When the news of (former) New York governor Eliot Spitzer's indiscretions and involvement in a prostitution ring broke out, I shook my head and wondered how the American people wound up with another crooked politician in a position of power.

How do we always get duped into voting for these types, the ones who proclaim they will crack down on drug rings, prostitution rings and other criminal activity, only to be involved in it themselves?

The blogosphere has been on fire about the Spitzer scandal, offering varying points of view.

The KC Blue Blog writes:

We would laugh at this, as it is borderline tabloid journalism, but now that the media has even gone so far as to track down the escort in the Spitzer case, it has become a little frightening. Look, we are not defending Spitzer at all, as we feel especially bad for his family. However, we find it very concerning that in today's media the well-being of someone who can't defend themself isn't even a concern. We aren't defending the escort either (whom we will leave nameless) as she chose a terrible career; but how fair is wrecklessly placing her life in danger?

Rich Noyes of NewsBusters writes:

My colleague Brent Baker has painstakingly documented how the big three broadcast networks have gone out of their way to avoid labeling scandal-scarred New York Governor Eliot Spitzer as a “Democrat.” An examination of the fifteen ABC, CBS and NBC morning and evening news shows through Wednesday night finds Spitzer was called a Democrat just 20% of the time — twice on CBS, once on ABC, and never on NBC. So how do the networks treat Republicans involved in sex scandals? Always, always as Republicans, and as problems for their party.

Right Wing Vitriol writes:

It's always disheartening to see an elected official with such a worthwhile track record dig himself into a fiery, fiery pit of his own hypocrisy. We Republicans speak from experience.

From Outside the Beltway:

Aside from a general sense that chief executive officers ought to obey the laws they’re charged with enforcing and that married men ought to be faithful to their wives, I really don’t care much about this story. The interesting angle, really, is the hypocrisy bit.

Rabbi Michael Lerner writes:

The cross-the-political-spectrum attacks on Elliot Spitzer and the intensity of the demands that he resign his office show just how far the Right-wing sexual moralizing has been able to trump any other kind of ethical reasoning in American society.

Going to a prostitute is legal in some states and some countries around the world, and is often the very arrangement that saves families from splitting up whose sexual energies have diminished but whose love is intact. It’s not uncommon for men (and now increasingly women as well) who have achieved great power in our society by adopting an outer show of ruthless pursuit of power and influence (even, as in Spitzer’s case, if the power is aimed at pursuing laudable ends) to feel a deep emptiness and loneliness that is not addressed by friends or spouse, and hence to seek some kind of outside connection no matter how superficial that is not bound by previous rules and roles.

The media has been having a field day (or three) dishing up headlines about Spitzer's behavior, and the coverage has increased with the recent discovery of "Kristen", a prostitute involved, known as Ashley Alexandra Dupre on her MySpace page. When I visited this site, I couldn't understand how this beautiful girl with such great musical talent and ambition ended up in a prostitution ring. Then I read her description of herself and her upbringing.

From Ashley's MySpace profile:

I am all about my music, and my music is all about me… It flows from what I’ve been through, what I’ve seen and how I feel. I live in New York and am on top of the world. Been here since 2004 and I love this city, I love my life here. But, my path has not been easy. When I was 17, I left home. It was my decision and I’ve never looked back. Left my hometown. Left a broken family. Left abuse. Left an older brother who had already split. Left and learned what it was like to have everything, and lose it, again and again.

This is a young woman from a broken home, who set out for the life of fame and fortune in a music career. Can her dream come true after her involvement in this scandal was revealed?

From Billboard.com:

Before Dupré’s MySpace page was deleted today (March 13), it had received 4,612,397 views and her song “What We Want” touted 711,334 plays. According to the New York Times, two tracks Dupré released to AmieStreet.com this week received thousands of listens and their prices rocketed from free to the maximum price of 98 cents on the priced-by-demand site today. The number of blog posts mentioning Dupré also rose over 750% in the last 48 hours according to Nielsen BuzzMetrics.

One label executive told Billboard.com:

"I think her song is absolutely terrible. If people are interested in signing her, then they shouldn't be in the music business. It'd be a shame to exploit her talent based on the unacceptable reality that she was involved in. Most importantly, it destroyed multiple families. I don't think the scandal will help her at all. In fact, I think the public is a bit smarter than we think they are. Even though she's had over a million hits on her MySpace, I think people are just going there to see her pictures and laugh at her attempt to pursue a music career."

Christina Lang of Pop Eater asks:

Should we expect a reality show from Ashley Alexandra Dupre, the woman identified as a prostitute alleged procured by Eliot Spitzer? Remember when Myspace diva Tila Tequila went from online sensation to musician to starring in her very own reality television show to find "true love." Ms. "Dupre" -- born Ashley Youmans -- is already an aspiring singer with her own Myspace page and is now infamously in the public eye after being referred to as one of the ladies the disgraced ex-governor if New York purportedly had an encounter with.

Republican Ranting writes:

Well, the moment a lot of people had been waiting for happened yesterday - the prostitute that got New York Governor and Former Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (Client 9) (Democrat) in all of his troubles revealed her identity. She came from a broken home, leaving home at 17 and falling into drugs and homelessness, but “rebounded” to become a nightclub singer, and eventually a prostitute for the Emperor’s Club. She called her mother right before the story broke, and her mother has told the media that she does not think that Ashley knew who Spitzer was before she actually met him. Her mother told the media, “She is a very bright girl who can handle someone like the governor. But she also is a 22-year-old not a 32-year-old or a 42-year-old and she obviously got involved in something much larger than her.”

Ashley has over 1700 friends on MySpace and they seem to offer nothing but support and advice. "You're going through very rough times right now, but remember, this too shall pass," one friend writes. "I believe you will come out stronger & wiser for it. My personal motto: Adversity reveals character. Stay strong & God bless.."

Another posted this comment, "I guess one good thing came out of this. You became an overnight star. Now run with it."

Other bloggers believe Ashley is using the scandal to boost her music career. From Backstage Pass:

Ashley Alexandra Dupre (a.k.a. Kristen a.k.a. The High-Priced Escort Who Brought Down Gov. Spitzer) is no dummy. This morning, as her musical collaborators made the rounds of the morning talk shows telling people that she was trying to be a singer and not, you know, that other thing, her MySpace page came down and she added a song for sale to her Amie Street page. Why give it away when you can get paid, right?

I admit that I feel some compassion toward Ashley Dupre. Despite the fact that she was involved in an illegal operation, I don't fully believe she knew what she was getting into, given her upbringing. This is not to say she's excused of any wrong doing, but certain men in power will do anything to get what they want. Was Ashley coerced into prostitution? Was she promised fame, fortune and a record deal in exchange for her "services"?

I can't imagine what Silda, Eliot Spitzer's wife is feeling at this moment.

From Reuters:

Silda Wall Spitzer stood beside her husband, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, as he resigned on Wednesday amid a scandal over a $1,000-an-hour prostitute. The mother of the governor’s three daughters also stood by her husband’s side at a news conference on Monday where he admitted he had violated his obligations to his family and his “sense of right and wrong.”

Eliot Spitzer exploited women for sex and betrayed the woman he vowed to love and honor. His hypocrisy doesn't make it any easier for Americans to trust the persons we elect into office. This scandal is more than wrong, it's downright shameful.