"Let's come back to the stupidity angle. Spitzer was regarded as some kind of rising star in national politics -- even a future president. But really now -- if Spitzer is too stupid to realize what kind of country he is living in, if he really didn't realize that, as prominent political figure, his every move was under surveillance by the vast security network of the Unitary Executive, how smart could he actually be? In the end, he comes across as nothing more than a second-rate chump riding for a fall, one of many abusers of power who come to believe that they themselves will never be subject to its abuse: an old, dreary story.
What is interesting, however, is why the security apparat didn't keep the prostitution angle under wraps. They could have used it as leverage for years to "guide" Spitzer toward the "correct" policies as he made his national ascent. Maybe somebody just had a grudge against him. Or perhaps -- more likely -- Spitzer's fall was engineered as a warning (or a reminder) to even higher figures to play ball, or else. "Just remember: anyone can be gotten to, and we won't hesitate to do it. Go ahead and play the game, pander to your base, use any kind of rhetoric you want, nobody cares about all that. But when push comes to shove, you better support the interests of the imperial-corporate complex, or you are going down. You savvy?"
And that's the way it works down in the bowels of power in the shining city on the hill. Pretty, ain't it?"
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