In A New York Minute

On Day 435, everything changes. The Sheriff of Wall Street, Eliot Ness, Mr. Clean, The Crusader of the Year, The Steamroller is now, just Client – 9. The reformer, Governor Eliot Spitzer, who promised great changes and rode a mandate of historic proportion into office, has fallen. And fallen hard. I am as stunned and dismayed as anyone. It’s inconceivable to me that all his accomplishments could vanish in an eye blink … all for sex.

This is by no means ordinary infidelity. It’s criminal. He of all people knew it. The stink of illegality and corruption is impossible to shake. This is a colossal betrayal of public trust affecting his ability to govern. There is no doubt, Governor Spitzer must resign.

The saying, “What goes around, comes around” was never more apt. Mr. Spitzer built his reputation as a moral bully. He’s about to be on the receiving end of such treatment, and rightly so. I have no sympathy for him. It was additionally disgraceful that his gargantuan ego allowed him to subject his wife to even more humiliation by having her at his side during his public apology. I thought that was extremely sad.

The motivation for the fall will be subject to endless speculation. Invincibility Complex? Certainly, a classic case of hubris. Whatever the reason, I’m ashamed to be a New Yorker today.