Items tagged with 'eliotspitzer'
A peek at Client 9, the Eliot Spitzer documentary
Daniel emailed us this weekend after noticing that Client 9, the documentary about Eliot Spitzer is now available on demand on Time Warner Cable. (It debuts in theaters November 5.) He said he jumped at the chance to watch it.
He was also nice enough to send along a quick recap of the doc, focusing on the parts involving Albany. As he notes: "Some of this might be considered a spoiler about the movie, even though we all know how it ends." Right, the spitzering.
On to Daniel's quick overview...
The reviews of Eliot Spitzer's new show are in....
The "Can you believe I have a TV show?" face.
After watching the debut last night of Eliot Spitzer's new CNN show Parker Spitzer, it seems the critics were feeling Jay Sherman-esque.
It stinks!
Client 9, the movie
The trailer is out for the Eliot Spitzer documentary Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer. It's directed by Academy Award winner Alex Gibney.
The early word on the doc has been positive. Spitzer apparently granted Gibney access without asking for editorial control (something Ashley Dupree reportedly wouldn't do). Joe Bruno appears in the film -- he's featured in the trailer pounding a punching bag and looking like a tough guy.
Client 9 debuts in theaters November 5.
It's remarkable how, more than two years after the spitzering, Eliot Spitzer keeps popping up in the conversation. His new CNN show starts up soon. And he's been very willing to say things that grab attention -- like in this segment on CNN this week quote from this week about Andrew Cuomo, and the matchup with Carl Paladino:
Well, what he needs to do is speak to the public and, of course, the problem that Andrew has is that everybody knows that behind the scenes, he has the dirtiest, nastiest political player out there and that is his reputation from years in Washington.
To which Cuomo responded today in Rochester:
That's saying something from Eliot Spitzer. I think Eliot Spitzer's record of performance and honor speaks for itself.
By the way: NYT reports that David Paterson will appear this weekend on Saturday Night Live
[via @rmadeo]
This... is Eliot Spitzer
At least he didn't end up on a reality show.
CNN announced today that Eliot Spitzer (you remember him from such episodes as "The governor who spitzered himself") will be co-hosting a nightly "roundtable discussion" program at 8 pm (he had been guest anchoring on MSNBC). The other host will be columnist Kathleen Parker, a conservative columnist and 2010 Putizer Prize winner.
Jon Klein, the head of CNN, is promising a show that's "a lively roundup of all the best ideas -- presented by two of the most intelligent and outspoken figures in the country." Presumably Spitzer and Parker will try to not hurt America, as Jon Stewart famously accused Crossfire, CNN's former left-right wrestling show, of doing (and then Klein cancelled the show).
Among our list of hoped-for guests: Ashley Dupre, David Paterson, Joe Bruno.
CNN says the new show doesn't have a name, yet. All Night Long with Eliot and Kathleen? There would seem to be many possibilities.
Update: Spitzer tells NYT he's "extremely thankful" for the opportunity.
photo: CNN
Eliot Spitzer can't stay out of the spotlight
It would appear that Eliot Spitzer is intent on being talked about.
In an interview posted this weekend by NYT, Spitzer said it's unclear whether Andrew Cuomo has the guts to take on tough political fights as governor. He also said he wasn't sure if he would vote for Cuomo.
Of course,there's some history here. Spitzer and Cuomo fought over the Joe Bruno investigation (Spitzer tells NYT Cuomo's approach was a "whitewash"). And Mario Cuomo reportedly said Spitzer wasn't qualified to be governor because he was "a bad man."
The book and the doc
Also stoking the coverage of Eliot Spitzer are Rough Justice, the book by Peter Elkind and the the untitled documentary by Oscar-winner Alex Gibney.
Eliot Spitzer's staying power
A soon-to-be published book about Eliot Spitzer includes some juicy details about the former governor's fall.
