NY - Gov Spitzer tells staff he's linked to prostitution ring

[Truly]

I see that you have a problem with prostitution

Prostitution is not a problem in my life.

Perhaps you have a problem with prostitution...good luck with that.

 

[Trino]

Prostitution is not a problem in my life.

Perhaps you have a problem with prostitution...good luck with that.

Why not have a problem with something that is illegal?

Hello... Spitzer committed a crime, all the while pretending to be the guy in the white hat.

 

[Mygirlsadie]

Truly I don't understand what you mean? You think people come on these threads and get thrills of reading about murdered infants and little kids? Please tell me I misunderstood what you were trying to say..

That's the key right there. Illegal. I don't care how much of a thrill any sex offender gets. Lock them up. Why are people cutting Spitzer slack? I bet half the people who are discussed on these threads got some thrill out their illegal raping and murdering infants and little kids. Should they all get to go to some fancy addiction center instead of prison? Not in my opinion.

 

[southcitymom]

It has been reported that his encounters were about once a month.

Also, a drug addict need drugs more than once a month. Same with cocaine users and alcoholics. If a person drinks only once a month (even to excess) does that make him/her an alcoholic? I don't think so.

My grandfather was an alcoholic - a binge alcoholic. He only drank 3-4 times a year, but every time he drank, he wound up in the hospital. Addiction is never about amount or frequency. It is always about obsession, compulsion and unmanageability.

Additionally, we have no idea how many encounters Elliott may have been having. We only know what we have read.

 

[nanandjim]

Well, ah, sure - I'd still be doing massive amounts of drugs if I hadn't been caught/stopped. That's pretty much the story of 99.9% of addicts I know, though some, of course, do decide on their own without "outside" influence.

So, then, you can control your drug use if there's incentive to do so. I have an "addictive" personality. I could have gotten into a lot of trouble; HOWEVER, I used impulse control (for the most part). I also direction my addictions to exercise and unfortunately eating. My point is that I direction my addictions to something legal. It is a choice. I made the choice. We all have free will. Just because an excuse/label of "disease" and "addiction" are slapped on whatever you name. It boils down to a poor choice that an individual made.

ETA: I do believe that there is something physical and/or psychological that happens when a person drinks too much alcohol or continually uses drugs. Initially, it is a choice. ES may have desires and impulses that are out of the norm. He chose not to control them.

I saw a snippet of Dateline last night. She says that a "difficult" client usually means that he has some extreme kind of "kink." So, NY Native and her hubby are probably right about what was in the four suitcases brought by Ashley to her room.

 

[southcitymom]

Prostitution is not a problem in my life.

Perhaps you have a problem with prostitution...good luck with that.

I meant with the institution of prostitution!:crazy: Not you personally, of course.

 

[southcitymom]

So, then, you can control your drug use if there's incentive to do so. I have an "addictive" personality. I could have gotten into a lot of trouble; HOWEVER, I used impulse control (for the most part). I also direction my addictions to exercise and unfortunately eating. My point is that I direction my addictions to something legal. It is a choice. I made the choice. We all have free will. Just because an excuse/label of "disease" and "addiction" are slapped on whatever you name. It boils down to a poor choice that an individual made.

Oh absolutely. I was just pointing out that to say - well, he didn't stop until he was caught is something you could say about many who struggle with addiction.

Also, addiction is not applied to things that are good for you because one important component of addiction is unmanageability and negative consequences.

 

[nanandjim]

Oh absolutely. I was just pointing out that to say - well, he didn't stop until he was caught is something you could say about many who struggle with addiction.

Also, addiction is not applied to things that are good for you because one important component of addiction is unmanageability and negative consequences.

Too much of anything--even good things--is hazardous to one's health (i.e., too much exercise, too much food).

 

[southcitymom]

Here's some interesting reading on sex addiction:

http://www.medicinenet.com/sexual_addiction/article.htm

I, personally, don't think once a month qualifies as a sex addiction. I watched a documentary on sex addiction and they would have sex 5 or 6 times a day with men or women...didn't matter. They couldn't hold down jobs because all they could do was find the next sex partner.

Spitzer does not appear to have that problem.

Again - not to beat a dead horse, but none of us know what Elliott's patterns were with sex. Also, addiction is not about quantity or amount. I am an addict who was always able to hold down a job while using. Many addicts are not able to do that.

 

[southcitymom]

Too much of anything--even good things--is hazardous to one's health (i.e., too much exercise, too much food).

Yes - if exercise brings about negative results in your life and makes your life unmanageable, then it is the "drug of choice" of how addiction manifests in your life. But you say that you are addicted to exercise - if that's true, that leads me to believe it is harming your life and jeopradizing your health and that scares me.

If what you meant is that you love to exercise and do it every chance you get, but it is giving you positive and not negative results, that's not addiction.

PS - having an addictive personality is not the same as being an addict.

 

[southcitymom]

So, then, you can control your drug use if there's incentive to do so. I have an "addictive" personality. I could have gotten into a lot of trouble; HOWEVER, I used impulse control (for the most part). I also direction my addictions to exercise and unfortunately eating. My point is that I direction my addictions to something legal. It is a choice. I made the choice. We all have free will. Just because an excuse/label of "disease" and "addiction" are slapped on whatever you name. It boils down to a poor choice that an individual made.

ETA: I do believe that there is something physical and/or psychological that happens when a person drinks too much alcohol or continually uses drugs. Initially, it is a choice. ES may have desires and impulses that are out of the norm. He chose not to control them.

I saw a snippet of Dateline last night. She says that a "difficult" client usually means that he has some extreme kind of "kink." So, NY Native and her hubby are probably right about what was in the four suitcases brought by Ashley to her room.

