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<p>Seriously? Under oath he said he didn’t have sex with Lewinsky…it turned out he did. Do you not know what perjury is?</p>
<p>And why was he being questioned under oath as to whether he had sex with anyone? I don’t condone his dishonesty, by the way. The finger-wagging “I did not have sex with that woman” – not under oath – was a horrible stain on his character, and undermined everything he stood for.</p>
<p>You’ve been replied to repeatedly that Clinton was impeached but you ignored that repeatedly. You need to calm down.</p>
<p>Lawyers (and law junkies): Did Eliot Spitzer violate his oath of office? </p>
<p>“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the State of New York, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Governor of the State of New York, according to the best of my ability.”</p>
<p>Article 13.1 NYS Constitution</p>
<p>“I did not have sex with that woman” – not under oath – was a horrible stain on his character, and undermined everything he stood for."</p>
<p>Had he said from the get-go that he had an affair, everyone would have taken that as “Clinton being Clinton” and no problems would have ensued. Perhaps some snickering.</p>
<p>Lax, I doubt that many are comfortable with the Clinton stuff, but there are differences here. The impeachment failed to remove Clinton from office and he was disbarred. </p>
<p>Kelowna, I disagree about the affair/prostitute and MY husband. In divorce court, an affair will get me much, much more.</p>
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<p>How come a civil COURT (see: not political entity like the senate) found him guilty of perjury? He said he didn’t have sex with lewinsky under oath, and it turned out he did. Lewinsky took this to a civil court after the democratic senate let Bill go and won…</p>
<p>hudson, breaking the laws of the US and NYS is in violation of the oath.</p>
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<p>But I don’t want to divorce my husband 
A prostitute is way easier to swallow for me than an affair. Prostitute usually means sex, an affair usually means love.</p>
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<p>The part “to the best of my ability” can be argued (joking of course, but I guess he was not able without sex on the side)</p>
<p>Actually, Lax, the civil case did not involve Lewinsky. It involved a much earlier sexual harassment suit against him (financed by his political opponents) stemming from when he was Governor of Arkansas. And I don’t remember the details, but I (a) don’t think he was convicted of perjury in court (“conviction” meaning charged with a crime and proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, as opposed to the judge saying he lied in a deposition), and (b) don’t remember what the precise lie was, but I remember there was a lot of question whether it was actually material to the case.</p>
<p>I would not be calling for Spitzer’s resignation if he’d had an affair. Engaging in prostitution is different. As zoosermom has pointed out several times now, prostitution rings are, by definition, organized crime, and they also frequently involve money laundering and other crimes. Spitzer knew this quite well when he made this decision; he has prosecuted others for running prostitution rings. I’m surprised that no one has mentioned the essential feature by which hiring a prostitute differs from having a consensual affair - exploitation of women. There are different degrees - are some of you aware that many prostitutes are very young girls, usually from developing countries, who have been kidnapped or sold by destitute parents? And even those who “choose” to become prostitutes are women or girls with very low self-esteem, and often with histories of abuse. You can dress this up by saying that these were high-priced call girls making a very good living, but essentially Spitzer was using his greater power to extract sex from women who were not interested in having sex with him. He is the father of three young girls, for God’s sake!</p>
<p>Bravo, NYmom! Dershowitz was on his high horse this a.m. on CNN talking about how prostitution is a victimless crime, “making $5,000.00…some victim!” like all hookers are making that kind of money. Give me a break.</p>
<p>I do not condone infidelity and have always been faithful to my wife in more than 35 years of marriage.</p>
<p>However I find peoples fascnation and rigidness with respect to others sex lifes to by amusing. The list of politicians caught in a wide stance or worse is quite lengthy indeed. And of course while the tabloids are full of scandalous activity by entertainers, I dont see too many folks boycotting their performances.</p>
<p>As to politicians, be they Vitter, Craig, or most recently Spitzer, I could care less. If they are doing the job their constituents have elected them to do, what they do in their off time, while maybe distasteful to me, is their business.</p>
<p>I do put the Foley scandal in a different category because it involved minor pages who worked in Congress in which Rep Foley served.</p>
<p>Kelowna #209- ITA. An affair involving romantic love would be harder to take, even if it were not sexual.</p>
<p>However, as far as a public official is concerned, engaging the services of a prostitution ring is a far worse offense than having a romantic affair.</p>
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<p>"In his deposition for the Jones lawsuit, Clinton denied having “sexual relations” with Lewinsky. Based on the evidence provided by Tripp, a blue dress with Clinton’s semen, Starr concluded that this sworn testimony was false and perjurious.</p>
<p>During the deposition, Clinton was asked “Have you ever had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, as that term is defined in Deposition Exhibit 1, as modified by the Court?” The judge ordered that Clinton be given an opportunity to review the agreed definition. Afterwards, based on the definition created by the Independent Counsel’s Office, Clinton answered “I have never had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky.” Clinton later stated that he believed the agreed-upon definition of sexual relations excluded his receiving oral sex.[citation needed]</p>
<p>President Clinton was held in contempt of court by judge Susan D.Webber Wright.[4] His license to practice law was suspended in Arkansas and later by the United States Supreme Court.[5] He was also fined $90,000 for giving false testimony[6] which was paid by a fund raised for his legal expenses.[citation needed]"</p>
<p>Perhaps you are referring to the Paula Jones scandal? </p>
<p>“Paula Jones’ civil lawsuit against President Clinton, the matter in which President Clinton originally provided testimony that gave rise to his impeachment, was ultimately dismissed. To end the appeal that followed, Paula Jones was paid $850,000 in an out of court settlement.[citation needed] President Clinton was held in contempt of court for lying under oath during a deposition.”</p>
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<p>Suggest watching Eastern Promises - a very good movie too :-)</p>
<p>I think it is safe to assume that the $5000/hr prostitute that Spitzer patronized was not a young girl from a developing country, kidnapped or stolen. I would bet that she was doing it because the money was pretty good and she didn’t think it was immoral to sell her services. Even if she only got only $1000 of it, that would be pretty decent money. </p>
<p>Or some would say, indecent money.</p>
<p>I didn’t say that the call girl hired by Spitzer was a kidnapped young girl. I did say that this woman clearly has very poor self-esteem, and was exploited by Spitzer. Why the casual acceptance just because the money was good? Would anyone here be so accepting if his or her daughter made a similar decision?</p>
<p>sex + unequal power = exploitation</p>
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<p>Why do you assume this girl has poor self esteem?. She probably made well over 6 figures. I wouldn’t be proud of it, and I can tell you wouldn’t be, but that’s a very good living for somebody. Nobody forced her into this position and I doubt she was kept their unwillingly. I don’t see any exploitation at all…</p>