Eliot Spitzer Signs Off With Teddy Roosevelt’s ‘Citizenship In A Republic’

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by Frances Martel | 9:22 pm, July 6th, 2011

» 43 comments

As the media learned earlier today, tonight was Eliot Spitzer‘s last night hosting his 8PM CNN show In the Arena, and in the final minutes of his program, Spitzer signed off with quite the apt quote from President Teddy Roosevelt: “the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena… who strives valiantly.”

Spitzer said little about his departure, other than acknowledging that today was his last day and reading the quote, which was quite apt– giving a nod to those that try while disparaging detractors:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

The full Roosevelt speech here, for the curious.

As there were no final words about his own future, it is unclear what Spitzer is planning and whether that would include a future in cable news. If his final segments are any indication, however– a segment on the history of the Constitution and an interview with French journalist Bernard-Henri Levy– he seems to be little interested in the fare that makes for ratings bonanzas on cable news, but would fit right in at, say, PBS or C-SPAN. Of course that also presupposes Spitzer’s future is in television, which is a big assumption to make. For now, Spitzer has only said he is departing, but to where is anyone’s guess.

Spitzer’s goodbye via CNN below:

CNN, eliot spitzer, in the arena, Teddy Roosevelt

The Lantern of Truth

Awful guy .

And the Lantern is being nice .
Laddy Go-Rod

Spritzer too is “kind of a dick”.

Of course, this is news to NO ONE.
Yoda002

Now go back and start going after those corporate criminals.
http://www.libertarianism.com/ Jack Burns

He probably got caught with some hookers in the green room…
Fokker News

I will take the ethics of Spitzer over those of Bill O’Reilly any day. Illegal sex between consenting adults is more ethical than a predatory pursuit of a disinterested junior employee. Plus, Bill O’Reilly has blood on his hands with his “Tiller the Baby Killer” segments.
TfT

Oh brother….thisFokker news guy who probalby was a Clinton suck up – y0ou know, he of internal raping fame….cigars,oval office, desk…..rim jobs, bjs,etc, but doesn’t like O’Reilly becausehe believes the crap that MM puts out there.

Spitzer deserves to be gone,he won’t be missed.
SNAPTIE

Client # 9 got canned.
LOGICandREASON

PATHETIC!
jess5691

That quote from Teddy Roosevelt was my favorite quote. However, now that I just heard that scumbag say it, applying it to himself, I don’t like it anymore. Eliot Spitzer ruined that quote for me.
mmars

You people are pathetic. Why don’t you read the quote he made. If you disagree with his positions, say so. If you agree with his positions, say so. The nastiness of your quotes makes it clear you should all be sent to your rooms without dinner.
Nature Is Freaky

Tea Baggers consider Teddy Roosevelt a socialist.

I wish I was joking.
jddoubleu

Fokker News said:
Illegal sex between consenting adults is more ethical

wonder if this dude commented on vitter…
George C

I thought when you were fired it meant you had six more months to stay on the air .
Yoda002

George C said:
I thought when you were fired it meant you had six more months to stay on the air .

This just didn’t want that person to go crazy while crying so they dragged it out.
Yoda002

*They
BFD

Elliot, it’s not your fault.

You never should have been hired in the first place.
George C

Yoda002 said:
This just didn’t want that person to go crazy while crying so they dragged it out.

That was very generous of FoxNews . I’m surprised a labor organization hasn’t file suit against MSNBC or CNN.
Olbermann seemed to have gotten about 30 minutes notice to vacate the building , Spitzer maybe a few days , and Beck got months and months all the while being allowed to promote his new ventures .
Hardly seems fair .
Rokker

All the right wing haters are in fine form here.
Nature Is Freaky

George C said:
I thought when you were fired it meant you had six more months to stay on the air .

I was fired from a job years ago..

