Sure Easter was 2 days ago, but I finding these pictures and I am sorry but George Bush with the Easter Bunny is actually too cute not post! I was going to do this as a caption this, but he looks like a little boy with the Easter Bunny in these AP photos that I decided not too but feel free to caption these photos if you want! 

The most recent shame of New York, soon-to-be former Governor Eliot Spitzer, resigned from office today, with the official transfer of power to Lieutenant Governor David Paterson to take place on Monday. Spitzer has been linked to a worldwide prostitution ring, and may have spent as much as $80,000 on hookers. The federal government figured out what he was up during the course of investigating the Emperor’s Club, which specializes in high class hookers. Apparently Spitzer was too ethical to get one of the $45 trannies from Queens like everyone else.

“I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me,” he said in a brief news conference announcing his intention to resign, effective Monday. “I will try once again outside of politics to serve the common good.”

With his wife, Silda, at his side, he added, “Our greatest glory consists not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.”

[From CNN]

Spitzer was famous for rooting out corruption, and was a formidable adversary as the state’s attorney general. He took on Wall Street, government corruption, and – most ironically – prostitution. Lt. Gov David Paterson will be New York’s first black governor and is also legally blind.

“Kristen,” the $4,300 hooker that Spitzer’s been linked to, sounds like quite a catch. Certainly good enough to risk your career and your family for. She likes nice wines and dinners, is 5’5 tall and weights 105 lbs, and has 34 Cs. During a wiretap Kristen was recorded commented on some of Spitzer’s sexual proclivities.

Additionally, the affidavit notes that after her appointment with Client-9 [Spitzer] ended, “Kristen” spoke with a Emperors Club booker, who said that she had been told that Client-9 “would ask you to do things that, like, you might not think were safe…” “Kristen” responded by saying, essentially, that she could handle guys like that.

[From the Smoking Gun]

As a New Yorker, I can say that I’m profoundly disappointed in Eliot Spitzer. Not just because this is such a despicable way to behave – though that would certainly be enough – but because I was incredibly pleased to live in a state with such a noble and upstanding governor. It sounds cheesy, but that really was a point of pride for me. Gov. Spitzer wasn’t just some random politician that few regular people paid attention to. He rooted out corruption and had a long and upstanding track record. All of that is worthless now.

NY Governor Eliott Spitzer was caught up in a federal investigation of a prostitution ring, and made a statement to the media today acknowledging his involvement without getting into specifics. The NY Times broke the explosive story this morning that a wiretap from a federal investigation revealed that the Governor had arranged for a high-paid prostitute to travel from NY to Washington to meet him at a hotel.

Spitzer owned up to his actions in a public statement, his wife standing by his side. His eyes were welling up but he did not cry. He refused to answer any questions, including whether he would resign his post:

Mr. Spitzer today made a brief public appearance during which he apologized for his behavior, and described it as a “private matter.”

“I have acted in a way that violates my obligation to my family and violates my or any sense of right or wrong,” said Mr. Spitzer, who appeared with his wife Silda at his Manhattan office. “I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public to whom I promised better.”

“I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family.”

Before speaking, Mr. Spitzer stood with his arm around his wife; the two nodded and then strode forward together to face more than 100 reporters. Both had glassy, tear-filled eyes, but they did not cry.

The governor spoke for perhaps a minute and did not address his political future.

He declined to take questions and promised to report back soon. As he went to leave, three reporters screamed out, “Are you resigning? Are you resigning?”, and Mr. Spitzer charged out of the room, slamming the door.

[From the NY Times]

According to the NY Times, Spitzer can be charged with a crime under the Mann Act, which is meant to deter human trafficking and “makes it a crime to transport someone between states for the purpose of prostitution.”

Ironically, Spitzer has gone after prostitution rings in his role as Attorney General of NY from 1998-2006. As Attorney General he was known for his high profile lawsuits against major corporations and was widely lauded as a man who could change fraudulent corporate practices. He sued the NY Stock Exchange for paying its director $187 million. He sued GlaxoSmithKlein for withholding damaging information about Paxil. He sued the top investment banks and was instrumental in exposing fraud on Wall Street. He collected multi-million dollar settlements from ten of the top investment banks including Bear Stearns, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and UBS Warburg. Spitzer even sued a major spam network along with Microsoft and collected a $7 million settlement.

Spitzer has been Governor of NY since January 1, 2007 and has not yet addressed whether he will resign his post.

Huffington Post has screengrabs from the website of the prostitution ring that Spitzer may have used. Their rates start at $1,000 an hour and go up from there, depending on their “diamond” level.

Spitzer has been married for 20 years and has three teenage daughters. His wife is also a graduate of Harvard Law School and runs the nonprofit agency Children for Children.

Header image from the NY Times.

Hillary Clinton is back in the game, but just barely. Prior to the yesterday’s primaries Clinton was trailing Obama based on her performance in earlier primaries. Clinton won yesterday’s primaries in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island. Obama won in Vermont. The race between the two is still very close and hard to call, with the front runner seeming to change every week. While they’re both still insisting that they are the very best candidate and can beat Republic John McCain, Clinton is hinting that there may be a possibility of a Clinton-Obama ticket – with her as the presidential candidate.

