Spitzer's history is entirely totalitarian. He used the weight of his Attorney-General's office to intimidate many a New York firm out of practices that were and are entirely legal, and into all sorts of "consent decrees" that bind them from effective competition in the marketplace. Why the voters of the Empire State saw fit to install him in the governor's mansion is something I cannot explain.

This is what you get with leftists: a conviction of absolute moral superiority that frees them of any need to ponder the rightness or consequences of their actions, or whether others might just have a moral stake in the game, too.

Insanely stupid is as insanely stupid does.

I live and work in NY, so the Spitzer administration has pretty much been one long 'I told you so' for me. On the plus side, I think he is actually less damaging to NY overall as governor vs AG, mostly because AG's get all sorts of power with very little oversight/press interest, while governors (even ones with D's next to their name in NY) get a lot more scrutiny.

His professed belief that the Smith and Wesson boycott warranted a RICO investigation told me years ago all that I really needed to know about the man.

My memory used to be infallible. It wasn't RICO, it was an anti-trust investigation. Different "crimes", same abuse of power.

As a born and bred New Yorker, the Governors we have had have been absolutely atrocious - Saint Mario, the tall guy (whatshisface the most boring man in the world George), and now this idiot.

To see how wonderful NY governance is just go to upstate NY and see what high taxes, government intrusion and an anti business climate can do to a once properous state.

And we can only blame the people who elect these schmucks time and time and time again.

Q: What the hell is it with Elliot Spitzer?

A: He is a Democrat.

I don't think we should avoid the obvious.

As for those in NY who elected Spitzer, you deserve it.

As for the others, it is time to move.

Why the voters of the Empire State saw fit to install him in the governor's mansion is something I cannot explain.

Because NYS has been taken over by political zombies. No reasonable governance goes on, ever, just the undead stumbling about mumbling incoherant and vaguely threatening broken sentences. The most we hope for is to escape with our brains intact. On everything else, we've given up.

That said, Spitzer may turn out to be a godsend. At least now we're experiencing outrage.

I think Elliot is possibly even more hapless than many realize.

Knowing his ambition, and knowing how to manipulate it to their advantage, I think the Clintons and other national Dems reached out and actually prompted Elliot to do the licensing for illegals as a ploy Dems are trying in several states -- to help garner the overwhelmingly Dem votes that will result. NY is not the only state going down this road.

As often is the case with overly cynical and scheming politicos, the Clintons miscalculated the degree of public outrage that would erupt from this issue -- note that they still think the only reason people are against it is because as a unintended consequence, potential terorists get access to IDs.

Whereas, there's ALSO a very strong nativist sentiment against illegal aliens (undocumented people in Hillaryspeak) getting benefits or services. To Elliot, Hillary and the like mindedm this is by theology a racist attitude. (Less politically savvy Dems say so publicly.)

The Clintons miscalculated, but their stooges are the ones who get burned. Hillary only gets burned for that brief period where she doesn't know the poll-pulse of the populace against her position. That gets fixed.

Then they lean on Spitzer to back off, and Hillary gets to claim that she fixed what went wrong.

BUT, realize she and the Dems as a whole will find another way and even come back to this once they find another way to create documents for those people without any, then voila, no undocumented people anymore!

I don't agree that Hillary will be seen in any good light from this fiasco. She stumbled at the debate and showed her cards blatently....she really would allow licenses for illegals had the public not voiced their outrage and the opinion polls regarding Spitzer's plan. It was in her political ass-saving interest that this plan not go forward at this time. Later? Maybe.
Poster Rich - you're right. I've lived in Western NY for 2 years and am amazed at the high unemployment and social conditions in what otherwise is a very beautiful part of the state.

Oops, that should have been - "Poster H - you're right"...

Hopefully the laws of Karma will come in full force to Spitzer and "reward" him for his vindictive, contemptible ways. Life's a bitch that way.

I agree with Rich about what NY governance has done to the state, but we deserve it.

Remember the possibility of a constitutional convention a few years ago? There was serious talk of giving the people initiative, referendum and recall powers.

The sheep of this state let themselves get stampeded by the powers that be. "Who knows what an out-of-control convention might do?" The no votes carried the day.

In my opinion, we could not possibly do worse than what the present government is doing to us. Deficits forever, with all sorts of budgetary gimmicks. At least I can leave when I retire.

I did leave NY. In 1994. Mario made me do it.

Spitzer got elected because he promised to end the perennial standoff between the state legislature and the governor's office, promised to end the culture of favoritism and go along to get along that prevails in Albany, and promised to reform what one organization called the most dysfunctional state government in the country. As you might imagine, he isnt accomplishing any of that. Spitzer tried to strong arm with Joe Bruno, the Senate majority leader and the most powerful Republican in the state, using the NY State Police, and discovered that Joe Bruno is not some Wall Street creampuff who'll roll over and play dead for him because bad news might effect the bottom line. Somehow or other, I'd be greatly surprised if Elliott can get himself out of this mess, given that he's making all the same mistakes that Nixon made in 1972-1974. These guys never seem to learn that the coverup is almost always worse than the actual offense.

Someone beat me to it, but simple answer: he's a Democrat.

For anyone with eyes to see and a brain to think, it has been obvious to us in NY for years that Spitzer is a corrupt, megalomaniac fascist (and I don't like to use that word but there is nothing better). I think he's been plotting and scheming his mad takeover for a long time but I bet he's shocked at how loathed he is already. Good! 1 term is 1 term too many but better than 2.

if you know the guy is a horses ass and then elect him governor why do you think he will change? the people of ny knew what they were getting. as far as i'm concerned, they deserve each other.

if you know the guy is a horses ass and then elect him governor why do you think he will change? the people of ny knew what they were getting. as far as i'm concerned, they deserve each other.

Russ's comment above is a good one -- Spitzer is actually less dangerous as Governor than he was as Attorney-General, especially since the whole underhanded attempt to use the state police against Bruno was exposed. What good fortune it was that came so soon. Spitzer won't be able to do nearly as much damage during the rest of his term as he undoubtedly did while in law enforcement (using the term very loosely).

I travel a lot for work ... I've probably been to 30 states in the past 15 years. Residents of New York may not be aware that unemployment is remarkably low and signs of prosperity are plentiful across most of the USA, and it's pretty much been this way for 20 years. And then there's Buffalo and Rochester. NY truly has to be one of the worst-run, most business-unfriendly states in the Union.

I live and work in NY, so the Spitzer administration has pretty much been one long 'I told you so' for me.

Ditto. His term as A-G told me all I needed to know about his character.

Q: What the hell is it with Elliot Spitzer?
A: He is a Democrat.

No, that's not it. Giuliani runs as a Republican, and he's exactly the same. And that's what I'm amazed people don't get. I live in NY surrounded by lefties who loathe Giuliani, but adore Spitzer, and I keep telling them, "can't you see, they're practically twins"? Then on the rightie blogs we have this lovefest for Giuliani, and the common belief seems to be that the only reason he'd be opposed from the right would be gays and abortion; and I scratch my head in amazement.

Giuliani and Spitzer both have no concept or concern for anybody's civil liberties. They've made their careers by picking victims and going after them. They both love RICO, and dreaming up new uses for it. And they'd both love to get their hands on the powers conferred by the USA PATRIOT Act. And that's why they can't be allowed anywhere near them.