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The Blodget-Spitzer Interview: The Comebacks
Posted Aug 10, 2009 02:10pm EDT by Henry Blodget in Investing, Newsmakers, BankingIf there's one thing I can attest to, it's no fun to fall from grace.
Yes, you could just disappear, crawling away into anonymous ignominy. But if you cared about the responsibility and privilege of having people trust you, you will soon be overcome by a desire to redeem yourself.
If you're like me, you won't want to do this so you can regain your former status--or any specific job, goal, or position, for that matter. You'll want to do it because you simply can't stand the thought of having let so many people down and then exiting stage left. If the effort of earning back some of that trust leads to new opportunities, great. But it's not the prime motivation.
Eliot Spitzer re-emerged on the public scene about nine months ago, and he's moving fast. For understandable reasons, he's spending a lot of time with his family. He has also once again become a prominent guest on radio and TV.
Any time a former politician launches a media blitz, it's natural to ask, "Is he running for something?" So I asked Eliot that.
He said that public-service feels like his mission in life. And, ever the politician, he didn't rule out anything.
I also asked Eliot whether the world seems as black and white now as it did when he was a prosecutor--good and evil, innocent and guilty--or whether his own fall has caused him to take a more nuanced view of life.
Prosecutors have to see the world in black and white, he said. The real world is more complicated.
Lastly, this being only the second time I had ever met Eliot Spitzer--the first not being when he was pulverizing me, but later, when he was running for governor, at a Slate magazine retreat--I asked Eliot whether he had anything he wanted to say to me.
It was never personal, he said.
In my case,
I have actually always believed that. But I know a lot of other folks Eliot
Spitzer went after didn't get that impression. And I think that that perception
contributed to the sense of poetic justice a lot of people felt at his
downfall.
Personally, I didn't agree with some of Eliot Spitzer's conclusions as Attorney General, and I didn't like some of his tactics. But I have always admired his strength, boldness, and willingness to shake up the status quo. And I completely supported his effort to make Wall Street a fairer and more transparent place for small investors.
The world needs more leaders with qualities like that. And I would not be surprised to see Eliot Spitzer eventually become one of them again.
Also from the Blodget-Spitzer interview:
57 Comments
Louis - Monday August 10, 2009 09:56AM EDT
WE CERTAINLY NEED A CHANGE,BLODGET AND SPITZER WHERE VICTIMS OF THE TIMES, I STILL HAVE RESPECT FOR THESE TWO!
Ed - Monday August 10, 2009 10:03AM EDT
David W - you said it so very well. But bitterness is not the answer. Spitzer's moral character is very marginal. No need to emulate him. Or Geithner, or Bernanky, or Obama for that matter. Learn how to make money out of the market instead.
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday August 10, 2009 10:07AM EDT
I am still trying to figure out what Spitzer did wrong.....cant get my arms around it.
sdw - Monday August 10, 2009 11:04AM EDT
the tricks you could learn to make money in the market today, are the exact same ones that cost people like David W their life savings-RDJL20. Those tricks are dead now as everyone knows them, or at least dying as all that moeny has been sucked up.
j2n272 - Monday August 10, 2009 11:16AM EDT
Spitzer, you want to be redeemed join a monastery. Perhaps, you and McGreevy could enroll together.
j2n272 - Monday August 10, 2009 11:20AM EDT
Spitzer, you want to be redeemed join a monastery. Perhaps, you and McGreevy could enroll together.
Bud - Monday August 10, 2009 11:22AM EDT
It is very clear what Spitzer did wrong, he pissed alot of people off so when he slipped they ganged up on him and ran him out of town. He had no friends except maybe Henry now.
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday August 10, 2009 11:22AM EDT
Cap the number of lawyers at 50% of current levels, active and those attending law school; Create a monitoring body for judges and lawyers where we the people can remove them, especially those who refuse to retire; Create term limits for ALL judges; salary cap lawyers to $200k; Institute serious tort reform as top priority (over health reform). Who the hell made lawyers 'kings and queens'?