I was forced to gather my possessions and leave. That is how it works in the real world.
I always envied George Costanza. He could get away with anything and usually keep his job.
A notable exception was his liaison with the janitor.
Xtranormal

Nature Is Freaky said:
I was forced to gather my possessions and leave. That is how it works in the real world.
I always envied George Costanza. He could get away with anything and usually keep his job.
A notable exception was his liaison with the janitor.

Hennigans !
http://gordonbloyershow.com gordonbloyershow

Rokker said:
All the right wing haters are in fine form here.

LOL, maybe it is because that unlike Beck, Spitzer reallly got FIRED. He really was a loser in the ratings and in real life.
The loons on the left claim they got Beck. Yet ALL the evidence is that Beck got them.
Beck’s show never had a lack of sponsers yet the left keeps telling that lie over and over.
Beck’s show was ALWAYS the highest rated show in his time slot and was NOT losing viewers any more than was going on system wide.
No boycott hurt Beck. His remarks did not hurt Beck. He was talking about ending his show for more than a year before it ended.
No one is going to run the best of Spitzer now that he is gone.
No one at MSNBC is running the “Best of Olbermann”. There was no best of Olbermann. He was always a slob and a left-wing loon.

Now, all you lefties go out and play in the traffic where you belong.
Nature Is Freaky

Hennigans ! LOL!

GEORGE:” Was that wrong? Should I have not done that? I tell you I gotta plead ignorance on this thing because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing was frowned upon, you know, cause I’ve worked in a lot of offices and I tell you people do that all the time.”

My entire family, no matter their political affiliation (we are a mixed bag), died laughing when this episode came out.
George C

Nature Is Freaky said:
I was forced to gather my possessions and leave. That is how it works in the real world.
I always envied George Costanza. He could get away with anything and usually keep his job.
A notable exception was his liaison with the janitor

I was there sitting in the office and the cleaning woman comes in. I’ve always been attracted to cleaning women. Cleaning women, chambermaids.

Bania said:
Hennigans !

Well the sex was okay, but I threw up from the Hennigans.
Nature Is Freaky

gordonbloyershow said:
LOL, maybe it is because that unlike Beck, Spitzer reallly got FIRED. He really was a loser in the ratings and in real life.
The loons on the left claim they got Beck. Yet ALL the evidence is that Beck got them.
Beck’s show never had a lack of sponsers yet the left keeps telling that lie over and over.
Beck’s show was ALWAYS the highest rated show in his time slot and was NOT losing viewers any more than was going on system wide.
No boycott hurt Beck. His remarks did not hurt Beck. He was talking about ending his show for more than a year before it ended.
No one is going to run the best of Spitzer now that he is gone.
No one at MSNBC is running the “Best of Olbermann”. There was no best of Olbermann. He was always a slob and a left-wing loon.

Now, all you lefties go out and play in the traffic where you belong.

Very Christian of you Gordon. Jesus would have loved that comment. You are letting your hate flag fly!

Play in traffic. Don’t quite your day job dude.
Nature Is Freaky

George C said:
I was there sitting in the office and the cleaning woman comes in. I’ve always been attracted to cleaning women. Cleaning women, chambermaids.

Well the sex was okay, but I threw up from the Hennigans.

LOL!
Nice!
Seinfeld was the last great sitcom (not counting cartoon sitcoms).
http://TheDividedStatesBlog.com Publius219

If only he was a Republican United States Senator from Louisiana.
BatBoy

Good bye Client #9, We are glad to see you go!
The Voice of Reason

Aww I feel bad for him. Its not like putting him in the 8 pm time slot wasn’t a death sentence for the program or anything. Anywho good luck to Mr. Spitzer
Nature Is Freaky

This Ain’t Fox News XXX DVD
Hustler DVD

Director Stuart Canterbury
Starring Alec Knight, Darryl Hanah, Eric John, Loni Evans, Nicole Aniston, Randy Moore, Sea J. Raw, Tom Byron, Herschel Savage

Breaking News! The news room goes wild! You’ve never seen a hotter, sexier, Republican opinionated news broadcast like this! Who says conservatives don’t get down and dirty?
whytee

I want Eliot Spitzer where he belongs – prosecuting the billionaire con men on Wall St.
brownsound

mmars said:
You people are pathetic. Why don’t you read the quote he made. If you disagree with his positions, say so. If you agree with his positions, say so. The nastiness of your quotes makes it clear you should all be sent to your rooms without dinner.

