Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Eliot. It was great fun, learning that New York’s resigned millionaire Governor shelled out thousands of dollars -- to him, a little more than “walking around money” -- for high-class prostitutes whenever he left the Empire State. Whatever happened to "I Love New York," El?

The New York Times breathlessly told its gentle readers today that Philandering El sometimes even dished out cash for "more than one visit” from hookers during “some trips of several days’ duration.”

In Spitzer’s case, the Times modified its slogan about “all the news fit to print” to “all the slime fit to repeat,” by re-informing readers that our randy former Governor sometimes asks prostitutes “to do things that, like you might not think were safe.” Thank you once again, you Old Grey Lady, you.

[The New York Post, of course, bested the NYT in covering the exploits of the “addicted to sex, Gov” by gracing its front page with one of Eliot’s playmates. Hats off, to Rupe and the gang.]

At the risk of sounding like a stick in the mud, the Times paid much more attention to Eliot’s sex romps than to the “ousting” of Admiral William Fallon as commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East. The Admiral has been a thorn in the side of the Bush Administration because he is a guy who is grounded in reality.

Fallon wants to head off a last gasp attack on Iran during the dying days of the Bush White House. An attack on Iran would trigger unimaginable worldwide outrage against the U.S. and over-extend American forces. Not to mention that Iran has more than twice (65M vs. 27M) the population of Iraq. And we know how the occupation of Iraq is working out.

Fallon is the first Navy man to assume the helm of Central Command. He took that spot with great fanfare in Jan. 07. His straight-talk is appreciated by the officer corps, which is sick of the nonsense spewed by the gung-ho crowd surrounding the White House.

Fallon, in stepping down, acknowledged that “recent press reports suggesting a disconnect between my views and the President’s policy objectives have become a distraction at a critical time and hamper efforts” across the region. If that isn’t a wake-up call to America, I don’t know what is?

With all due respect to the editors at the NYT, Fallon’s “resignation” demanded much more play. They could have given him a column or two of the three or four that were devoted to the exploits of our horndog former governor.


(Photo: N.Y. Times)