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday August 10, 2009 11:26AM EDT
B.S. Prosecutor worth their salt take cases personel or they take it to make as name for them self
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday August 10, 2009 11:27AM EDT
Cap the number of lawyers at 50% of current levels, active and those attending law school; Create a monitoring body for judges and lawyers where we the people can remove them, especially those who refuse to retire; Create term limits for ALL judges; salary cap lawyers to $200k; Institute serious tort reform as top priority (over health reform). Who the hell made lawyers 'kings and queens'?
sdw - Monday August 10, 2009 11:32AM EDT
Yep being a lawyer is the biggest racket out there, and they'll get you if you do the slightest bit wrong, and they can do whatever they want and the other lawyers let it slide. Seems like they make the most money when things are messed up and we wonder why things are messed up while they run everything.
sdw - Monday August 10, 2009 11:39AM EDT
Correct me if I am wrong, as much as I love seeing this guy on here, transporting a prostitute across state lines is a Federal crime. I am the last person who would judge someone for banging a hooker, but they would have to interview me from jail, he doesn't look like he's been seeing rough times.
Len T - Monday August 10, 2009 11:40AM EDT
Just like the high paid investment bankers, nobody is that important that they are not replaceable. There are many qualified individuals that are not tarnished and are ready to take on new challenges. While everyone should be given another chance, it should be baby steps first.
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday August 10, 2009 12:04PM EDT
This article, Sptizer, Blodget and Yahoo are a complete joke. What has this world come to.It is time the world heard the David W stories. Enough about the corrupt thiefs of our times!
Barry - Monday August 10, 2009 12:08PM EDT
The world IS largely black and white for the righteous, the ethical, the decent, honest souls. Ask the victims how "grey" things are. Ask Mr. Spitzer's wife and family. Ask Blodget's clients. The world is always grey for the guilty, looking to weasel their way out, and make a "comeback".
sdw - Monday August 10, 2009 12:15PM EDT
These people are fighting for a comeback, and people like me never got a first chance, and I'm living with my dad who worked is whole life as a successful engineer, and now does handyman work to try and pay basic bills.
former RadioShack victim - Monday August 10, 2009 12:28PM EDT
SPITZER IS SCUM AND BLODGET, EVEN IF HE DID BREAK THE LAW (WHICH IS UNCLEAR AT BEST), ONLY DID IT TO MAKE MONEY, HE WASNT SELLING OUT THE STATE TO THE ILLEGAL INVADERS (REMEMBER SPITZER TOLERATED NYC BEING A SANCTUARY CITY AND TRIED TO FORCE THE COUNTIES TO GIVE DRIVERS LICENSES TO ILLEGAL INVADERS AND THREATENED JAIL WITH THOSE COUNTY CLERKS WHO REFUSED!), BLODGET WOULDNT BE A TRAITOR, UNLIKE SPITZER, WHO BETRAYED HIS STATE, HIS WIFE, HIS FAMILY....AWESOME INTERVIEW HENRY! YOUR BEST INTERVIEW OF THE YEAR THUS FAR! HE MAY HAVE BETRAYED HIS WIFE BUT HE BETRAYED HIS STATE EVEN MORE AND HE PUT A COMPLETE RETARD IN HIS PLACE (I AM NOT EXAGGERATING PATTERSON IS A BORDERLINE RETARD WHO WAS ONLY PUT IN THERE FOR AFFIRMATIVE ACTION REASONS) NEW YORK STATE IS A HOPELESS MESS....UPSTATE NEW YORK SHOULD SECEDE....GET AWAY FROM NYC AND THE WACKO COMMUNISTS AND THIRD WORLD INVADERS DOWN THERE WHO URINATE ON THE CONSTITUTION (THE REAL ONE, NOT THE ONE GINSBURG, BREYER AND SOTOMAYOR PRETEND IT TO BE, WHICH IS MAKE UP CRAP AS YOU GO ALONG IF YOU FEEL SORRY FOR SOMEONE OR NOT), THE SOVERIGNITY OF OUR NATION AND BORDERS, WESTERN CIVILIZATION AND THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS....BUT I KNOW THAT WONT HAPPEN SO I WILL BE HAPPY TO LEAVE NEXT SPRING AND LAUGH AS IT ALL IMPLODES ON ITSELF....
Robert - Monday August 10, 2009 12:34PM EDT
A few truths I know. The sky is blue. Water is H2O. The last one is "Never underestimate the ignorance of the American public." Why anyone would listen to a convicted felon and a man who contributes to the GDP by paying prostitues is beyond me. The good news. I no longer pay taxes !!!!!!!!!!!!
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david - Monday August 10, 2009 08:51AM EDT
Those who sit around telling war stories are those who survived the war. Those who died in the tenches never will have their stories told. Will "All Quiet On The Western Front" ever be written for those who lost their life's savings? No, our stories are not worth the paper, its just our lives that have been destroyed by the leaders, no one will ever sit down and listen to our story. We are not news worthy.