In Rough Justice, Peter Elkind reports that former AIG chairman Hank Greenberg and investment banker Ken Langone "remain the most obvious suspects" to have hired a detective to follow Spitzer looking for dirt. From an excerpt posted by Fortune:
Greenberg had a long-standing reputation for deploying clandestine methods; he had contacts in the CIA, and he had used detectives at AIG (AIG, Fortune 500). Langone had a palpable thirst for revenge. He had hired a private investigator to find political ammunition to use against Spitzer during the run-up to his gubernatorial campaign.
In high-level Wall Street circles, there are persistent rumblings that Langone hired someone to shadow Spitzer. Some of the rumblings come from those with ties to Langone; other people claim to have heard it in social settings directly from Greenberg. On July 17, 2009, Fortune writer James Bandler, interviewing Langone for a magazine profile of Greenberg, asked, Did you hire a gumshoe? "I'd say, 'No comment,' " Langone responded.
As you might expect, the book also contains some salacious details about Spitzer's, uh, consumption habits.
Spitzer, unplugged
An interview with Eliot Spitzer was posted yesterday on the important-nerdy-people-talking-to-a-camera site Big Think:
You can watch the whole thing straight through, or just answers to individual questions.
A few takeaways:
On Alan Greenspan: "I don't think Alan Greenspan really understood markets."
On the Securities and Exchange Commission: "... intellectually incapable of doing what they were supposed to do."
On Tim Geithner: "He's not corrupt ... he's wrong... he's failed as Treasury Secretary"
On Paterson: "I don't regret asking David to be lieutenant governor."
On Kirsten Gillibrand: "I think she has, unfortunately, shown that she's more a careerist than a politician dedicated to standing up on principle."
Advice for students: "Stay in school as long you can."
On transgressions: "A violation in certain domains does not speak to the totality of one's personality."
On avoiding scandal: "When you know something's stupid, don't do it."
On his flaws: "[they're] very evident to the world."
He also answers the sock question near the end.
Ask Ashley
The New York Post has a new advice columnist: Ashley Dupre. Yep, that Ashley Dupre. As the Post promises: "Spitzer's babe answers all your love-life questions!"
Dupre answers five questions in her inaugural column. Among them: "Are there telltale signs a man isn't happy in his marriage?" From her answer (emphasis added):
Girlfriends do that for the most part. But I think that wives with children have so much pressure on them, the natural thing is for the kids to take priority. The husband feels secondary and in one form or another may seek out that required special attention outside the marriage.
Or so she hears.
Also among the questions: "My boyfriend wants to know how many men I've slept with. Do I give an honest answer?"
Earlier on AOA: The spitzering: one year later
Record snowfall yesterday, Paterson defends Wall Street, parking ticket plan approved, new license plates still on the way, again no ice skating at ESP
We got just about 7 inches at the uptown office.
Yesterday's storm dropped 7.3 inches of snow on the Capital Region, according to the National Weather Service (forecasts on Tuesday had been predicting 2 to 5 inches). That's a record for December 9 (the previous high mark was 6.3 inches). Parts of Saratoga County reported getting as much as 10 inches. [NWS] [Saratogian]
A freight train hit a snow plow at a crossing in Northumberland yesterday morning, killing one of the the men on the plow truck and injuring the other (map). The crossing doesn't have gates or signals. [Post-Star] [CapNews9] [Saratogian]
Albany County's public works commissioner says yesterday's short, strong blast of snow made it hard to keep the roads clear during rush hour. Troy somehow found a way to clear its streets without Bob Mirch. [TU] [Troy Record]
David Paterson again vowed to hold back aid to local governments in order to keep the state solvent (his budget director compared the fiscal situation to driving in the snow). The chair of the state Senate finance committee says Paterson will be sued it he tries to do that. [NYO] [Daily Politics] [TU]
During the same speech yesterday, Paterson also defended Wall Street -- calling it the engine of New York State's economy. Said a state Senate "source" of the speech: "I half-expected to see Michael Douglas come out and reprise his role as Gordon Gekko." [NYT] [NYDN]
Eliot Spitzer, talk show guest
Earlier this week Mrs. M posted a comment about Eliot Spitzer's recent appearance on Bill Maher's show: "I gotta say, he was so charming, articulate and smart, it made me remember why I proudly voted for him back in 2006, and made me consider voting for him again if he decided to run for office."
