did, but others might have done worse..." is simply childish. Stand up and take responsibility.
- VitriolAndAngst, on 03/18/2008, -1/+1Oh my bad -- yeah, it was the BANK, that happened to report him to the IRS, and the "informant" -- presumably someone working at an association of Ill repute, that just decided to call the FBI. Sorry if I got confused -- apparently 3 or 4 agencies just happen to investigate people to look for crimes they may have committed every day. You seemed to have ignored everything I said, other than the dyslexia of saying IRS and not Bank.
  Yes, Spitzer appears to be a hypocrite. Therefore, he and everyone in the Republican party needs to resign.
  The IRS looked into it after the bank. The bank was assuming he was "structuring" which is a series of payments that go under the $9 or $10 thousand dollar threshold. Only, Spiitzer was making the payments OUT -- they weren't coming into his account, so the Bank's claim that they thought he was being bribed is sort of confusing. I'm also wondering out loud, how many times you've heard of a bank turning in a crooked politician. Apparently, they didn't catch the head of the Republican financing committee (forget the agency and the guys name), who stole over a million bucks from that institution.
  
  But, when Spitzer is a millionaire -- how often do you think he pays MORE than $10,000 at a clip? If I paid that much -- it would seem curious. But a guy with this much cash? One wonders how any illegal activity can even go on these days, with such vigilant banks.
  - oldhick, on 03/19/2008, -0/+1You really don't understand banking laws and finance. Paying MORE than $10,000 a clip isn't a problem. Its rapid, repeated, and consistent payments made at right under $10,000 that on face appear to try and subvert the banks government reporting policies.
    Why is it so important to you let this guy get a pass. He knows what he did was wrong. He knows how and why he got caught. He ISN'T claiming a conspiracy. But you, little internet Digg user, you've figured it all out.
akula89, on 03/18/2008, -1/+2fishy article. Whats the real story behind Spitzer's downfall?
stellandfly, on 03/18/2008, -0/+2Yet another sensationalist article. I don't see what the big deal is. Personally, I don't give a ***** about him screwing around with hookers. All of those hypocrites in government have skeletons in their closets. The media and the general public have been reacting with (mostly feigned) outrage and it's just ridiculous. He's a politician and a public figure, yeah, but he's first and foremost a human. And humans love sex. It's our nature. Kill the issue already.
Anyway, the only thing that should be of any concern is that Spitzer may have used taxpayers money to pay for sex.
- VitriolAndAngst, on 03/18/2008, -0/+1Yeah, what would happen if we declare; OK, every politician who is being blackmailed, come forward to this secret citizen's committee and spill your secrets and be absolved of them in the future. Politicians being blackmailed is more of a threat to our Democracy, than petty larceny and prostitution.
  
  I know we would LIKE better. But since we have this situation, where a politician mostly gets elected based upon how much money they raise -- and lobbyists can do this thing called "donations" which is a system of bribery... what are the f'ing chances that we get sleazy hypocrites in government? I mean, its amazing to me, that we get people like Kucinich and Feingold and everyone isn't Tom DeLay.
  
  So to stop investigating shenanigans on Wall Street, because a guy paid money to a REALLY HOT BABE -- well, what is going to hurt YOU? And as a happily married man -- I'd have real trouble if that girl showed up in my hotel room naked. It would probably happen at least every week if I were investigating Karl Rove.
  
  So Spitzer is at least a tiny bit of a fool... he should have know they'd set out to take him down. I'm just sick of the willfully gullible media for letting this happen.
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Eliot Spitzer's Seven Deadly Sins

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