Ten years ago I met a woman in NA who was addicted to tylenol, which is completely legal. But tylenol was killing her - she liked the way it made her feel, she used in secretly and absessively and it was eating her liver to pieces, which is one of the reasons her doctor had told her to check out NA.

This woman's drug of choice was legal, but she was an addict and she could not get a handle on it and she died three years later of liver disease directly related to her tylenol abuse.

 

[nanandjim]

...PS - having an addictive personality is not the same as being an addict.

You are right. I chose not to be an addict. I could have very easily. I had more determination and will power and did not want to end up in the gutter. I believe that everyone has a choice. I'm sorry, but I do not believe that some are strong and some are weak. I am no different from anyone else. I made choices. Some were good; some were bad. God helped me. Plus, as I said, I had nothing and no one to fall back on and didn't want to end up in the gutter. I thank God everyday for helping me be the person that I am.

BTW - I have some health issues due to my poor choices when I was a teenager.

 

[southcitymom]

You are right. I chose not to be an addict. I could have very easily. I had more determination and will power and did not want to end up in the gutter. I believe that everyone has a choice. I'm sorry, but I do not believe that some are strong and some are weak. I am no different from anyone else. I made choices. Some were good; some were bad. God helped me. Plus, as I said, I had nothing and no one to fall back on and didn't want to end up in the gutter. I thank God everyday for helping me be the person that I am.

BTW - I have some health issues due to my poor choices when I was a teenager.

I don't know how someone chooses not to be an addict, but if that has worked for you, that's awesome. I wish you could bottle it and sell it because I would buy it!

I've never been able to stop using drugs under my own power of will. Left to my devices and desires, I'll just use more. Determination and will power get me loaded every single time (ie - being high feels normal to me, so my brain is determined to be that and my will power tells me I can use just a little bit and not get in trouble)! I know everyone's brain doesn't operate like that but mine does.

Even now - after 14 years of working to learn to make new choices and long periods of abstinence during those years - my first thought is always to have a drink or pop a pill or snort a line, and I don't always make the most positive choice each time I am confronted with that.

Current science operates under the discovery of a gene - and you either have it or you don't! They are even working on an addiction vaccine. Who knows if the science is valid or not, but it's interesting to contemplate.

But you are absolutely right that there but for the grace of God go any of us!

 

[Truly]

That's the key right there. Illegal. I don't care how much of a thrill any sex offender gets. Lock them up. Why are people cutting Spitzer slack? I bet half the people who are discussed on these threads got some thrill out their illegal raping and murdering infants and little kids. Should they all get to go to some fancy addiction center instead of prison? Not in my opinion.

Quoting my comment. I am saying that the criminals who are discussed on websleuths probably get their sick thrills out of being sex offenders, serial killers, what have you. I want them prosecuted and locked up.

 

[Truly]

Truly I don't understand what you mean? You think people come on these threads and get thrills of reading about murdered infants and little kids? Please tell me I misunderstood what you were trying to say..

Yes, you misunderstood my comment. I was not saying anything about those of us who care about the victims of these horrendous crimes.

The criminals who buy and sell young people for sexual purposes need to be prosecuted. I have no sympathy for any claim that they are not responsible for their behavior.

 

[Truly]

Why not have a problem with something that is illegal?

Hello... Spitzer committed a crime, all the while pretending to be the guy in the white hat.

Good Lord. Spitzer is a criminal. He needs to be charged, prosecuted, and imprisoned.

I was responding to southcitymom's attempt to suggest that those of us who agree that prostitution is and should be illegal are the ones who have some sort of a problem. The experience I have had with addicts is that they will always try to blame anyone else except themselves for their behavior. In my opinion, prostitution creates the climate for many of the awful crimes which plague our society. Anyone who would sell their body or who would buy or sell a young person for sex is the worst criminal in my opinion. They might think they are so smart to make money doing it, but the truth is they will never be anything but a two-bit .

 

[southcitymom]

.......I was responding to southcitymom's attempt to suggest that those of us who agree that prostitution is and should be illegal are the ones who have some sort of a problem.....

When I said you had a problem with prostitution I was just repeating what you had said. I certainly didn't mean to indicate that there was anything wrong with your opinion. In fact, I have stated repeatedly on this thread that I respect the opinions of those who think prostitution should be illegal. I even said that to you directly.

 

[Mygirlsadie]

I got it now Truly! Thanks for clarifying that for me! I just had to go back and re-read & I got what you were saying. I agree with you 100% about the whole them not being responsible for their behavior. That to me is B.Shiz!

Yes, you misunderstood my comment. I was not saying anything about those of us who care about the victims of these horrendous crimes.

The criminals who buy and sell young people for sexual purposes need to be prosecuted. I have no sympathy for any claim that they are not responsible for their behavior.

 

[Trino]

I just want to know when (and if) charges will be filed. I think ES would get off with a slap on the wrist anyway. After all, his dad is worth 500 mil. This is the same daddy who loaned him millions for his campaign, and Daddy is going to do all he can to keep his son from jail time.

 

[southcitymom]

I just want to know when (and if) charges will be filed. I think ES would get off with a slap on the wrist anyway. After all, his dad is worth 500 mil. This is the same daddy who loaned him millions for his campaign, and Daddy is going to do all he can to keep his son from jail time.

I definitely think charges will be filed, but it sounds like this was a sizeable sting operation and so there might be a number of ducks to get in a row until everything can be officially filed. ES won't be the only one being charged.

Is using prostitutes a felony or a misdemeanor? I really don't know what the potential sentence is for using prostitutes, but I'm sure ES does!!!