86 Client 9 - I Spit on Spitzer

The AP reports: A poll released late Tuesday found that 70 percent of New Yorkers think Spitzer should resign, while 66 percent believe he should be impeached and removed from office if he doesn’t. (source)

That seems to be an awfully harsh indictment from the state that roots for the New York Yankees - a moral crime that is far worse than banging some hooker.

But seriously, I have conspicuously remained silent about the Client 9 issue, because I make no value judgments about people who decide to be prostitutes or patronize prostitutes. Everyone should have the freedom to do both.

I do, however, delight in feelings of schadenfreude for politicians and public figures who embark on moral crusades, and then are destroyed when it is revealed that they are just as sinful as their targets. I never had a problem with Bill Clinton’s philandering because he never seemed to have a political axe to grind with anyone else’s sexual conduct. Smoke up, Billy!

On the other hand, David Vitter, Larry Craig, Bob Allen, Ted Haggard, and Mark Foley all deserve to burn in the hottest place in political hell for their disgusting hypocrisy.

I have not been a student of Eliot Spitzer’s career. I only knew him as a public servant who tirelessly pursued corporate corruption — and I was grateful to him for that.

Perhaps I am the last one to know, but it appears that Spitzer was an anti-prostitution crusader himself. The New York Times reports:

As New York’s attorney general, Eliot Spitzer had broken up prostitution rings before, but this 2004 case took on a special urgency for him. Prosecuting an international sex tourism business based in Queens, he listened to the entreaties of women’s advocates long frustrated by state laws that fell short of dealing with a sex trade expanding rapidly across borders.

And with his typical zeal, he embraced their push for new legislation, including a novel idea at its heart: Go after the men who seek out prostitutes.

It was a question of supply and demand, they all agreed. And one effective way to suppress the demand was to raise the penalties for patronizing a prostitute. In his first months as governor last year, Mr. Spitzer signed the bill into law.

Now the human rights groups, which credit him with what they call the toughest and most comprehensive anti-sex-trade law in the nation, are in shock. Mr. Spitzer stands accused of being one of the very men his law was designed to catch and punish. (source)

He even went so far as to go after New York businesses that sold “sex tourism” travel packages to Thailand and the Philippines, despite the fact that no crimes took place on American soil, let alone in New York.

And now we come to find that Mr. Spitzer was “Client 9.”

This news has forced me to change camps.

I don’t care if a public official or public figure (or anyone else) does in the privacy of their own home, hotel room, or wherever. If I have learned one thing, it is that those who you least expect it from are probably the freakiest in the crowd. I almost prefer my politicians to have a rough edge to them.

But when a politician pushes a morality based agenda that, if applied fairly, would ensnare him too — I spit on him.

For the good Spitzer has done for us all throughout his distinguished career, I thank him. But, I now (belatedly) join the chorus calling for his resignation.

Fleeting Expletive = 179 Days in Jail

Yes, its Polk County again… Chris Wilson reports on Judge Dale Durrance’s latest exploits, as does the Lakeland Ledger.

Joseph Javaun Woods was on probation for possession of marijuana, and was arrested for fleeing to elude a law enforcement officer. Since there was a gun in the car, he was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Lets face it, Mr. Woods is not a perfect little innocent angel, but there is a key factor here — he might not be an angel, but he isn’t a felon either. The only charge on his record was the misdemeanor possession charge. See Woods v. State, 2007 Fla. App. LEXIS 13954 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2007). (Opinion available here)

Mr. Woods’ first appearance was broadcast from jail by video into Durrance’s courtroom. Judge Durrance told Woods that he was going to be held without bail because he was a felon in possession of a firearm. Normally, that might be appropriate. However, when Woods told Durrance that he had no prior felony convictions, just a single misdemeanor, Durrance, in an act of complete dismissiveness for the defendant, “told him his lawyer would get that straightened out for him and asked for the next defendant to be brought forward.” (source)

In other words, Durrance didn’t care what the facts or the law said. Mr. Woods was going to jail, without bail.

As Mr. Woods was being hauled away, without bail, he then had the audacity to mutter the word “shit.” (case). The transcript of the exchange appears below:

Keystone Polk County

Cue up the Benny Hill Theme…..

Chris Wilson reports on more Law Enforcement hijinks in Polk County. Grady Judd is trying to create a “no First Amendment Zone” in between Orlando and Tampa. (See, e.g., here and here) Perhaps his attention would be better spent cleaning his own house.

As reported earlier (another tip from Wilson), the Lake Wales PD has its very own child molester.

Far less shocking, but more indicative of a level of complete arrogance, a guy calls 911, the officer arrives and determines that there is no emergency, so he just steals $450 from the guy who called them.

Even Public Enemy wasn’t thinking of this kind of behavior when they wrote “911’s a Joke.”

Nice Work, Polk County!

As anyone who has been paying attention knows, Grady Judd has been on a moral crusade to repeal the First Amendment in his fair Polk County, Florida.

He had his attention turned to arresting Chris Wilson (either for posting a few dirty pictures on the internet, or for posting war photos — you decide) (source), and put out a crime bulletin because two kids stole a box of condoms(source). When a woman called the Polk County authorities for help with a stalker, they arrested her for obscenity. (source) Consenting adults, taking pictures of other consenting adults, showing them to consenting adults. Yep, that’s a crime that needs Grady’s attention. Good ol Grady, protecting us from immoral acts…

In the meantime, Lake Wales Officer Christopher Roberts, 35, was molesting a six year old. (Tip from The Liberal Blogger).

Good Ol’ Grady Judd

Florida’s favorite anti-First Amendment crusader, Polk County sheriff Grady Judd, recently said one of the most foolish (and if you think about it — scary) things I’ve ever seen in print. Judd said. “I could write the inside story on criminals who hide under the cover of free speech.” Hide under the cover of free speech? Is this guy for real?

This is a guy who Christopher Wilson describes as an “ultra-conservative redneck sheriff.” (source). I believe that Chris was being quite kind in describing Judd that way. Of course, Judd thought that Wilson belonged in prison for 100 years because Wilson posted some “dirty pictures.” See “Casualty of Porn.” This is what Judd considers to be “crime.” Consenting adults looking at pictures of other consenting adults = crime.

I disagree with Wilson on one issue. Judd is no “conservative.” Conservatives believe in reduced government involvement in our private lives. Judd is a buffoon who panders to the worst of the religious nut jobs who wish to foist their own censorial views on the rest of us. He should not be sheriff, nor even a law enforcement officer. He has no respect for his oath of office (the portion that says “I will uphold and defend the Constitution…”), and is a threat to freedom. Lets face it, Al Qaeda never tried to take away my First Amendment rights. Judd would be right at home in Iran or Saudi Arabia. Perhaps their home-grown morality police could recruit him and save the rest of us his antics? Please?

His comments are here in the Lakeland Ledger. I encourage you to visit that post and place your own comments alongside his.