Schadenfreudelicious

Eliot has resigned. More importantly:

Michael Garcia, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, issued a statement today that no deal has been made.

So the delightful prospect of his indictment will remain to tantalize me. I offer no judgments either way on his personal life, but I would certainly understand if his wife decided to divorce him.

Let's be clear. My delight has everything to do with the fact that Eliot Spitzer is a repulsive, authoritarian statist who used the law as a club to beat up on people who did things he didn't like. He made great political hay out of busting prostitution rings while patronizing them himself. He deserves everything he fucking gets, and then some. I say this only partially because of my great distaste for everything he stands for, and partially because of principle.

If you are in charge of enforcing the laws, you should be held to a higher standard than the general populace, not a lesser one. If you, as an officer of the law or attorney general or prosecutor, engage in behavior that would cause the great unwashed to be sent to jail, you should go for at least twice as long. In Spitzer's case, I would also argue for more time just based on terminal stupidity and/or arrogance. He knew perfectly well how the banking secrecy laws worked. He just thought he was immune because of arrogance, or he fucked up because he's a dumbass. Either way should be good for a few more months.

Anyhow, he's out of office and hopefully soon in jail. Now I get to make jokes about the blind leading New Yorkers for three years.