Elections More Important Than Call Girls (Ben Stein loses his mind...again)

CBS Sunday Morning ^ | 3/16/08 | Ben Stein

[Clint N. Suhks]

Ben Stein Says The Feds Driving A Governor Out Of Office Is A Scary Thing

Like every other American, I was stunned by the fall of Elliot Spitzer. Of course I feel terrible for his family and for him. He fought the law and the law won.

But something sinister is happening here and it scares me.

Governor Spitzer was elected by an immense majority in the third most populous state. He got millions of votes. Now he's out of a job and in disgrace, and a man the voters did not vote for as governor is governor.

Why? Because some nosy civil servants at the IRS started a fishing expedition against Spitzer because they suspected he might be moving around money for political bribes.

So they wiretapped him and they found he was using the money he was moving around to buy the services of prostitutes.

Now, this is illegal in most states, and clearly it is in New York and in DC. But let's be honest: Men hire prostitutes by the thousands, maybe tens of thousands, every day They also bring women across state lines for sex every day.

The punishment for the men who hire hookers is usually nil, or at most a small fine close to what you'd get for a traffic ticket.

However, in Governor Spitzer's case, he got outed, humiliated, disgraced in front of his family, and then the voters lost the guy they voted for.

It is deeply scary to me that a few employees of the federal executive branch can start a train rolling that has such immense effects on the electoral process. Basically, a few career civil servants have nullified the will of the voters of the Empire State (over something clearly wrong, I don't doubt that, but it's not a political crime, not treason, not terrorism).

Having elected officials kicked out of office by appointed officials is a very dicey proposition. Over hiring prostitutes?

I strongly suspect that if the feds followed a hundred young male elected officials around for a year, they would find some sexual hanky panky among a lot of them, and some money or gifts changing hands often. If the feds prosecuted them all, it would basically mean that federal prosecutors have a veto over the electoral process.

That is dangerous.

More will be revealed but it all scares me. Elections are a lot more important than call girls.

[Brilliant]

The feds? I thought it was the media. Letterman, for example.

[Steely Tom]

It is deeply scary to me that a few employees of the federal executive branch can start a train rolling that has such immense effects on the electoral process.

I think Spitzer started the train rolling, Ben.

[big'ol_freeper]

Actually. The power of a few in the federal government scares me. Ben is not being a loony here. Not that I am crying over Eliot Spitzer Swallows.

[ROLF of the HILL COUNTRY]

Ben Stein is one of the good guys, but I’m baffled by his take on this.

[Paleo Conservative]

Governor Spitzer was elected by an immense majority in the third most populous state.

I wonder when it will fall to fourth place behind Florida?

[sono]

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

[Stepan12]

Men hire prostitutes, but do the same men who hire prostitutes also bust prostitution rings with great fanfare and, in Spitzer's case, sanctimony?

Spitzer also hounded businessmen for doing the normal transactions of business. Including philanthropists such as that fellow from AIG insurance (who is now civilly suing Spitzer).

Ben Stein is an example of how Hollywood can corrupt a person. Look at how Ahnold governs California.

[Steely Tom]

Like Pat Buchanan, Ben has become erratic as he’s aged.

It happened to Barry Goldwater too, as I recall.

[robertpaulsen]

"The punishment for the men who hire hookers is usually nil, or at most a small fine close to what you'd get for a traffic ticket."

And IF Spitzer is ever charged, you can reassure him with that fact.

[Clemenza]

According to most projections, it should fall to fourth by the next census.

The city has gained population slightly (rebounding from a low of 7.1 million in the late 70s to 8 million now), while upstate has become rapidly depopulated, and the traditional suburbs have stagnated (due to low birthrates, high cost of living, and the resulting outflow).

[The Ghost of Rudy McRomney]

Screw Stein. Hypocrite swine Eliot Spitzer can rot in hell. And his stepford wife, too (she was one of his advisors telling him to brazen it out, and not resign. That power is hard to give up once you’re used to it.).

[Drew68]

When you are going to destroy reputations and make enemies out of very powerful people as Spitzer had done, you’d better have a clean nose.

[Vision]

There is only one explanation for a nonsensical article like this.

Stein enjoyed/enjoys the company of prostitutes.

[JoeGar]

I’ve got to go with Ben on this one. What two consenting adults do sexually in private is nobody else’s business.

[USS Alaska]

The feds didn't kick him out of office, the demonRATs that refused to provide cover for him did.

When BJ got caught, thousands of demonRATs lied, twisted and convoluted, so that bj and the bitch could stay in power.

