To err

In the wake of the self-destruction of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, The New York Times web site has a piece today that wonders aloud why politicians at all levels "engage in clandestine sexual entanglements...[and] all too often, their stealthy frolics then poison their political careers." The writer implies that those with political power entrap themselves in these ethical snares more than the rest of us.

However, I think the article misses the point. People of all incomes and religions, of all occupations and political persuasions, and of both genders, make terrible decisions all the time, and pretty frequently those miscues come back to bite them in the ass. We're human, and we're flawed. That's not to excuse away Spitzer's transgressions or those of anyone else; yet, he is no different than the rest of us. The misunderstanding is thinking that he, or anyone else, is above such things. Anyone familiar with human history for the past few years or the past few millennia knows that no one is.