March 11, 2008

The fallout from Hookergate continues. Eliot "Client 9" Spitzer is still governor of New York, although his political career is as dead as NBC should be. I actually found a few internet posters who think that Hookergate was a Republican dirty tricks operation. No offense, but the Republicans don't have a dirty tricks operation that could manufacture something like this. The liberals and Spitzer defenders have to realize that their savior is not a saint, but something politically akin to the anti-Christ. You don't mess up the job market and antagonize nearly everyone without making everyone opposed to you. And Spitzer did far worse that mess up the job market and antagonize Wall Street (which coincidentally has seen a major rally since the news of Hookergate broke).

I am still unemployed. I spent most of today on the job hunt. Both applications I filed were with non-profits. One of them wants me back for an interview on Thursday. So much for the myth that conservatives are heartless bastards. But then they probably didn't know or care that I still volunteer with St. Mary's Cathedral or that I used to be a church usher at St. Pancras in Queens. But then it also shows the depths that Spitzer sunk to in his political career that a former church usher is one of his most virulent critics.

March 10, 2008

My least favorite politician Eliot Spitzer is at it again.



It is bad enough he destroyed thousands of jobs in New York when he was attorney general. It is bad enough the businesses he sued and settled with donated money to charities that either supported his gubernatorial bid or were run by his relatives. It is bad enough he thought it was a good idea to give drivers' licenses to people not in his state legally. It is bad enough he is so radically pro-infanticide that he thinks all health care providers (especially those opposed to abortion) should either provide abortions or not be allowed to practice medicine. It is bad enough that he used the New York State Police to have trail his political rival State Senate Leader Joe Bruno. It is bad enough that he thinks the most corrupt and overpaid state legislature in the country deserves a pay raise.

Now Spitzer is laundering money to pay for high class hookers. Spitzer (or Client 9, as he is referred to in the joint IRS/FBI investigation), cheated on his wife, and used an illegal money laundering scheme to pay for his mistress. Last time I checked, using the services of a prostitute was still illegal in New York. Last time I checked, laundering money to fund illegal activity was a federal offense (which is how the IRS first got involved). The more one learns about the real Eliot Spitzer, the more one finds out he is about as clean as a weasel with diarrhea. If Eliot Spitzer doesn't resign soon, the legislature should begin impeachment proceedings pronto. But given the recent history of slimeball politicians in the state, it might take a Federal conviction to get him out of office.

Spitzer's attempt at an apology (from CBS News)

This blog originally appeared in my other blog (netscaper113.townhall.com) about an hour ago. I feel vindicated because now nearly everyone in America knows what a scumbag Spitzer is and there is no way he can further his political career (or stay out of jail for much longer) after this latest scandal. But it is sad that he still got elected governor and that he did so much damage to my longtime home of New York. The Hildabeest is almost as corrupt as Spitzer. Before one thinks of electing her President, one should realize that if she is elected President, she will have a scandal that will result in calls for her resignation or impeachment. Does the United States really need another Clinton impeachment circus? Can the United States afford a Presidency that will closely resemble Spitzer's 15 months as Governor of New York?

December 1, 2007

I have been busy on my first day of unemployment. I have a couple of interviews scheduled for Monday (the 3rd). And for the first time in a long while, I have been able to submit media opinions to widely-read (or viewed) outlets. The following are a comment to the NY Sun's website and an e-mail to Lou Dobbs of CNN, both concerning the slimeball who is still governor of New York:

Submitted by Thomas D. Clarke, Dec 1, 2007 14:30 (NY Sun)

On Day 1, everything changed. Instead of getting an increasingly inept Republican governor (Pataki), 70% of New Yorkers (I was not one of them), elected Spitzer into office. Somehow, they were conned into thinking Spitzer would be a reformer and a fiscal conservative. Never mind the fact that the greatest threats to reform and fiscal responsibility (i.e. the Democratic Assembly) were the biggest supporters of Spitzer to begin with. And of course no one knew or cared that in Spitzer's previous job (Attorney General), he did more to chase jobs out of New York than anyone not employed by Al Qaeda. His actions against Marsh and McClellan alone (6000+ jobs destroyed in a lawsuit Spitzer filed and lost while prosecuting) should have disqualified him from being governor.

And now, his attempted (but so far unsuccessful) achievements as governor include:

Trying to force Catholic and other pro-life health care providers to perform abortions
Pay raises for the most dysfunctional legislature in the United States
Increased taxes in the most taxed state after campaigning against tax hikes in 2006
Allowing non-legal residents of New York to have official NY Drivers' Licenses (for some reason, this is the only Spitzer atrocity that has elicited outrage outside the Northeast)

At the very least, Spitzer and his cronies in the state legislature should be impeached or recalled. Ideally, the state Constitution should be amended or re-written to where reforms are enacted, the legislature is pared to one chamber (similar to Nebraska's unicameral legislature- this restructuring alone could save NY billions in taxpayer money), and a clear statewide recall statute which if enacted could prevent Spitzer, Shelly Silver, and other snake oil lawmakers from ruining the state further.

Also, I am of the strong opinion that Spitzer and the state legislature should be forced to take a 40-70 percent pay cut.

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E-mail to Lou Dobbs at CNN, December 1, 2007:

As a longtime resident of New York who recently moved to Colorado, I am intrigued by Lou Dobbs's comments on my former state's atrocious governor Eliot Spitzer. Spitzer lied about his record as attorney general (and how many jobs he destroyed as part of his politically motivated anti-Wall Street crusades), and lied about being a reformer and a tax cutting "fiscal conservative". In 2006, I was one of the few (29%) of NY voters who was not conned by his bovine excrement. And while his crackpot scheme to allow people not in the US legally to obtain NY Driver's Licenses failed, he is still doing a lot of harm to my former home. He pushed through increased state spending (mostly to his pet projects- just like he did when he was Attorney General) and is now flip-flopping on his promise not to raise taxes- in the most overtaxed state in the Union. He has brought Albany corruption to a new low by using state troopers to spy on his biggest political rival (Senate Leader Joe Bruno, who is no saint himself). And Spitzer has declared war on New York's largest religious group by trying to force Catholic health insurers to pay for abortion and by attempting to decertify any Catholic-run hospital that refuses on moral grounds to perform abortions.

Eliot Spitzer is not fit to be Governor of New York. He should resign. The right-wing talk shows and blogosphere should not be the only ones bringing the atrocities Spitzer has wrought upon New York to light. And the illegal drivers' license scheme is not even the worst thing Spitzer has done. Spitzer is not an idiot. He is far worse.

Thomas D. Clarke, Colorado Springs, CO 80920; formerly of Ridgewood, NY 11385, and Brooklyn, NY 11235

(note: these letters were also printed on my MySpace blog, available at www.myspace.com/tdclarke)