We hadn't seen it -- so we looked it up. Here's a large clip from the show. The part with Spitzer (and Paul Krugman and John Waters) starts at the 1:00 mark:
Spitzer seems to be on TV all the time now. Does "talk show guest" count as a second career?
Man shot in head, mother and son defy bike-to-school ban, state investigating suspicious fires, odd math on state test, ghost cats
Troy police say a man was shot in the head Sunday morning during a fight (map). The man is expected to survive. Police say the man may not have been the target of the shot -- though neighbors say the man, who lived on the street, was fired at for taking pictures of the scrum. [TU] [Troy Record] [Fox23]
Albany police have arrested a Troy man for the August 30 Second Street murder. Police say there may have been a confrontation between the two men before the shooting. The APD says witnesses at the party where the shooting occurred were initially reluctant to cooperate with the investigation. [TU] [Troy Record] [Fox23]
Schaghticoke fire officials say there was another suspicious fire this weekend. The state is now organizing a task force to investigate a string of 10 suspicious fires around the town. [Fox23] [TU]
A Troy City Hall inter-office memo warns of big tax increases in the city next year if it can't find a way to make budget cuts. [Troy Record]
The Saratoga mother and son who got in trouble for biking to school last spring defied the districts' no-biking-to-school rule by pedaling to the first day of class last week. [Saratogian]
Teen shot while riding bike, council president candidate accused of sexual harassment, attendance down slightly at Track, demolition begins on Wellington
Police say a teenager was shot in the leg as he rode his bike through Albany's West Hill neighborhood on Saturday (map). Police say they don't have a suspect. [TU] [Fox23]
Lenny Ricchiuti -- head of the Albany Police Athletic League and a candidate for Common Council president -- has been accused of sexual harassment by a former PAL employee. Ricchiuti is running against Carolyn McLaughlin for the Common Council presidency. [TU] [TU]
The Bethlehem police officer who's accused the town's police chief of using a racial slur has had his service weapons taken away -- the town cited the officer's "emotional state.". [TU]
Critics of Albany's charter schools say the schools score better on state tests because they have lower numbers of special education students. [TU]
Andrew Cuomo is expected to announce that his office has not found any evidence that a special unit of the state police had been assembled to gather information about politicians. The issue rose out of the "Troopergate" dispute between Joe Bruno and Eliot Spitzer. [NYT] [AP/Troy Record]
Spitzer, the series
CBS has a new show on its schedule called The Good Wife -- but they could have probably called it Silda. Juliana Margulies (of ER fame) plays the lead character, whose politician husband resigns over a sex scandal.
The producers come right out and admit they've been ripping from the headlines -- and that shot from the show (on the right) is basically a recreation of the infamous Spitzer press conference.
Of course, this being TV Silda's Margulies' character's husband goes to jail, she joins a law firm and touching life lessons are learned. We can only wonder if her husband runs for office again.
And yes, she does slap him when he apologizes.
photo: CBS
SNL needs new material
SNL used the "people prefer Spitzer to Paterson" poll numbers for a skit on this week's show. It was... uh... well... here it is...
We can only hope the next poll of New Yorkers includes a question about whether these skits are funny.
New Yorkers: we'd rather have Spitzer back
Fifty-one percent of New Yorkers would rather have Eliot Spitzer as governor right now than David Paterson, according to Marist poll out today.
In fact, a plurality of voters in every demographic category preferred the Steamroller. Only two categories were even close: NYC suburbs (44/43 Spitzer) and 18-29 (49/46 Spitzer).
Possible backhanded compliment by the populace: 66 percent of respondents in the Marist poll said they thought David Paterson was working hard at his job. But 77 percent said his performance in that job was only fair or poor.