What’s pathetic is that he directed this quote at those who criticized him and/or his show when in actuality HIS JOB WAS TO CRITIQUE those in office, etc. Sort of ironic, don’tcha think? Get over yourself Spitzler.
Nature Is Freaky

Nick Cave
“Easy Money”

It’s difficult. It’s very tough.
I said to the man who’d been sleeping rough
To sit within a fragrant breeze
All among the nodding trees
That hang heavy with the stuff

He threw his arms around my neck
He brushed the tear from my cheek
And held my soft white hand
He was an understanding man
He did not even barely hardly speak

Easy money
Rain it down on the wife and the kids
Rain it down on the house where we live
Rain until you got nothing left to give
And rain that ever-loving stuff down on me

All the things for which my heart yearns
Gives joy in diminishing returns
He kissed me on the mouth
His hands they headed south
And my cheek it burned

Money, man, it is a bitch
The poor, they spoil it for the rich
With my face pressed in the clover
I wondered when this would be over
And at home we are all so guilty-sad

Easy money
Pour it down the open drain
Pour it all through my veins
Pour it down, yeah, let it rain
And pour that ever-loving stuff down on me

Now, I’m sitting pretty down on the bank
Life shuffles past at a low interest rate
In the money-coloured meadows
And all the interesting shadows
They leap up, then dissipate

Easy money
Easy money
Easy money
Rain it down on the wife and the kids
Rain it down on the house where we live
Rain it down until you got nothing left to give
And rain that ever-loving stuff down on me
Just4thefax

Nature Is Freaky said:
Tea Baggers consider Teddy Roosevelt a socialist. I wish I was joking.

Fact: No he just had socialist policies enacted for a welfare state. Some of what he did with big government tit is some of the nipple your on now.
http://www.zazzle.com/talkingpoints NORBIT Jr.

Sign off?

Just 2 things:

1) Didn’t he just Sign On?

2) Does he have Current’s address?
perceptorii

It took this long for CNN to realize that Client #9 had no credibility with the general public. And with all due respect, having a cable news program makes you the critic, not the doer.
Pablo

Now this is what it looks like when you get fired. This is not.
The Voice of Reason

Nature Is Freaky said:
Tea Baggers consider Teddy Roosevelt a socialist. I wish I was joking.

Correction: People who are educated and know history consider him a Progressive.
http://TheDividedStatesBlog.com Publius219

perceptorii said:
It took this long for CNN to realize that Client #9 had no credibility with the general public.

If only he was a Republican United States Senator from Louisiana.
rocky road

CNN finally realized that the hiring of Spitzer was a national joke. How many shots were taken at CNN for hiring this pervert? Jon Klein’s last miserable decision was finally overturned. If Klein were still there, he probably would hire Anthony Weiner.
TheRealRoyalQueen

Now if we can get the lying Frances Martel to sign off.
bayroad22

he was too liberal for cnn –they’re catering to the teabaggers and the glen beckers!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Craig-B-Coogan/1121568166 Craig B Coogan

For the first time in many years I regularly watched CNN. “In the Arena” was an intelligent show with diverse guests and it covered a range of subjects in a thoughtful and deliberative manner. Spitzer was best when live and not with the horrible edited segments. Too bad that CNN couldn’t find a role for him or a slot for this very good show. I rarely agree with his politics – but the point was not to agree or disagree but to hear divergent points of view. It’s a big loss for the media landscape and those of us who care about policy.
X-3

Who was he again?