Eliot Spitzer was my kind of politician (past tense intentional). He went after corporate criminals, the criminal class everyone else ignores, he vowed to clean up corrupt government. I would have voted for him for president.

That was then. Now his career is over, as it should be. It’s pointless to condemn Larry Craig and David Vitter and Mark Foley unless we’re willing to condemn Eliot Spitzer, so we should.

To excuse the bad behavior of politicians with whom one agrees while condemning that of those with whom we argue is the worst kind of identity politics.

I hope all the above-mentioned offenders can put their lives back together and find a way to contribute to society, but they’re out of politics for life.

The fact that Mr. Spitzer is now revealed as a hypocrite for portraying himself as a straight arrow amke for a good news story, but the transgression is the same, whether you’re Eliot Spitzer claiming to be Mr. Clean or Charlie Wilson, soaking in hot tubs with show girls.

If we’re going to make progress in our politically divided nation, we need to take off our blue- and red-hued glasses and hold all our leaders accountable for their actions.