Eliot Spitzer, Fallen Hero of the People

 

THE DOWNFALL OF New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer leaves me saddened, and I'm a long way away from the Empire State. He was supposed to be the upholder of truth, justice and the American way, just like Superman and all the other G-Men and women. And not because I think prostitution is worthy of the resources of federal investigators. I don't. Aren't there bigger crimes with bigger fish to catch?

But that is not to say that Spitzer hasn't let the little people down.

He was supposed to be above all the rest. He was the capeless crusader, a Manhattan district attorney who launched "a successful investigation that brought down the Gambino family's control over Manhattan's garment and trucking industry." In 1998, he became the state's attorney general, tackling, and here I copy verbatim from Wikipedia, "corporate white collar crime, securities fraud, internet fraud and environmental protection. He most notably pursued cases against companies involved in computer chip price fixing, investment bank stock price inflation, and the 2003 mutual fund scandal. He also sued Richard Grasso, the then-chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, who he claimed had violated his position after receiving an upwards of $140 million as a deferred compensation pay package."

He was, in essence, a real hero of the people. In the Bush era, who else was looking after the interests of ordinary citizens and not the powerbrokers? From afar, it seemed Spitzer was the one high-profile government official sending notice that the law applied no matter how much your bank account was worth. And because he seemed to really mean it, he made me want to follow the law more closely. And because he wore his mantle of righteousness, and he had a wife and three daughters, he had a duty to try to fulfill it, even if it meant foregoing dalliances with lost girls who sold themselves to the highest bidders.

"I cannot allow for my private failings to disrupt the peoples' work," Spitzer said at a news conference in New York City on Wednesday. "Over the course of my public life, I have insisted - I believe correctly - that people take responsibility for their conduct. I can and will ask no less of myself. For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor."

You have disappointed us, Governor. The little people needed you.