Yeah, I was one of those who thought Eliot Spitzer was a crusading genius who would help the Democrats get their shit together and clean up the capital. I thought that for a while. Then I heard more about his behavior on some of those crusades, and some of it started to sound kind of like Rudy Giuliani in his prosecutor days—another very smart guy who was so sure he was right, and liked kicking ass so much, that he didn’t mind glossing over a few inconvenient details to make sure those asses got kicked in style. His style as Governor seemed like that too, more concerned with winning than with getting things right.

When a guy like that goes around nailing people to the wall for financial shenanigans and busting call-girl houses, and then commits financial shenanigans in order to rent call girls, I’m guessing it’s not exactly hypocrisy in the traditional Oral Roberts mode. I’m guessing that he was totally sincere about the former, and that he really feels like a schmuck for the latter now that he got caught. Some people, especially smart people who’ve won a lot of hard fights, think winning proves the gods were on your side—so if you get caught, then you deserved to, but if you don’t, you’re cool.

So the hooker story is no big surprise. Some people think he was set up, and that wouldn’t be a surprise either, these days. In any case, I don’t think this kind of thing should force a Governor out of office, unless he was actually embezzling from the state, but I can’t say I’m sorry that he won’t be up for Attorney General. Not tragic, just stupid.