Apparently that's Spitzer's own doing. It's now legal to have banks monitor accounts for movements under $10,000 - because that's how people move money around to hide illegal activity - and he pushed for it. They only have to report it, legally, if there is a pattern of $10K or more because that's the laundering limit, but he insisted that they pay for things like, well, prostitution with amounts from $2K and up and you can find those patterns. He helped design the rules and got caught by them. I'm not saying I approve - but he can't complain about it.

Under what law was the FBI (or whomever) allowed to find "irregularities" in Spitzer's bank account(s)? Don't you have to be suspected of wrongdoing before your bank activities can be monitored?

Let us not lament on the end of the career of Spitzer. Instead, let's focus on the laws of this land that ended his career...laws that he spent most of his professional life upholding and promoting. Laws that now have one in every 100 citizens in jail. We are not the land of the free. Mr. Spitzer is an enabler of this broken system of justice that we have, and deserves to die on the sword he honed.

Back to what's really important...

public officials have great power, often wielded in secret. the only protection the people can have is the character of the official. when evidence appears that an officer is a hypocrite, public reaction is and should be revulsion. regardless of what he says, he might do anything.

another aspect which deserves more thought is vulnerability. a corrupt secret police, and that is all of them, is likely to 'bank' errant officials. the officials stop serving the people, and start serving the secret police. hoover showed that this does happen in the usa, and nothing has been done to prevent it happening in future, or right now.

spitzer might well feel lucky at being prosecuted. being blackmailed might well have been worse. perhaps he was offered the choice, and chose wisely.

finally, usd4000 for a date with a commercial dolly? he is paid way too much, or is way too stupid to be governor.

On one hand, I understand the public outrage toward Spitzer on account of his hypocrisy. He relentlessly pursued anyone he suspected of wrongdoing and did everything he could to make those people pay for their crimes. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with that in and of itself. It was his air of moral superiority and his general arrogance that proved to be so problematic. He campaigned as Mr. Squeaky Clean, and then was caught doing something he had previously prosecuted others for. Spitzer is rumored to be a particularly impatient, intolerant fellow regarding the behavior of others. This is why much of the public has zero sympathy and patience for him now.

However, let's try to ignore the hypocrisy factor for a minute. I think many of us agree that his offense, however slimeball-esque, probably shouldn't cost him his job. Folks in the US are still a little freaked out by sex, and I think that the outrage directed toward Spitzer's behavior is a little overboard. The biggest 'moral' issues of our time have to do with sex. The folks claiming the moral high ground seem far more concerned with whether someone else is kissing men or women than they are about whether people have adequate housing, healthcare and education. A public figure is far more likely to lose face over sexual indescretions than over gross incompetence. Consider how former President Clinton was put through the ringer on account of the Lewinsky scandal, whereas other people who are known to have committed perjury just got a slap on the wrist - for outing an undercover CIA agent. Hmmm...which is more damaging...? affair with an intern or ... outing an agent..? "Clearly the affair!" say those on their moral high horses. Our Puritan roots are still quite evident.

I am baffled by the fact that so many people are chomping at the bits to oust Spitzer while they give a free pass to an administration that started a war under false pretenses and has been directly or indirectly responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths. Irresponsible war and loss of human life are somehow not as shocking and appalling as boinking a call girl?! Oh, for crying out loud! Also, I'm not sure I buy the argument that bad behavior in private necessarily equals an inability to be effective at one's job. Many people are able to compartmentalize very well.

For the record, I absolutely think that Governor Spitzer's behavior wronged his wife and family very deeply. In no way am I saying that violating his marriage vows is ok. I won't have any sympathy for the guy at all if this scandal costs him his marriage. But should it cost him his job...? I'm not convinced that it should.

If he honestly believes that having sex with prostitutes is merely a "private failing," then how do we explain the huge public case he made out of prostitution when he was AG?

When was time for Spitzer to score political points, prostitution was a very public matter -- public enough for some major prosecutions and changes to the laws.

He's not remorseful at all, and he still has done nothing to close the ginormous gap between where he led the public and where he led himself.

I'll admit it, I knew nothing about Spitzer's money-laundering tactics. But then, where did I read about it? Not here at Salon. I certainly didn't see it on the evening news. Maybe it was considered too local a story for national coverage? But I knew about Spitzer caught in a prostitution scandal I guess from the minute it broke because it's on all the networks and gets a big headliner spread here.

At any rate, thank you fellow letter-writers for doing the job news organizations are supposed to be doing. Once again, the internet proves its worth in terms of public reportage. I was sypathetic to Spitzer up to this point. Not now. No thanks to Salon. Or CNN. Or CBS. Or...aw, forget it.