Splitsville for Spitzer

A couple of thoughts on the Spitzer H-bomb today:

1. He not only has to resign, but he probably will, notwithstanding the fact that he did not do so today. Undoubtedly, he is using resignation as a bargaining chip to stay out of jail or at the very least wind up at a Club Fed instead of Leavenworth.

2. To those typically in ideological alignment with the Brahmin who might be tempted to cite David Vitter or Larry "Wide Stance" Craig, I say, yeah, both should have resigned. To reduce this to simple partisan point-notching, we can say (hopefully) Spitzer did the right thing; the others did not.

3. David Paterson is on the precipice of further cementing a remarkably charmed political career. Born legally blind, he lucked into Dinkins' rise to power in the mid to late '80's, then squeezed into the State Senate on the death of an incumbent; successfully knocked off the Minority Leader (Marty Connor of the Heights, who I met more than once at Eamonn Doran on Montague Street), and now is about to reach Cloud 9 in Albany...thanks to "Client 9."

4. No one had a shinier and more of a crusading pro-reform reputation as an elected official than Eliot Spitzer. It underscores what this business does to people. Does this mean Barack Obama was partaking in the world's oldest profession across state lines? No, but one has to wonder about this Rezko thing a bit more. That might be unfair, but it does give at least the amateur political class (to which I supposedly belong) a very big pause about the people we follow.