Undoubtedly there will be someone who will think that Eliot Spitzer, by resigning this morning, did the admirable thing.
In the final analysis, it might not matter that he did the right thing for the wrong reasons.
When you have nowhere to go, no way to win, such choices, even for the power hungry elite, become easy.
Had this been "just" an issue of him having sexual trysts with high paid call girls, there may have been an opportunity for a Clinton II. But this case to date, isn't just about infidelity or breaking the law with a prostitute. It involves other possible violations of the law, with fraud, inappropriate use of public funds, and possible mob ties.
Add on top of the fact that Spitzer was a no-holds barred prosecutor, who supposedly felt the law and justice trumped any possible mercy and leniency, then you have a story that is as ironic as it is tragic.
Sanctimonious, self-righteous people end up creating such a high standard for others, that not even they themselves can keep up with it. We're just too imperfect. Yes, some are less perfect than others--many of us make mistakes without trying to hurt anyone else. Others seem to take everyone else with them.
Since many have already commented on Spitzer, and what his wife and children must be going through, and have tried to figure out why he would do such things when the only possible outcome was to get caught, I won't add any of my own comments. To believe you couldn't possibly be caught when your life is more under a microscope than the several million citizens you govern... Arrogance, stupidity, call it what you will. It is, as the saying goes, what it is.
However, the larger question looming here is, will his fall and resignation matter? Will it cause other officials in high places to pause and take stock of their own situations? Will it reduce the numbers of the Foleys, and the Craigs and whoever else who has yet to fall from the woodwork?
Probably not.
It takes ego to put yourself in the limelight like politicians and celebrities do. It takes believing you are the best this country has to offer. It takes believing in yourself when others don't, or don't know who you are. It's not a road for the faint of heart. More than that, the family has to be tough, too.
I wish it weren't that way. I wish politics were more about substance and issues than personalities and sound bites. Unfortunately, most of us don't take time to sit down and look long and hard at all the issues confronting us. We're too busy being busy.
So, while the new governor of New York may be less corrupt, that doesn't mean wholesale changes in the government of New York is going to take place. It doesn't mean that the liberal beliefs or agendas that Spitzer espoused are going to be rejected or repudiated. The philosophies which put New York where it is, a pillar of liberalism, isn't going to change.
As tragic as this may be for Spitzer's wife and family, it will also be a relief. He has been caught after several trysts and several years of it, perhaps. The Spitzer family, at some point, will be able to retreat from the limelight and decisions, hopefully correct ones, will have an opportunity to be made.
In the meantime, like corruption will continue in New York, in Washington, and elsewhere because the Spitzers of America continue to think they can do whatever they want and get away with it. Too often, these are the folks with the drive to make it into government, because they're willing to sell their souls and do anything to get elected.
Not everyone, mind you. I hold out hope that there are still plenty of good, honest, hard working people who believe in this country and are more concerned about her and their families than they are about their next point of pleasure.
Still, it's time we realize that this is more the norm than the exception, and that the only way we're going to ever fix it, ever have accountability, is to send those who are decent and competent, not the loudest, or the most glib, or the most appealing.