How a Republican Dirty Trickster nailed Eliot Spitzer

I'm not defending Eliot Spitzer, not by a long shot. Bill Maher can talk all he wants to about how it's perfectly OK for a married guy to fuck whoever he wants to because everyone needs sex, and if a guy doesn't want to fuck his wife anymore because she's not 22, there's no reason for him to "suffer" -- it's still a really sleazy, hurtful thing to do. That Maher is a raging misogynist isn't news, but hearing him last Friday vocalize his view that women are just holes for men to put their dicks into made me wonder if having him on our side is worth it.

But all that notwithstanding, Spitzer, as another one of those holier-than-thou virtuemongers isn't at all a sympathetic figure.

Until you find out that known Republican dirty trickster Roger Stone seems to be the one who tipped off the FBI about him:

Almost four months before Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in a sex scandal, a lawyer for Republican political operative Roger Stone sent a letter to the FBI alleging that Spitzer ''used the services of high-priced call girls'' while in Florida.

The letter, dated Nov. 19, said Miami Beach resident Stone learned the information from ''a social contact in an adult-themed club.'' It offered one potentially identifying detail: The man in question hadn't taken off his calf-length black socks ``during the sex act.''

Stone, known for shutting down the 2000 presidential election recount effort in Miami-Dade County, is a longtime Spitzer nemesis whose political experience ranges from the Nixon White House to Al Sharpton's presidential campaign. His lawyer wrote the letter containing the call-girl allegations after FBI agents had asked to speak to Stone, though he says the FBI did not specify why he was contacted.

''Mr. Stone respectfully declines to meet with you at this time,'' the letter states, before going on to offer ''certain information'' about Spitzer.

''The governor has paid literally tens of thousands of dollars for these services. It is Mr. Stone's understanding that the governor paid not with credit cards or cash but through some pre-arranged transfer,'' the letter said.

''It is also my client's understanding from the same source that Gov. Spitzer did not remove his mid-calf length black socks during the sex act. Perhaps you can use this detail to corroborate Mr. Stone's information,'' the letter said. It was signed by attorney Paul Rolf Jensen of Costa Mesa, Calif.

The letter also notes that while Stone believes the information is true, he ''cannot swear to its accuracy'' because it is second-hand.

James Margolin, a spokesman for the FBI's New York office, would not say whether the bureau had received the letter. A spokeswoman for Spitzer also had no comment.

The letter was written several months after allegations were leveled at Stone that he had left a threatening phone message at the office of Bernard Spitzer, the ex-governor's father, regarding ''phony'' campaign loans involving his son's unsuccessful 1994 bid for attorney general. Stone denied making the call but resigned as a consultant for state Senate Republicans in Albany.

So does anyone actually still believe that the IRS just "happened" to find Spitzer moving money around in a suspicious manner?

Right now the national polls are showing either Democratic candidate running neck-and-neck against John McCain. With Roger Stone still up to his old tricks from 2000, they'd better wrap this up soon and set about building a lead that not even Roger Stone can steal.