Reason's Take on the Spitzer Scandal

Reason's Paul Karl Lukas issues his scathing insights on the Eliot Spitzer ruckus.

Here's an excerpt from the piece:

Many publications (reason included) are feasting this week on the all-but-cooked political carcass of New York’s law-and-order governor, Eliot Spitzer. The crusading former attorney general was brought low by the New York Times’ revelation yesterday afternoon that federal wiretaps caught him allegedly arranging an assignation with an overpriced prostitute last month at a Washington hotel. (When news of the underlying federal investigation broke last week, The Smoking Gun website posted screen grabs of the service’s web page, including photos of alleged talent and a price list that ran up to $3,100 an hour.)

If the allegations are true (and Spitzer’s statement that he 'acted in a way that violates my obligation to my family' certainly sounds like an admission), the governor’s hypocrisy—and his belief that there is one set of laws for the little people and another set for Great Men like himself—is obvious. As attorney general and leader of the state's organized crime task force, Spitzer spearheaded the prosecution of two alleged prostitution rings, according to the Times.

But Spitzer’s moralistic crusade against paid sex (by non-Spitzers, at least) wasn’t confined to New York or even the United States of America. As far as Spitzer is concerned, he has the right to prevent people from exchanging cash for cuddles anywhere in the world.

Big Apple Oriental Tours was a Queens-based travel agency with an angle: it marketed vacations for men to destinations such as Angeles City, Philippines, a jurisdiction in which adult prostitution is nominally illegal but is condoned and regulated by the government because of the money it brings in. The militant feminist group Equality Now had been agitating for prosecution of Big Apple Oriental Tours since at least 1996, but had never found a prosecutor willing to take the case. (Big Apple Oriental Tours has never been linked to child prostitution, which would be another matter entirely.)

Reason on Ron Paul - Evolution of a Revolution

Reason's Dave Weigel, a former Ron Paul supporter, takes a gander at the Ron Paul Revolution and to where it's headed. (Remember, this is the same Weigel who, with Julian Sanchez, unearthed evidence of Lew Rockwell's alleged ties to the infamous newsletter scandal that targeted the Ron Paul 2008: Hope for America campaign.)

Here's an excerpt of the piece:

The most libertarian candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, began 2008 with an army of 100,000 enthusiastic donors. Before the primary season began, many of his fans clung to the hope that polls showing Paul stuck in single digits were cooked. Many, more pragmatically, hoped he’d play the kind of role Sen. Eugene McCarthy filled 40 years ago in the Democratic primaries, shaking his party out of its hawkish stupor and relocating its soul.

Neither of those scenarios unfolded. Nowhere was the disappointment greater than in the 'Live Free or Die' state of New Hampshire, where the large independent vote and Paul’s substantial war chest were primed to shock the political system. Before the election, pollsters such as John Zogby and Scott Rasmussen thought Paul might come in third place. ABC News embedded a reporter with the campaign just to see if lightning might strike, and CNN sent cameras to cover Paul’s election night party live.

But Paul finished in a momentum-sapping fifth place, polling worse than he did in Iowa even after spending $3.6 million in the state. Only a second-place showing in Nevada relieved the doldrums of a bleak winter: 6 percent in Michigan, 4 percent in South Carolina, and 3 percent in the make-or-break state of Florida. When the winner-take-all states of Super Tuesday rolled around, Paul placed no better than a second- place showing in Montana and media interest in his movement faded away.

The chance of a Paul nomination, never likely to begin with, became mathematically impossible. Once that became clear, interest turned naturally to the members of Paul’s decentralized, ad hoc movement—often dubbed the rEVOLution, after a slogan coined by Arizona libertarian Ernie Hancock. The big surprise is how many of his supporters want to scrap parts of Paul’s campaign platform. The big question is how many of them will stick around for whatever comes next.