Earlier on AOA: It's all downhill for David Paterson
photo: ny.gov
The essence of Eliot Spitzer's current state
Newsweek's recent profile of Eliot Spitzer's current state is a whopping 5,295 words. Because we live in the postprint era, we've decided to save you time by boiling the entire article down into a haiku:
Eliot Spitzer
Not really a normal guy
As much as he tries
Earlier on AOA:
+ Call it a comeback
+ It's a tragedy, sure, but Shakespearean or Greek?
Call it a comeback
He likes to use the word "egregious."
It's official: Eliot Spitzer is back.
After making a few steps into the public spotlight over the last six months, the former Guv is now making the rounds to apologize -- and comment on Wall Street's turmoil.
Could a return to public service be in his future?
Eliot Spitzer surfaces
The former Guv will be talking about Wall Street regulation and his own uh, downturn, this Sunday on CNN at 1pm.
In the interview, which was conducted by Fareed Zakaria, Spitzer reportedly says:
"I have flaws as we all do, arguably. I failed in a very important way in my personal life. And I have paid a price for that."
The spitzering: one year later
No one's clapping now.
The news that Eliot Spitzer had been caught in a prostitution sting went public a year ago today.
It almost seems like it's been even longer than that -- so much has happened since then. After a year, who's up? Who's down? We've put together a scorecard.
Eliot Spitzer is highly ranked
The end of 2008 is almost here. And, of course, that means year-end top 10 lists. As it happens, our one-time governor made it onto a few of those this year.
OK, it was actually more than a few.
Eliot Spitzer's best policy
The former Gov has a new job -- as a columnist. Really.
Alas, it's not a how-to column. Slate has hired Spitzer to write twice a month -- in a column called "The Best Policy" -- about government, regulation and finance.
Said the online mag's editor-in-chief of Spitzer to NYT: "He's such a fluent talker, and intelligent and interesting on these issues. He also has a natural instinct to try to be provocative, whereas most former politicians have a tendency not to want to annoy anybody." It seems Slate didn't have try to very hard to convince Spitzer to do it.
The first column was posted last night. It kind of reads like a wonkier version of Tom Friedman.
And the tag at the end: "Eliot Spitzer is the former governor of the state of New York."
We watched the Ashley Dupre interview so you don't have to
Ashley Dupre -- of Eliot Spitzer "Kristen" infamy -- was on 20/20 Friday night. She talked with Diane Sawyer about a bunch of stuff: her life growing up, how she got into the business, her dog.
But we're guessing you're interested in the bits about the former governor (we were). Here they are:
Well, if I hadn't spitzered myself...
Now, Barack, I made a mistake, but...
What's the wash cycle for disgraced public figures these days? A year? Six months?
In what's maybe not a surprise, Eliot Spitzer seems to be testing the limits.
He pushed himself back into public life this weekend with a piece in the Washington Post about his advice for Barack Obama regarding the financial meltdown.
The short version: I was right.
It was just too easy
Welcome to the rest of your life.
When the feds announced they wouldn't be prosecuting Eliot Spitzer for his involvement with prostitutes, headline writers in newsrooms all over the world probably couldn't contain themselves. Can't. Not. Make. Cheesy. Pun.
"Spitzer Gets Off, Prosecutorially Speaking" -- Gawker
"Spitzer Gets Off! No Charges for Fallen Gov" -- Village Voice
"WHAT A RELIEF! SPITZ GETS OFF" -- New York Post
"Eliot Spitzer gets off too easily" -- Kansas City Star
"Luv Gov Gets Off" -- NBC Bay Area
"Eliot Spitzer gets off free" -- Daylife
"Spitz' Criminal Charges Get Swallowed" -- TMZ
Eliot Spitzer hails his own cabs now
Apparently he agrees it is more like Aeschylus than Shakespeare.
Over the weekend, NYT followed up on what Eliot Spitzer's doing these days (aside from, you know, "hanging out" with his kids). A few of the highlights...
... said KGB about Drawing: What's something that brought you joy this year?