George Fox

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is all over the television because of a federal wiretap that caught him using the services of a high priced prostitution ring. He used the name "George Fox" as his pseudonym when meeting with the prostitute. Here's who that was:

George Fox (July 1624 – January 13, 1691) was an English Dissenter who is commonly considered the founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers. Living in a time of great social upheaval, he rebelled against the religious and political consensus by proposing an unusual and uncompromising approach to the Christian faith. His journal is known even among non-Quakers for its vivid account of his personal journey.

Everyone is debating whether Spitzer should resign, and whether he should face criminal charges. I am just wondering what happened, and why it happened.

Update: The Smoking Gun is great for this.

Update Deux: Anderson Cooper has some interesting things that he's talking about. Why prostitution solicitation, and not an affair? I was wondering the same thing. It seems like prostitution solicitation among a politician or businessman might simply be evidence of loneliness and workaholism. Workaholism makes relationships difficult to maintain, including an affair. It also creates a wedge against one's wife, and therefore creating loneliness. Commercial sex workers provide a service that is contractual and well-suited to the demands of a workaholic. They work around his hours, can meet his needs on demand, and there are no responsibilities after the affair occurs. Spitzer appears to have had at least more than one encounter with a worker named "Chrissie" because I saw earlier that he had a credit of $500 with the prostitution ring, which implies a previous encounter. (I'm not sure how you get credit with a prostitution ring. Maybe he had a coupon?). So he builds attachments, but they're essentially completely one-sided.

Update Trois: Okay, the George Fox is not the Quaker, but apparently one of Spitzer's biggest campaign contributor! It was definitely more interesting when he was pretending to be the Quaker, though. My mind could get around the possible connection, but I still thought it was kind of cool.