The divisions were already obvious before New Hampshire’s crucial primary. Operation Live Free or Die, a grassroots Paul group founded by ex-Google whiz kid Vijay Boyapati, rented 14 friendly homes and opened them up to Paul volunteers to use as a base for door-to-door campaigning. In one house, a snowy 45-minute drive from the campaign headquarters in Concord, Paul workers from all over the country cooked food, drank beer, and talked about libertarian philosophy and economics.

Top Anti-Iran War Commander Admiral William J. Fallon Is Canned

U.S. Admiral William J. Fallon, the top pundit of the entire, impending neocon aggression against Iran, has been given the axe. This comes in the wake of a piece that was published in the pages of Esquire Magazine last week, a piece in which Fallon was identified by the author known to his Esquire readers as Thomas P.M. Barnett.

According to the Washington Post on the Esquire matter:

The Esquire article, written by Thomas P.M. Barnett, a former Naval War College professor, asserted that if Fallon left his job anytime soon, it could signal that Bush intends to go to war with Iran. Asked about that yesterday, Gates called it 'just ridiculous.'

The next paragraph of the Post piece continued with the following:

Several Democrats were quick to accuse the [Bush] administration of not tolerating dissent. 'It's distressing that Admiral Fallon feels he had to step down,' said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.). 'President Bush's oft-repeated claim that he follows the advice of his commanders on the ground rings hollow if our commanders don't feel free to disagree with the president.' Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) asked whether Fallon's resignation is a reflection that the administration is hostile to 'the frank, open airing of experts' views.'

With that in mind, now that Fallon is out of the way, The Great Leader will continue to not only engage in more acts of violence against foreigners, but he'll also kill them more than ever.

The Feds Were Watching You, Eliot

Apparently the Feds had been keeping tabs on Spitzer for quite some time -- that is, long before he was busted for his entanglement with Emperor's VIP Club in February.

Spitzer Gets His Comeuppance

Republicans are now calling for legally and politically troubled Governor Eliot Spitzer (D-NY) to resign from his gubernatorial office.

Here's the Scotland-based News.Scotsman.com site reporting more on this swelling ruckus.

Payment Protection Plans (PPIs) Should Be Avoided At All Costs

Whatever you do, if you have credit cards or car insurance, please don't get protection payment plans (PPIs). They are nothing but a false sense of security.

New Cop Ratings Site Incenses Police and Is Removed

A new website (called RateMyCop.com) that rates more than 130,000 police officers nationwide on the basis of authority, fairness, and satisfaction not only incensed so many police organizations, it also resulted in the removal of the site.

The site that is listed under GoDaddy's domain webhosting service has now been replaced with the following:

This site is currently unavailable.

If you are the owner of this site, please contact us at 1-480-505-8855 at your earliest convenience.

It's funny: GoDaddy does not have a problem with you watching porn on its servers, but the pendulum only swings one way when you're dealing with free speech.

(Thanks goes to Christopher Manion for his thoughts on the GoDaddy site.)

Campaign Finance Laws Hurt Grassroots Causes

The government's own campaign finance machinations are wiping out grassroots causes, according to Jessica Peck Corry of Liberty For All Online Magazine.

The Rightful Persecution and Crucifixion of New York Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer

The recent hoopla over the federal investigation of New York Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer over his alleged involvement with a $1,000-an-hour prostitute known to various press accounts and sources as "Kristen" and her high-class brothel known as the Emperor's VIP Club has sent shockwaves to the entire mainstream media, especially the blogosphere housing the Left, "moderates," libertarians, and the Right. Moreover, while many pundits across the political spectrum have been putting different varieties of spin on the latest uproar, some of them -- if not, many -- are either ignoring or neglecting the fact that Spitzer isn't being charged with meeting with the woman or being in sexual congress with the woman or other women from the brothel.

In actuality, Spitzer is being charged with money laundering - that is, the crime of wiring money out of his bank account to the ring in the amount of more than $10,000, which, according to Newsday, appeared to be a front for the service. Interestingly enough, the governor contacted the bank to have his name removed, the fact that his broke the $10,000 amounts into smaller amounts notwithstanding. Moreover, the Feds initially believed that the transfers were part of a blackmail scheme or possibly political corruption on the governor's part. Because of the unusual, red-flagged amounts recorded in his bank account, the bank, required by government edict, reported the transactions to the IRS. (Keep in mind that the banks consistently record these unusually-large amounts and report them to the Feds on suspicion that their clients are possibly engaging in drug dealing and/or terrorist activity.)

