tapper: for a country that bills itself as the world s oldest democracy, we sure do love a strongman, and from teddy roosevelt all the way up to our reality tv president, nowhere produces more of them than the empire state. and i get it. in an age where congress approval rating hovers somewhere around sewer rats, we wanna vote for the politician who can finally just get things done. that was eliot spitzer to a t. but when new yorkers sent the sheriff of wall street to the governor s mansion, we all learned the hard way that white knights can have dark secrets. spitzer was caught breaking his own sex work laws, a level of hypocrisy we could never forget. eliot spitzer blazed a trail through new york that had him in spitting distance of the white house, right up until the moment he set himself on fire. this will sound like a setup for a bad joke, but bear with me. [cheering] the change you seek, the new york you dream of begins tonight. [cheering] so there s this honest po
you can still drive between the lines. so rod s tale is a cautionary one a camera-grabbing, over-the-top example of how bribery, extortion, and graft easily sneak into our political system behind ambition and enormous egos. and if politicians or the public feel the same way he does, then another rod blagojevich is just around the corner. i didn t break a law, cross the line, or take a penny, okay? but i never said i wasn t a [bleep] idiot. [laughter] thank you very much. thank you very much. thank you very much. thank you very much! -awesome. thank you so much. -yeah, thanks. appreciate it. really enjoyed it. you re all right. i wish you the best. we ll see how it ends up and who cares. that s true. find out what are you gonna do, throw me back in prison? -no, but i mean, like, -you can t hurt me, man. tapper: for a country that bills itself as the world s oldest democracy, we sure do love a strongman, and from teddy roosevelt all the way up to our reality tv president, now