Eliot Spitzer Worse Than Joseph McCarthy?

It can be argued that no single U.S. politician has instilled more fear in the nation's own people than 50's Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy.  Oh, and then there was New York Governor, Eliot Spitzer, who helped open the week with a bang.  Apparently there was plenty of banging going on with the Governor if you know what we mean.  Unless you've been living under a rock the past 24 hours, Spitzer is alleged to have been caught up in a prostitution sting.

Eliot Spitzer and the late Joseph McCarthy had plenty in common it appears.  Not only did they instill fear in many (McCarthy set his sights on celebrities, Spitzer on corporate executives), they were both prisoners of their own vices.

At the end of the day, when McCarthy was through ruining people's lives, it was reported that he suffered from cirrhosis of the liver and was frequently hospitalized for alcoholism. Numerous eyewitnesses, including Senate aide George Reedy and journalist Tom Wicker, have reported finding him alarmingly drunk in the Senate.

Spitzer was busy prosecuting prostitution rings himself.  He would often erect himself as the "Righteous Prosecutor of Wrongdoers" while serving as District Attorney in New York State.  But in Washington, it was a different type of erection that may ultimately have ended up costing the embattled Governor his job.

Had McCarthy been alive today he probably would have gone after the online gambling community with the same type of vigor of an Eliot Spitzer, who once order PayPal to pay millions for dabbling in the industry.

McCarthy was noted for making claims that there were large numbers of Communists and Soviet spies and sympathizers inside the federal government and elsewhere.

He also used charges of communism, communist sympathies, or disloyalty to attack a number of politicians and other individuals inside and outside of government. With the highly publicized Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954, McCarthy's support and popularity began to fade. Later in 1954, the Senate voted to censure Senator McCarthy by a vote of 67 to 22, making him one of the few senators ever to be disciplined in this fashion.

Like the banks doing business with online gambling firms, it was the Hollywood actors and actresses of McCarthy's time who faced potential blacklist.

Spitzer, it seemed, would sometimes emulate the "witch hunts" made famous by the late Senator.  The Hollywood Ten, a group of distinguished writers and directors, were cited for contempt of Congress and jailed for failing to cooperate with the house committee, thanks in part to McCarthy's efforts.

Blacklisted writers, such as Walter Bernstein, Abraham Polonsky, and Lester Cole had a very difficult time finding work and trying to survive during the period of the McCarthy blacklist.  Witnesses brought to testify during Senate hearings were also classified as either friendly or unfriendly. 

Witnesses were quickly classified as either friendly or unfriendly. Friendly witnesses were those who answered questions about themselves and others. Although they lost their friendships with other communists, once they had testified, they were then cleared from the blacklist and allowed to go back to work in Hollywood using their own names (McGilligan 196-197 & 266-267). Unfriendly witnesses, those who refused to cooperate with the Senate hearings, such as the Hollywood Ten, were cited for contempt of Congress, fined, and sent to jail. Although unfriendly witnesses knew that all the names had already been named and there was nothing new they would add, they still refused to testify because they wished to remain loyal to their friends and to the Party (McGilligan 49).

Though Eliot Spitzer was kept on a short leash in recent years, his efforts to take down corporate executives often mimicked the actions made by Senator McCarthy.

You know the saying "Those Who Live In Glass Houses Shouldn't Throw Stones".

The expression appears to apply to Spitzer.  After all, this is a man who prosecuted escort services.

And the Spitzer story continues to shed light on what appears to be a diluted soul.  He is reported to have used the alias of a "close" confidante when checking into the historic DC Mayflower Hotel where it is alleged he called up "Kristen" - a high priced prostitute who charged over $4000 for an hour and a half session.  "George Fox" was the name Spitzer apparently used, but Fox claims to know nothing about this.

The prostitute was also allegedly told about Spitzer before arriving at his room: "He may ask you to do things that aren't safe". 

This is not the last we will be hearing about Eliot Spitzer as wire taps reportedly reveal much more.  We will have to wait and see.

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Payton O'Brien, Gambling911.com Senior Editor POBrien@CostiganMedia.com

Originally published