Spitzer Resigns Over Prostitution Scandal

Underlying it all has been a tone of barely concealed glee at the spectacle of a former state attorney general known as an unforgiving and sanctimonious “crusader” and once hailed as the new “Eliot Ness” being caught in a sex scandal.

Nowhere was this more pronounced than on Wall Street, where Spitzer had made his national reputation—and not a small number of powerful enemies—by pursuing some of the wealthiest men in America. When news of the scandal broke on cable TV, traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange erupted in cheers.

The World Socialist Web Site has no political sympathy for Spitzer, but we are not inclined to join in the celebration of his public humiliation, especially when it is apparent that Spitzer’s downfall is the outcome of a politically motivated dragnet directed by the Bush administration.

There is no question but that Governor Spitzer engaged in personally reckless behavior. But as a political matter, that is far less important than the issues raised by the role played by the Bush administration in organizing the political destruction of a man who happens to be the elected chief executive of the state of New York.