Who Still Laughs At Eliot Spitzer

For the most part, it would seem, Eliot Spitzer lives a remarkably palatable life, given that he was humiliated and forced to resign as New York governor just six months ago in a prostitution scandal. Spitzer's marriage is intact; he has plenty of well-paying work to do at his father's real estate firm; and he is able to run through Central Park and walk around the city because " he hasn’t gotten a lot of negative stuff out in public," an old friend told the Times. Spitzer has even received well-wishes from former vice president Al Gore, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and the widow of Robert F. Kennedy. But still: People laugh at him. The Times investigated exactly who:

• "Construction workers snicker at him."
• "Cabdrivers take pictures of him on their cellphones."
• The new Gov. David Paterson mocks him, at least as far as Spitzer is concerned: "In the 22nd paragraph of a New York Times article on Aug. 21, Mr. Paterson said that aides to Mr. Spitzer had lacked experience in Albany... Mr. Spitzer... picked up the phone, reached a Paterson aide, demanded a public apology from the governor and 'issued threats, veiled and unveiled' against Mr. Paterson, said the aide, who insisted on anonymity because he did not want to anger either man. No public apology was offered."
• Dick Grasso implicitly mocks him too! "While the family was in Laos, news broke that the state’s highest court had thrown out most of the charges in the civil case that Mr. Spitzer, as state attorney general, had brought against Richard A. Grasso, the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, over Mr. Grasso’s $139.5 million compensation package. Mr. Spitzer called a reporter back in New York — though it was the middle of the night there, given the time difference — to criticize the ruling and suggest people to call who would back up his view."
  

Something tells us construction workers don't still snicker at Hugh Grant, arrested for lewd conduct with a prostitute in 1995. Philanderer Bill Clinton is still invited on all the best shows and to all the best speaking engagements. What Spitzer did was worse — he was more powerful (and, uh, married) than Grant and more criminal than Clinton — but given some time and smartly-played media appearances he should at least be able to walk past hardhat sites soon.

Send an email to Ryan Tate, the author of this post, at ryan@gawker.com.

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