DISQUS

John · 1 year ago

Maybe when he was zealously prosecuting prostitution rings he was actually...window shopping???

Gideon · 1 year ago

It would be the right time to do that. Maybe he got lonely at home, who knows? Everyone needs some lovin'.

John · 1 year ago

And in the immortal words of CSN&Y, "If you can't be with the one you love, honey, love the one you're with..." (Though I guess in the Gov's case, switch "honey" for "money")

NolleQueen · 1 year ago

Somehow this struck me as one of the more profound things you have had to say lately. I couldn't agree more. It reminds me of when there is a "high profile" arraignment in the courthouse and everyone from the building turns out to look but it's usually a bit of let down for the crowd, because the defendant just looks like the rest of us....

Gideon · 1 year ago

NolleQueen: Savor it. Won't happen again for a while. Profundity is not my cup of tea :)

SPO · 1 year ago

Well, Wall Street certainly is happy.

Gideon · 1 year ago

Had no idea so many people didn't like him so viciously.

SPO · 1 year ago

When you, with questionable tactics and impure motives (i.e., coercing the appointment of buddies, see, e.g., Marsh), cost people billions of dollars in lost shareholder value (e.g., AIG), it tends to piss people off. Couple that with the self-righteousness he displayed and the fawning treatment by the press (which hasn't a clue, generally speaking, about finance--think about it, how many times do they goatrope simple criminal law stuff, financial stuff and the regulations are quantum leaps more complicated), and you have the makings of major-league hatred.

Same kind of thing--Barack Obama yammers on about corporations doing slimy things, but levers his political connections with a sleazeball to buy his house.

Karoli · 1 year ago

I'm so glad you do what you do...we should really pull out of the war on sex anyway. ;-)

Cheekiness aside, there are aspects of the investigation into Spitzer that really bother me, particularly with regard to his bank's role in the whole thing. I am not saying that he was right in this (though I really think this business of prosecuting him for paying for sex is stupid..), but when I hear 'wiretap' and DOJ and some of the other terms I've heard, I can't help but wonder whether he stupidly let himself be the target of a political character assassination. He did, after all, make some of the money boys on Wall Street angry, nervous and vengeful.

Maybe it's just political paranoia, but I'm glad he's got a good defense attorney who is hopefully pushing back. All of these words to say I'm glad you do what you do, too.

Chris · 1 year ago

But for the grace of God indeed...

I couldn't agree more.

Stephen Gustitis · 1 year ago

Gideon:
Each of us are just a phone call, or email, away from doing something equally stupid. With understanding, comes empathy. With empathy, comes forgiveness. When WE forgive our clients for doing something terribly stupid, we are ready to go to the mat for them. Thanks for your insight.

sg

SPO · 1 year ago

A lot of times, SG, what your clients do is terribly evil . . . .

Stephen Gustitis · 1 year ago

SPO:
I could not agree more. But as professionals, the criminal defense lawyer must get past the worst thing our clients have ever done and get into their skin. Only there does empathy live and forgiveness exist.

sg

SPO · 1 year ago

UNderstand that, but calling some of these things "stupid" is euphemistic and terribly off-putting.

Stephen Gustitis · 1 year ago

SPO:
I can live with that criticism of my choice of adjectives. :-)

sg

EdinTally · 1 year ago

"Terribly Evil"? sounds like the first step to categorizing people who are just like you as being something "less".

SPO · 1 year ago

Somehow I doubt a lot of your clients are "just like me". I am a law-abiding citizen.

Gideon · 1 year ago

The point is: so were they, until they committed their crime.

You may try to live your life the best you can in a law-abiding manner, but you don't know what's going to happen in the future and you don't know how certain events may impact you.

Stephen Gustitis · 1 year ago

“Arrogance diminishes wisdom"

Arabian Proverb