This latest incident involving Spitzer is an excellent epitome of why the federal and state governments should stay out of the economic and personal affairs of its citizenry. More than that, it beckons for a repeal of laws criminalizing prostitution (it is, in fact, illegal in 49 states minus Nevada) and a repeal of all federal and state laws and regulations that call for monitoring, snooping in, red-flagging, and even overseeing peaceful economic transactions, especially when that activity involves two parties exchanging money for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity.

While we're at it, let's repeal all the federal and state drug and terrorism laws that threaten our domestic and global way of life as well as what we do with our monies that are entrusted to the banks with whom we deal on a voluntary basis. And let's not forget an across-the-board repeal of all laws requiring banks to become snitches to the federal government (i.e. the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Department of Justice, the IRs, etc.).

More importantly, let's abolish all unconstitutional federal agencies that are not authorized by the federal government (including the DHS, FBI, IRS, DOJ). Furthermore, let's repeal all the state-imposed laws enforcing morality on the public, especially in the area of illegal prostitution.

On a personal note, while I oppose government intrusion into economic and personal matters (including the act of having sex with a prostitute and/or exchanging money for that purpose), I cannot say, for the life of me, that I feel sorry for Governor Spitzer. This is a man who led a crusade against entrepreneurs, day traders, businesses, and other firms for victimless crimes by supporting the same vile, diabolical, morally-and-politically bankrupt draconian edicts and regulations that were ultimately employed to victimize hundreds -- if not, thousands -- of individuals and businesses for his goal to ascend to the putrid and evil ranks of the authoritarian, pro-state establishment. This man does not really deserve a libertarian defense -- let alone a modicum of sympathy -- for his wicked crimes against his victims whom he has terribly wronged. (I do feel sorry for his family, who did not ask to be put in this position; Spitzer, however, has put his family through this predicament, only that they will politically and legally suffer for what he has done to his victims.)

For that reason above, what has occured to him serves him right. This is a rightful persecution and crucifixion of the governor himself. His comeuppance is truly and rightfully handed to him on a silver platter as it is.

Ron Paul to CNN: "My Campaign Is Never Over"

Contrary to my earlier blog about Ron Paul's presidential campaign being over, Ron appeared on CNN yesterday stating that his "campaign is never over."

While there is a part of me that is elated that the campaign isn't folding, there is another part of me that feels that it is absolutely silly for the campaign itself to continue. McCain has landed the GOP nomination even well before the GOP National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota this year. After all, he has the delegates, whereas Ron doesn't. What's the point of continuing this campaign if McCain has creamed Ron on that side of the presidential aisle?

Secondly, Ron has consistently said time after time after time that he wasn't interested in a third party or even an independent run. While a slew of his supporters urged him to run on the Libertarian Party ticket, Ron later publicly (but adamantly) ruled out any posibility of a third party or independent run. If he's refusing to consider any of those avenues in order to continue his campaign, then where's the advantage of him running as a GOP presidential candidate when McCain is the already-anointed War Party candidate? Where's the benefit in that?

Moreover, Ron, in his most recent congressional report to his campaign supporters (which was issued on March 6th), noted that the campaign would soon "wind down." Many of his supporters interpreted that to mean that the campaign was over. Was he really serious about the campaign "winding down" or was it chicanery on his part? His statements and actions within the last few days have been very suspicious, not to mention downright absurd to say the least. Moreover, his words "wind down" and "my campaign is never over" are contradictory in a very profound way. It's one or the other; they can't be both.

