"Is it really the case that any elected official who ever breaks the law should be righteously condemned by all decent people and then forced from office? If so, I don't think there are going to be very many elected officials left."

Yes, it is the case. And personally, so what if there ain't many left? As an elected official, resignation from the hypocrisy alone should be mandatory, as there are no elected officials left who are honorable enough to step down of their own accord, much less do the world a favor and blow their own heads off.

Interesting how Shapiro in another Salon article, writes his article from the perspective of how "tragic" an event this is to Spitzer. One comes away with the impression after reading it that the article had be written by someone working for a Crisis Management firm hired by the Governor, not by a journalist whose constituency is supposedly the People.

That is not the case with Greenwald's article. His focuses primarily on the "consentual adult" angle, with which I agree, but is essentially a footnote to the whole episode.

For this writer, there are at least three more important issues that are raised by Spitzer's fall. Two of them are rather obvious with fairly limited ramifications. The third is not so obvious in its connection, and might be classified as a political philosophy point, applicable generally, not merely to Spitzergate.

1. Hypocrisy is the most difficult of vices for the public to tolerate.

2. Why did Spitzer's bank apparently contact the IRS of its own volition, in secret? What law is lurking out there that gives banks this kind of authority to rat-out its own depositors, with no notice to the depositor required? If Jane Doe writes some checks that some bank clerk thinks present a "suspicious pattern," can Jane find herself the target of a Justice Department investigation, of wiretaps and other surveillance? The Bank Secrecy Act in conjunction with the IRS Code provides the grounds for and indeed requires banks to report "suspicious" transactions, but only if they are $10,000 or more. (One would think the Harvard Law grad and former AGNY would have counted more carefully.) But even with this authority, judgment by indivduals at the financial institution still must be made.

3. Finally, the episode is a brilliant real-world illustration of why true conservatives always argue for the most limited of power for those who govern: Irrespective of any and all other criteria, those with power are human beings, some subject more, some subject less, to human frailties.

In the culture of the still puritanical USA, it is frequently that most powerful of human urges--sexual desire--that winds up as the proximate cause of the downfalls of the mighty, as is the case here. But it's the thought of this guy--with power--having the gall to be concurrently prosecuting prostitution rings and being a client of prostitutes himself that disqualifies any sense of the "tragic" be used as the adjective to describe Spitzer.

Governors, Senators, Mayors, City Council-people and, especially, Presidents should have only the absolute minimum of power to harm and harass others as is required to keep governments functioning.

Spitzer not only abused his power as AG and Governor, but both those offices came equipped with too much power long before Elliot Spitzer arrived on the scene.

you are arguing from a viewpoint of compassion and empathy, and I do not think you will get much of either from men who are willing to go to prostitutes.

And yeah, I do think a lot of the squealing outrage on the threads that predictably shows up from guys who insist that prostitutes are all putting themselves through college and having a gay old time is coming from men who use or have used prostitutes.

Of course for all their bloviating about how noble and respected prostitution is, they aren't going to tell us that, because that's the skeleton in their closets and in their heart of hearts, they do know better. So.....MYOB!

Pretty gruesome, isn't it?

And as for GG's going nuts over the topic of people "butting in" to this politician's private life....get off it, GG, he's a public servant. His private life, to the extent that it reflects on his judgment and principles or lack thereof, is public business. Get over it already.

I never mentioned legislation. I'm just refuting Glenn's assertion that a married person paying a third party for sex is something that transpires "between consenting adults." There is another person involved, albeit involuntarily, in the transaction: the married person's spouse.

Paying for sex doesn't change the fact that one spouse is breaking the marriage contract--not forthrightly, but secretly, so that the other partner will continue in good faith to treat the marriage as an exclusive relationship.

That's playing dirty, whether or not it runs afoul of the law.

I'll grant all of that if we're talking about interpersonal relationships

I thought we were talking about whether prostitution should be illegal or not

And you would rather put these adult women in jail? Is that compassion and empathy where you come from? If any woman is forced into it, she wouldn't be the one going to prison. When prostitution is moved from the street, it enables the police to focus on the other crimes. It is still against the law in Nevada, unless regulated by the county and state.

Americans have some kind of weird issue with sex that just won't quit. Frankly, we got issues.

But put all of the moralizing crap to one side. There are still real, reasonable reasons why I think New Yorkers should care about Spitzer's reputed whoring.

It's careless, risky, reckless behavior that opens him up to leverage of all sorts. Like blackmail. Or revealing information that shouldn't be revealed. It is a form of reckless behavior that powerful executives simply can't afford. It has high likelihood of destroying not only his personal career (none of my business), but it also puts at risk all of the good, honorable things that he and his entire team are tying to accomplish in office--and the things that his supporters voted him in to do. This doesn't just effect Spitzer's family. It effects his entire administration and the folks in it.

I wish we weren't so hung up on this stuff, but the reality is that we are. And we all know this, it's part of our culture, and Spitzer knows it as well as anyone else. Perhaps moreso.