Goodness knows there’s a lot I could say, even joke about, regarding the call-girl scandal that resulted in today’s resignation of New York’s Governor Eliot Spitzer. Instead, I’ll keep my remarks brief and to the point.
Frankly, Governor Spitzer should’ve resigned moments after the news broke. Instead, he waits ‘til today.
My sincere hope is that he spent a good part of this week in contact with Lieutenant Governor David Paterson over matters of succession — for Paterson will become New York’s next governor Monday when Spitzer’s resignation is effective. I’ll give Spitzer the benefit of the doubt and assume he did.
At least now Governor Spitzer can stop some (but certainly not all) bleeding, settle some critics down, begin to face any consequences and, overall, enter his post-gubernatorial life.
Governor Spitzer is certainly not the first leader – either in politics, business or otherwise – to resign in such disgrace. Sadly, he won’t be the last.
Here’s a gentle suggestion to the rest of you in a leadership role. If you find yourself in a sex scandal similar to that of the departing New York governor, please do humanity a few favors. In no particular order, admit wrong, cooperate fully when necessary and resign. And, so that you may spare your associates extra headaches, do it all as fast as you can.