grandstanding only works some of the time

media glory hound eliot spitzer suffered a public loss. there is a reason most of his prior actions have been settlements.... while his tactics may grab headlines, they may not stand up within the courtroom where the rule of law can trump sound bites.

Mr. Spitzer's public declarations had made the case [against Theodore C. Sihpol] seem a sure thing.... But Mr. Sihpol's attorneys argued that nowhere in the pertinent law, the Investment Company Act, is there any mention of "late trading" or "4 pm".... No wonder Mr. Sihpol's defense team was confident enough of its case that it didn't call a single witness....
Mr. Spitzer's real mistake here, paradoxically, may have been taking on the little guy. Corporations are all too willing to settle with prosecutors, because their reputational risk from going to trial is greater than paying a fine and giving Mr. Spitzer his "victory."

up till now, spitzer's actions have created quite a racket

Well, if integrity and real change are what Mr. Spitzer is campaigning for, we invite our readers to regard the chart below listing but a sampling of his contributors. It shows that Mr. Spitzer has been raising hundreds of thousands of dollars from those he regulates in the financial industry and from lawyers with an interest in actions taken by his office.

one last jab to spitzer from wsj's opinion journal:

Congratulations to Mr. Sihpol and his jury for reminding Eliot Spitzer that to be convicted of a crime in America you should first have to break the law.

¶ - nitish @ 2:37 PM