Will Eliot Spitzer resign? I think he will tomorrow.

Should he?

Here's a thread to discuss the political aspects of today's Spitzer revelations.

And, will he keep his superdelegate status at the Democratic convention?

First Spitzer thread here.

CNN just reported Gov. Eliot Spitzer is under federal criminal investigation and that he is, indeed, customer "9" in the 55 page affidavit in support of search and arrest warrants in the case of U.S. v. Mark Brener, et. al.

Spitzer was at a hotel in Washington, D.C. and allegedly asked Tameka "Rachelle" Lewis to send someone from NY to D.C. to his room at the Mayflower.

Go to page 34. There's a lot of detail. Paragraph 85 may be key.

It's clear from the document that Customer #9 was a repeat customer and that he intended to use them again in the future. Read pages 34 to 39. They discuss his having a credit balance and whether he can leave more than he owes for future visits.

Also, when Tameka, aka Rochelle, told #9 it would be "Kristen", # 9 was very pleased. ("Great, ok, wonderful" he said." Par. 80.)

Update: I sincerely doubt Spitzer will be charged with a crime. He probably will have to cooperate with the feds in the prosecution of the members of the prostitution ring. Did Spitzer commit a violation of the Mann Act, 18 USC 2422?

Whoever knowingly persuades, induces, entices, or coerces any individual to travel in interstate or foreign commerce, or in any Territory or Possession of the United States, to engage in prostitution, or in any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

Spitzer's statement today is here.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

"I think what America feels about a woman becoming president takes a very secondary place to Obama's campaign - to a kind of campaign that it would be hard for anyone to run against," she said. "For one thing, you have the press, which has been uniquely hard on her. It's been a very sexist media. Some just don't like her. The others have gotten caught up in the Obama campaign.

So far so good. Insightful even. Then she goes off the rails:

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is about to hold a press conference. He advised his aides earlier he's been linked to a prostitution ring.

Update: Jeffrey Toobin went to law school with Spitzer and is telling CNN now on the phone he was always such a straight arrow. As Attorney General, he was always a "moralist." I have to agree. I used to debate Spitzer on tv before he was Attorney General and met him several times. He's the least likely person I can imagine being involved in this. I never liked his position on crime, but I liked him and am sorry to see this.

We're all waiting for the press conference. It's still not happening. CNN says he was a customer of the ring. This was an IRS investigation, would he really have used a credit card and left a paper trail? Or did his name just show up in records? Stay tuned, I'll try to live-blog the press conference if it happens.

Update: Press Conference: His wife is by his side. He didn't resign, he apologized to his family and the public and said he would be taking some time to regain the trust of his family. Very short, no details. He said politics is not about individuals, it's about ideas. He said he'll be reporting back. He said he acted in a way that violates the obligation to his family and his sense of right and wrong. No questions.

More on the prostitution ring below:

I've been writing about Canadian Omar Khadr, the 15 year old seized on the battlefield in Afghanistan (gruesome picture here) and held at Bagram and Guantanamo ever since. He's now 21 and facing trial by a Pentagon military tribunal. Another hearing in his case is set for next week. He's the only Westerner still at Guantanamo.

The U.S. charges he threw a grenade at an American medic in an alleged al-Qaida compound, killing him. Omar was shot three times by U.S. soldiers and blinded in one eye.

The Toronto Star today has a long excerpt from a new book about him by Toronto Star journalist Michelle Shephard, Guantanamo's Child. It chronicles his first days in U.S. custody. Part 2, detailing how he was used as a human mop, is here.

More....

By Big Tent Democrat

On MTP:

[Clinton Supporter] GOV. RENDELL: . . . [L]et's revote in Michigan and Florida. Let's end all the suspense. If our campaign is wrong and we are not going to be the strongest in those states, let the voters choose it. . . . Let's revote, and let's see how we do.

MR. RUSSERT: So you would be open to primaries in Michigan and Florida?

[Obama Supporter] FMR. SEN. DASCHLE: Oh, of course. Absolutely. We would be.

Clinton surrogate demanding revotes, Obama supporter ACCEPTING revotes. It seems clear what the positions of the campaigns are. More . .

23/6 is Huffington Post's satire site. I think they crossed the line here. Take a look at their blatant sexist slams of Hillary campaign official Maggie Williams, Hillary and even Michelle Obama.

• Maggie Willliams

• Hillary and Michelle Obama

Truly awful.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

There are some who hold the view that Barack Obama will welcome revote primaries in Florida and Michigan. I think that view defies common sense. I'll explain why on the flip.

The New York Times has an editorial today on the report released by the Pew Center last week and its statistics showing that 1 in every 100 Americans are in jail or prison.

The Times advocates the passage of the Second Chance Act (S. 1060: Recidivism Reduction and Second Chance Act of 2007). The bill would expand services to offenders and their families for reentry into society. In addition, it would:

Direct the Attorney General to award grants for: (1) state and local reentry courts; (2) Comprehensive and Continuous Offender Reentry Task Forces; (3) pharmacological drug treatment services to incarcerated offenders; (4) technology career training for offenders; and (5) mentoring services for reintegrating offenders into the community.

.... [and] Require the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to establish: (1) a prisoner reentry program; and (2) a pilot program for the release of elderly nonviolent offenders (age 60 or older).

Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have signed as co-sponsors. The bill passed on the House side by a vote 347-62. So who's holding it up in the Senate?

It was Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) who, concerned about the cost, said he needed more time to study it. The bill is now sitting in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Let's get it passed.

The New York Times examines why the feds have been so unsuccessful in getting death penalty convictions in New York State.

In the 20 years since the federal death penalty statute was revived, no federal juries have been more reluctant to sentence federal defendants to death than those in New York.

The Justice Department's losing record in New York: 19 to 1, since 1988. Nationally, the feds win about 1/3 of their capital cases.

One reason is the reluctance of jurors to impose it. Another is the quality of the New York capital defenders. A third is the sometimes unsympathetic victims.

But there's more. The Judges are weighing in, on everything from the exorbitant expense to the arbitrariness and disparity in the system. More...

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only.

A lot of outrage in the blogs about this Hillary Clinton statement:

Even elected and caucus delegates are not required to stay with whomever they are pledged to. This is a very carefully constructed process that goes back years, and we're going to follow the process.

(Emphasis supplied.) What Clinton said happens to be true. But it is wrong of her to bring it up, imo. But the rules are the rules and Clinton is playing by them. I have never been a fan of the "rules are rules" argument, particularly since those invoking it are so selective about "the rules." See the blogs on superdelegates for instance.

Here is my rule - the will of the people. Expressed in the popular vote. That is my rule of who should be the nominee.

By Big Tent Democrat

. . . Al Sharpton threatening lawsuits if the Florida delegates are seated:

Laying the groundwork for a court battle that could divide the Democratic Party, the Reverend Al Sharpton is threatening to sue the Democratic National Committee if it counts Florida's primary results in the official presidential delegates tally.

Rev. Sharpton is traveling to Florida today to compile lists of residents who skipped the January contest because they thought their votes would not count. He plans to have those residents sign affidavits saying they would be disenfranchised by the seating of the Florida delegation, in the event the Democratic Party allowed that to happen.

Unless Sharpton, who I like a lot, is doing this is as a devious plan to force Obama to accept a ReDo Primary in Florida, I can not imagine what he is thinking, other than making sure Al Sharpton is being covered in the Media. Oh wait . . .