Asked on CBS’s “The Early Show” whether she and Obama should be on the same ticket, Clinton said:

“That may be where this is headed, but of course we have to decide who is on the top of ticket. I think the people of Ohio very clearly said that it should be me.”

Obama, who had hoped to knock Clinton out of the race on Tuesday, said he would prevail despite facing a tenacious candidate who “just keeps on ticking.” Clinton acknowledged the race was close and said it would come down to her credentials on national security and the economy.

[From Yahoo! News]

Obama still came away with a lot of delegate votes, and said that his lead was still “insurmountable.” Clinton and Obama are so close that neither has enough delegates to secure the nomination. Whoever gets it will have to get the support of the almost 800 party and elected officials, or so-called “superdelegates .”

“New questions are being raised, new challenges are being put to my opponent,” she said. “Superdelegates are supposed to take all that information on board and they are supposed to be exercising the judgment that people would have exercised if this information and challenges had been available several months ago.”

She said voters are being drawn to her argument that she would be the better commander in chief, the best steward of the economy and that she can better confront McCain in the general election.

[From Yahoo! News]

Obama attacked Clinton for voting for the war in Iraq along with her foreign policy skills. Yesterday Clinton picked up a minimum of 115 delegates and Obama picked up at least 88. Results are still pending for the remaining 170 votes. That leaves Obama with a total of 1,477 delegates, including superdelegates. Clinton now has 1,391 delegates. To get the democratic nomination, the winner will have to secure 2,025 votes. At this point, it’s still way too close to call.

Clinton is shown on 1/18/08 at a rally in Henderson, Nevada. Obama is shown at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas on 1/11/08. Images thanks to PR Photos.

I always have to wonder what politicians think about some of their celebrity endorsements. I’m sure just about everyone would love to get the likes of George Clooney, Oprah, and Tom Hanks on their side. But what must they think when someone like Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, or Paris Hilton endorses a candidate? To be fair, I think it’s highly unlikely that any of those particular celebs even know who’s running for president… in fact they might not even be clear on who is currently the president. I’m pretty sure Paris thinks it’s Bush senior, and he’s just been there for a really long time. And while Mariah Carey is no Britney Spears (though they both have had a few public meltdowns), one can’t help but wonder if Barack Obama really wants her endorsement. How does one politely say, “Gee, thanks but no thanks,” to someone like Mimi, without getting a stiletto imprinted somewhere on your backside?

“Are you watching the debates?” asked Yo.

“Clearly I’m no political analyst. We all know that my album is called E=MC2 but I’m not exactly friggin Einstein,” joked the “Love Takes Time” singer. “So basically I like to leave that to people who know what they are talking about, but I am very much more focused on this moment in our history.”

“Have you picked anyone?” asked Yo.

“Yes, clearly,” she answered.

“Can you say?”

“That’s personal but it’s pretty obvious,” the entertainer replied.

“Come on Mariah, ‘Yes we can’ Mr. Barack Obama?’

Laughing, Carey came clean: “Yes we can!”

[From E!]

Like Britney Spears, Mariah also had a very public meltdown several years ago, nearly stripping off her clothes on MTV’s “TRL.” But instead of flaunting the crazy like Brit, Mariah checked herself into a hospital (for the classic celeb “exhaustion”), took some time off, got her shit together, and came back with her strongest album ever, 2005’s “ The Emancipation of Mimi.” Though Mariah has always stated she’s not in a position to give Britney Spears advice, she did say that what got her through her public meltdown was her faith, and that Britney’s still got a chance to make a comeback.

On life after the bomb that was 2001’s Glitter album and movie and her subsequent comeback, Carey pointed to her faith as a source of strength. “You know what, I never lost my faith in God and that’s the main thing,” she noted. “For me its about my personal relationship with God and just feeling centered and just not letting anything really penetrate that. That’s something that’s sacred for me that I have for myself no matter what.”

In light of the personal crisis Carey faced in the wake of Glitter’s failure when she checked herself into a hospital to be treated for an emotional and physical breakdown, Yo also got her take on the Britster’s current travails and whether or not the pop tart can recover.

“I think anybody who loves music and is committed to the game can do whatever. I never count people out, that’s just not in my nature but that is a part of human nature, people like to do that but with me especially with making this new record, its all about the music.”

[From E!]

Mariah’s right in that she’s no Einstein, but she’s clearly gotten her act together since her breakdown. It’s cool that she doesn’t pretend to know what’s best for Britney Spears; but it’d be nice if someone pointed out to Britney that there’s another singer out there who took a pretty big fall and managed to come out even stronger for it.

Here’s Mariah Carey at MTV’s TRL on February 27, 2008. Images thanks to PR Photos.

The stars are coming out in droves to support Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Scarlett Johansson, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Nicole Scherzinger and Nick Cannon were among the celebrities in Will.i.am’s first music video for Obama, “Yes We Can,” and now another video in support of Obama has been released by Will.i.am called “We are the Ones” featuring music and statements from celebrities including Jessica Alba, Ryan Phillippe, Kerry Washington, Macy Gray, George Lopez, Eric Mabius, John Leguizamo, Benjamin McKenzie, Macy Gray and the Black Eyed Peas.

“We are the Ones”

“Yes We Can”

Disclosure: JayBird, MSat and I all support Obama. No matter who you support, just make sure you vote on election day in November. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that Obama will be on the ticket.