Oh, boy. There is just no good way to be "linked to a prostitution ring." Especially if you're a public official. Like the Governor of New York. Or, just to make it worse, you're a governor "who gained national prominence relentlessly pursuing Wall Street wrongdoing" and "also had prosecuted at least two prostitution rings as head of the state’s organized crime task force." (NY Times)

Which is awesome, except when the sentence end with: "has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month"

Time to check in our old pal Governor Eliot Spitzer. You may recall that Eliot last came to the attention of Apology Index in July 2007 when he wrote a lovely apology note in the New York Times for the underhanded political tactics of some of his minions. He resolved then to:

"keep our eye on the ball and focus our energy and our resources on the needs of New Yorkers — fighting for a revitalized economy, more jobs, lower health care costs, better schools and lower taxes."

Well ... I guess you could say he's been doing his bit to revitalize the economy. And create jobs!

The wiretap captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a hotel room, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Manhattan. The person briefed on the case and the law enforcement official identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9. (NY Times)

Maybe not what New Yorkers had in mind. Perhaps not surprisingly, today's apology was a bit more terse than the last one:

“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.”

Sooo ... yeah. Not really much I can add to that. We'll have to see how the media, the public and other interested parties react to this one.

The video is here: http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=fcb0111f1044c081f71110f2828d33b177591d52