Nine hundred FBI files may have influenced their stance, and spitzer didn't have any clout with the RATs.

Screw'm all but nine, six to carry the coffin, two road guards and one to count cadence.

[brushcop]

Ben, Ben, Ben, don't you see the crime(s) beyond just a call girl? Good grief, he persecuted many without much evidence and perhaps no evidence. No, his crimes and misdemeanors must not be tolerated, he held such powerful positions and was willing to damage and destroy others with what he thought was impunity.

The idea here is not to destroy him but to bring him to justice, which is just a shadow of true justice, but justice must be served regardless or else let's just forget the whole concept about being "a nation of laws" and let each operate according to his own mind.

Come on Ben, wake up, don't go brain dead on us.

[Thudd]

What a stupid article. It was the banks that reported to the IRS that something was suspect, not a fishing expedition. Somehow I don’t recall all this hand wringing when Republicans get busted.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Wonder what Stein had to say, if anything, about the following.

Tough Words Come Back to Haunt Spitzer

Defense Lawyers Call N.Y. Gov and Former Attorney General a Hypocrite

By SCOTT MICHELS

March 10, 2008—

In 2004, then-New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced criminal charges against 16 alleged members of a profitable prostitution ring based in Staten Island.

"This was a sophisticated and lucrative operation with a multi-tiered management structure," Spitzer said at the time. "It was, however, nothing more than a prostitution ring, and now its owners and operators will be held accountable."

It was one of the many cases brought by Spitzer's office that helped develop his reputation as a tough-on-crime moral crusader, and one of at least two prostitution cases he oversaw.

But, Spitzer himself is now the target of an investigation linking him to an upscale prostitution ring, ABC News has confirmed. Spitzer issued a general apology Monday at a news conference in Manhattan but would not respond to allegations of his involvement in the ring. He also declined to say whether he would resign.

"I have acted in a way that violates my obligation to my family and violates my, or any, sense of right or wrong," he said.

Vincent Romano, the attorney for Frank Farella, who was sentenced to prison in the Staten Island prostitution ring case, said of Spitzer, "If it is true, it's hypocritical and he should be treated in the same overzealous, mean-spirited way he treated other similarly situated people."

As Attorney General, Spitzer was known for his ambition, his confrontational style and willingness to take on everyone from gun manufacturers to mortgage lenders. Time Magazine called him a "tireless crusader." Others dubbed him the "sheriff" of Wall Street. That reputation helped him easily win election as New York's governor.

"Some public officials may not want to face stricter ethics rules and more competitive elections," he said at his inauguration. "But all citizens will win when we finally get a government that puts the people's interests, openness and integrity first."

During his time as attorney general, Spitzer brought major cases against some of the country's largest corporate giants. He also brought at least two cases against alleged prostitution rings and, as governor, signed legislation to increase penalties for international sex trafficking.

In 2003, his office filed a civil suit, and later brought criminal charges against a travel agency that prosecutors said offered tours for men seeking sex with prostitutes abroad.

The agency "promotes prostitution and the abuse of young women," Spitzer said then.

The criminal case is still pending in the state's court of appeals, said Daniel Hochheiser, a lawyer for one of the defendants, Norman Barabash.

"I hope that the authorities extend a degree of mercy to the governor, which his former office never extended to my client, for an allegation involving prostitution activity, which the attorney general's office initiated and pursued with such righteousness over the past more than five years," Hochheiser said.

Spitzer also investigated large corporate entities, including Merrill Lynch, dozens of mutual fund companies, insurance behemoth American International Group (AIG), and all three of the country's largest insurance brokers.

In 2002, he settled a major case against some of the top Wall Street banks and brokers for alleged stock research abuses. He has also pursued the music industry and sued coal companies for allegedly causing acid rain in New York.

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

http://www.abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=4424586&page=1

[andy58-in-nh]

Alan Dershowitz makes essentially the same argument, focusing more on privacy rights. I think there is some merit to this line of reasoning, as evidence of voluntary consensual behavior, no matter how distasteful, ought not be used to justify government intrusions upon personal liberty.

However, both Stein and Dershowitz miss the true cause of Spitzer's downfall: his hubris and hypocrisy. The man made a career out of crusading in the guise of a white knight, slaying the dragons of Corruption - even while darkly threatening all who opposed him. He fell from grace not because of what he did - but because he would have gleefully destroyed anyone else who crossed the path of his ambitions for doing precisely the same thing.