Gotta Hand It To the Hookers

This news report says that Governor Spitzer frequented prostitutes for six years. Remarkable. Assuming that's so, one certainly has to give the hookers credit for their discretion -- their stories could have netted them a pretty penny from a tabloid, and it's somewhat surprising that none of them concluded that money was worth being prosecuted for a Class B misdemeanor.

Whether or not the Governor resigns -- and he may actually be trying to brazen it out -- the first ominous sign for his political future is the fact that his situation has become an object of ridicule for many.

It's never a good sign when the NY Post is running a headline contest about one's situation (note to readers: some of them are raunchy); in fact, a couple of the suggestions at Politico are downright hilarious (note: some of these are raunchy, too). My personal favorites include:

"It's 3AM and Your Super Delegate Wasn't Sleeping!"

"NYT Headline: Has Wiretapping Gone Too Far?
Sub[head]: Bush's FBI targets Popular Democrat over Sex; Here we go again!"

The second ominous sign for Spitzer's future is the whole "hypocrisy" angle. As I've pointed out before, hypocrisy is the one charge that sexual moral relativists aren't afraid to bring, as it allows them "the luxury of condemnation without the responsibility of reaching a judgment about the morality of the underlying behavior."

Bill Clinton never claimed to be Mr. Family Values. But Eliot Spitzer prosecuted prostitution rings, even as he apparently participated in one. That may be harder for those who want to separate sexual behavior from any concept of morality to overlook. That -- and the fact that many people actually liked Bill Clinton, while far fewer seem to cherish positive feelings for Mr. Spitzer.