Eliot Spitzer

THE disgraced departure of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer should make you wonder about the potential accomplishments ahead of him to benefit not only New Yorkers but maybe the entire nation. He was empowered to better the lives of New York's citizens and was positioned, as governor of the third largest state, to seek the presidency somewhere down the line. It is galling that anyone with Spitzer's opportunities and talents would squander potential achievements and family stability by seeming to violate the law and betray his wife and three daughters.

Does absolute power corrupt absolutely? Consider the downfall of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, named in a federal complaint as a client of an international prostitution ring. For it must be hubris that would make the governor of a state think that he could buy sexual favors from strangers with so little regard for the consequences. Sure, other politicians before Spitzer have allowed their sex drive to do their thinking. That doesn't make Spitzer's behavior any more excusable.

TATTLE WOULD be hard-pressed to come up with any politician who could give a talk on ethics, but Eliot Spitzer, the call-girl-favoring ex-New York attorney general and governor? That's a joke, right? Harvard thinks not - Spitzer has been invited by the university to speak today. On ethics. Former Manhattan Madam Kristin Davis finds this amusing, so amusing she sent a letter to professor Lawrence Lessig, of Harvard's Safra Foundation Center for Ethics. "This sounds fascinating and I would love to attend," Davis wrote of Spitzer's speech, "but the restrictions of my probation won't allow me to travel outside New York City.

IF YOU'RE AN average Joe and you're caught soliciting a prostitute, you may get arrested, the prostitute may get arrested, the pimp (or madam) may get arrested and, depending on the circumstances and the local laws, all of you may end up in jail. If, however, you're the law-and-order governor of New York and you're caught paying thousands of dollars to a prostitute, you get a prime-time talk show on CNN. If Lady Justice is blind it could be because some well-connected politician has tied her wrists to the bedpost and put a bag over her head.

Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney has a wide range of interests - his next two films are on cyclist Lance Armstrong and Ken Kesey's 1964 bus trip - but what really gets him going is greed and/in politics. He directed and produced "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. He won the Best Documentary Oscar for "Taxi to the Darkside," about U.S torture practices, and has also made films on jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff ("Casino Jack and the United States of Money")

'I did what I did. And shame on me. " That's Eliot Spitzer, former governor of New York, fessing up to Alex Gibney in the closing minutes of the filmmaker's riveting Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer . Gibney, who won an Oscar for Taxi to the Dark Side , suggests that Spitzer's downfall might have been facilitated by enemies he'd made busting chops on Wall Street and in Albany. Forced to resign from his governorship when it was revealed that he had been frequenting an escort service, Spitzer says the right thing: He did it, and shame.

An organization representing corporate insurance buyers stopped short this week of condemning the fees that have roiled the insurance industry. The reticence of the Risk and Insurance Management Society underscores the industry's cautious response to Eliot Spitzer's charges of corruption. The New York attorney general alleged in October that Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., the world's largest insurance broker, steered business to insurances companies based on these so-called contingent fees, and that it solicited fake bids from other insurers to make the process appear competitive.

New Jersey insurance regulators ordered top brokerages to provide documents and information about their commission deals with insurers, payments at the heart of Eliot Spitzer's investigation of the insurance industry. The order, issued yesterday, gives brokers 30 days to produce "copies of each contract, or other evidence of a compensation or fee arrangement" with insurance companies, as well as other information. The order was sent to the 30 largest brokerages operating in New Jersey, including national leaders Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., Willis Group Holdings Ltd., and Aon Corp.

Commercial insurer Ace Ltd. stood up to Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. Now it must weather Hurricane Eliot. The Bermuda company, with U.S. operations based in Philadelphia, reported a modest loss of $3 million, or 5 cents a share, for its storm-plagued third quarter. But its latest challenge is New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's investigation of the insurance industry. Insurance experts say Ace's growth will slow as premiums are squeezed in the wake of the probe and soliciting new customers becomes riskier as a result.

I AM MADLY IN LOVE with Howard Gensler for printing the following line in his March 14 column: "Interesting? Talented? Meanwhile, your daughter with the 4.0 and the Ph.D. can't get a job. " I don't have a Ph.D., but I did bust my ass to get decent grades in school so I could get into college, and I worked the whole way through. So did a lot of my peers. Now? We can't get good jobs because we don't have enough experience. We can't go back to the bad jobs we worked in college because now we're "overqualified.

