Throw him out. Laws are laws. He broke them and being governor of New York does not make him King of New York.

Doesn't it seem a bit disengenuous for a REPUBLICAN to be so willing and ready to Impeach a Governor after being caught in a SEX story but that same Republican would deny Impeachment hearings - after the lies (war, judges, Enron, etc) and destruction of our country's rule of law in the White House and elsewhere, that the President of Vice President should even be LOOKED INTO.

So New York turns out to be more sanctimonious than Idaho.

There are laws and then there are laws. A victimless morals offense involving consenting adults which is punishable under state law as a misdemeanor is not quite on par with, say, bribery. And while the legal jeapordy goes up when you throw in a federal Mann Act violation, the moral gravity does not.

I couldn't care less whether David Vitter, Larry Craig, Ted Haggard, or Eliot Spitzer fucked a hooker -- straight or gay. The hypocrisy factor is the only point that matters to me. That's why Spitzer's actions -- since he rode into office on a law-and-order horse -- bother me.

Incidentally, the federal sentencing guidelines may very well not call for any jail time at all for a Mann Act offense of this sort. The real punishment will likely turn out to be public shaming and obliteration of his career.

Kind of sucks for Mr. Law and Order, but I guess it could be worse. At least it wasn't a male prostitute and Spitzer is no gay-bashing, morality-legislating, sanctimonious social conservative. I tend to think prostitution should be legal anyway.

The hypocrisy of Republicans never ceases to amaze me. Sen. David Vitter is still in office, having absolutely no problems at all, from what I can tell. Certainly, there's been no big push by his fellow Republicans for his resignation.

And Vitter was one of those nauseating 'family values' supporters - still is, I suppose. He'd demanded that President Clinton resign for infidelity, in fact. But for himself, patronizing prostitutes - female prostitutes, at least - is just no big deal. And neither his constituents, nor his fellow Republicans, nor the party leadership have any problems at all with his continuing in the U.S. Senate.

Hypocrisy, thy name is Republican!

It's not fair to put the voters of NY through this. He needs to resign. He is responsible for his behavior. He knew prostitution was not legal. He knew the cash would be laundered. And he staked his reputation on being a straight shooter. (no pun intended) Even though it seems murky how the feds have brought down another Dem governor, still, he needs to fight this battle without the voters and the state of NY being subjected to a long and messy situation. I say this as a former NYer, who retains great affection for the state.

You have to wonder how NY is going to run with Democrat Patterson as Governor, and that Nut Job republican president of the state senate as the Lt Governor, because THAT is what happens if Spitzer leaves. I can imagine terrible gridlock.

Actually, DemDave, Patterson used to be the minority leader in the Senate, so at least he and Bruno are used to each other. I can hardly imagine relations being any worse than Spiter/Bruno.

The real problem is, the Dems were one seat away from taking control of the Senate, but that was only assuming Patterson was in the presiding chair to break a tie. If Patterson ascends to the Gov chair, Dems will need 2 more seats to get an outright majority and oust ol' Bruno.

Of course, Spitzer's bonehead (pun intended) move will not make picking up those 2 seats any easier.

Let's have just a TINY bit of coherence and consistency. And just a LITTLE bit of attention to the things that actually matter to the governance of the country.

I don't really want to be dragged into the sex lives of public figures (or really, anyone else having consensual sex with another adult). I don't care whether the sex is straight, gay, 'adulterous,' etc. It's just not other people's business.

I think the witch hunt of Gary Hart (dating myself here) was stupid, and that the whole business with Bill Clinton was beyond stupid. I also think that Vitter and Craig are jerks, and evidently Spitzer has some major disconnects. But so what? What do their sexual 'indiscretions' have to do with anything?

And why is it that these things are more important to the electorate than political corruption, overt lying, influence peddling, and failure to uphold the Constitution?

Finally, there is the blatant double standard: Why do the Republicans get away with being SHOCKED, I say SHOCKED about Spitzer--and calling for his impeachment if he does not resign--while shrugging off the conduct of Vitter and Craig?

First, Spitzer is out by resignation or by impeachment. I read elsewhere that his resignation is anticipated this afternoon. Next, though, is the question of who else is involved? First, obviously his state police escorts were likely involved and need appropriate professional sanction and maybe even complicit charges if Spitzer is charged. Also, the affidavit reports "more than 5000 telephone calls" and "more than 6,000 emails". I am sure that includes more elected officials than just Spitzer.

See redacted affidavit at Affidavit courtesy of MSNBC.