Look, either Ron is still in the game or not. But, if he is in the game, why is he so stubborn to not run as a third party or independent candidate? What is he trying to prove? I would -- and could -- see it if he were shifting his campaign into a separate political movement (or an educational one) for the purpose of advancing liberty. But to continue the campaign in this fashion is just hairbrained and moronic. What is this tactic going to achieve? How is this going to help the pro-liberty cause at all?

Although I said that I would blog about my feelings about the Ron Paul campaign (despite my shock that it's now continuing) a couple of days ago, I will issue my thoughts on this campaign later today. It will be quite long and analytical.

Nonetheless, it should be an interesting read.

Big Brother Is Snooping More into Your Privacy

Herr Bush is secretly boosting his domestic spy program. That includes everything from your telephone records to your credit card accounts.

The U.S. government's own police state is becoming bigger and stronger with each passing second.

Kentuckian Government Busybody Proposes to Outlaw Anonymous Internet Posting

A Kentuckian busybody state lawmaker wants to police internet websites by simply outlawing anonymous posting online.

If the bill is passed and becomes law, any online anonymous user who refuses to register with a website will be slapped with a $500 fine for the first offense and a $1,000 fine for each offense after that.

Don't these statist, government-worshipping collectivists have anything better to do than to worry about some anonymous twit posting a nasty comment on some website? And how are they going to enforce this bill if (and when) it becomes law? How will this work? Don't they understand that, if this bill becomes a government-sancted edict, the cost to operate a website would go through the roof? More so, don't they understand that it will scrap free speech on the internet for good?

This is nothing more than an attack on an anonymous poster and any other Internet surfer's First Amendment protections. Anyone who is for anonymous posting on the Internet in that state should speak up, contact their state legislator, and speak out against this vile and diabolical monstrosity.

Cops to Law-Abiding Citizens: "Laws We Enforce on You Don't Apply to Us!"

Maryland's tax collectors, whom we call "cops" (sometimes "law enforcement officers"), believe that the laws they enforce on its own residents have no bearing on them.

Surprise, surprise, surprise...

Anthrax Was An Inside Government Job

Of course Anthrax was an inside government job. It was made in a taxpayer-funded government lab for the U.S. military. It may even be another neocon trick.

Here's the YouTube for it:

The Governator Speaks Out Against California Homeschooling Ban

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former bodybuilder and actor and now a Republican governor of the socialist state of California, has publicly expressed his outrage at the state's supreme court ruling against homeschooling. He said that he would fight the ruling and defend the rights of the parents to educate their children any way they see fit.

(03-07) 13:37 PST SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger denounced a state appeals court ruling that severely restricts homeschooling and promised Friday to change the law if necessary to guarantee that parents are able to educate their children at home.

'Every California child deserves a quality education, and parents should have the right to decide what's best for their children,' Schwarzenegger said in response to the ruling, which said children educated at home must be taught by a credentialed teacher.

'Parents should not be penalized for acting in the best interests of their children's education,' Schwarzenegger said. 'This outrageous ruling must be overturned by the courts, and if the courts don't protect parents' rights then, as elected officials, we will.'

State Education Secretary David Long, a Schwarzenegger appointee, said that meant the governor supported allowing parents without teaching credentials to educate their children.

'The governor sees this as a fundamental right of parental choice,' he said.

In the meantime, attorneys with Long's agency are poring over the decision to determine what to tell local school districts, the agencies responsible for pursuing truants, said Jack O'Connell, the state's superintendent of public instruction.

An estimated 166,000 children are homeschooled in California. Some are enrolled in independent study programs through school districts, charter schools or private schools. Others are taught at home or in programs that have no oversight by a public education agency or private school.

The ruling that prompted Schwarzenegger's anger was issued Feb. 28 by the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles, but went unpublicized until this week. The court said all children ages 6 to 18 must attend public or private school full time until they graduate from high school or must be tutored by a credentialed teacher.

As much as I despise Ah-nold "The Governator" Schwarzenegger's statist/fascistic ideology and his support for his own party's hawkish foreign policy, at least he had the audacity to challenge the socialistic collectivists, statists, and social engineers who view our children as the property of the omnipotent state.