In the two weeks since a billboard showcasing presidential candidate Newt Gingrich went up on Route 1 in Bucks County, the one-time Republican front-runner has collapsed at the polls. Could the backing of a "cheaters" website that encourages extramarital affairs be the reason why? Well, no. Gingrich didn't need any help with that. But even as he and other candidates vie for GOP voters' affections in Iowa, the billboard - which reads "Faithful Republican, Unfaithful Husband.

A FEW MONTHS back, when the threat of an NFL lockout was just a remote possibility, you only saw stories about the football labor troubles on the sports channels. Oh, sure, there was the occasional blurb on the Internet, or an offhand blog comment, but for the most part, nobody cared. Then something tragic happened. Football season ended and the players all showered. Then they removed their helmets, dressed in suits and told the world what their fight was really about. In case you haven't heard, it's about $9 billion.

Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney has a wide range of interests - his next two films are on cyclist Lance Armstrong and Ken Kesey's 1964 bus trip - but what really gets him going is greed and/in politics. He directed and produced "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. He won the Best Documentary Oscar for "Taxi to the Darkside," about U.S torture practices, and has also made films on jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff ("Casino Jack and the United States of Money")

'I did what I did. And shame on me. " That's Eliot Spitzer, former governor of New York, fessing up to Alex Gibney in the closing minutes of the filmmaker's riveting Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer . Gibney, who won an Oscar for Taxi to the Dark Side , suggests that Spitzer's downfall might have been facilitated by enemies he'd made busting chops on Wall Street and in Albany. Forced to resign from his governorship when it was revealed that he had been frequenting an escort service, Spitzer says the right thing: He did it, and shame.

Last week, disgraced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer - known as Client 9 to the high-end prostitution ring he used to frequent - launched a prime-time cable news show on CNN. This, as a new movie titled Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer presents a compelling argument that while his problems were of his own creation, his downfall was hastened by political and Wall Street opponents who conspired to take him down. In Louisiana, U.S. Sen. David Vitter - whose phone number was found in the records of the same ring that serviced Spitzer - leads his Democratic opponent by double digits in most polls.

IF YOU'RE AN average Joe and you're caught soliciting a prostitute, you may get arrested, the prostitute may get arrested, the pimp (or madam) may get arrested and, depending on the circumstances and the local laws, all of you may end up in jail. If, however, you're the law-and-order governor of New York and you're caught paying thousands of dollars to a prostitute, you get a prime-time talk show on CNN. If Lady Justice is blind it could be because some well-connected politician has tied her wrists to the bedpost and put a bag over her head.

ACCORDING to a TMZ.com mole in the L.A. County Coroner's Office, Corey Haim had heart trouble. It may not have caused his death, but the coroner found pulmonary congestion, an enlarged heart and water in the lungs of the 38-year-old actor, who died Wednesday. As TMZ.com first reported, police found Valium, Vicodin and Soma in Haim's apartment, but the coroner will not determine a cause of death until Haim's toxicology report is in. Seats in the red section Conan O'Brien is taking his "Show" on the road.

AS IF THINGS couldn't get worse for Elin Nordegren: She's now getting relationship advice from a former prostitute. Ashley Dupre, the high-priced call girl in the Eliot Spitzer scandal, kept her 15-minutes-of-fame meter running by telling "Extra," "[Elin should] take some time to herself, digest everything, go to counseling. "If she really loves him, and they have those bonds . . . go to therapy, see if you can work it out. " What? The only bonds Elin's going to have will say "U.S.

TATTLE WOULD be hard-pressed to come up with any politician who could give a talk on ethics, but Eliot Spitzer, the call-girl-favoring ex-New York attorney general and governor? That's a joke, right? Harvard thinks not - Spitzer has been invited by the university to speak today. On ethics. Former Manhattan Madam Kristin Davis finds this amusing, so amusing she sent a letter to professor Lawrence Lessig, of Harvard's Safra Foundation Center for Ethics. "This sounds fascinating and I would love to attend," Davis wrote of Spitzer's speech, "but the restrictions of my probation won't allow me to travel outside New York City.

SURELY, YOU, like Tattle, thought Benji Madden was The One for Paris Hilton. He didn't look like a Greek god. He wasn't insanely wealthy. He didn't live simply to get his face in a magazine. He didn't seem to care about the difference between a designer label and a Budweiser label. Paris repeatedly spoke of the Good Charlotte rocker as if he was her soulmate, her best friend, the future father of her many children. And he agreed. Well, it's over. See ya. Life & Style Weekly reported the sorrowful turn of events yesterday.