Grace after disgrace

What does it say about our society when the leading candidates for New York City Mayor and Comptroller are two men who both resigned from public office for behavior they initially lied about and then only admitted under the weight of the facts?

What does it say about Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer that despite their known character defects they're running for public office again? Are they unemployable in the private sector? Doesn't New York deserve far better from elected officials paid by taxpayers?

Peggy Noonan hit the nail on the head in a recent Wall Street Journal editorial titled How to Find Grace after Disgrace.

"So what are we saying? You know. We're saying the answer to the politician's question, 'What is the optimum moment at which to come back from a big sex scandal, and how do I do it?' is this: 'You are asking the wrong question.'

"The right questions would go something like: 'What can I do to stop being greedy for power, attention and adulation? How can I come to understand that the question is not the public's capacity to forgive, but my own capacity to exercise sound judgment and regard for others? How can I stop being a manipulator of public emotions and become the kind of person who generates headlines that parents are relieved—grateful—to explain to their children?"

"And of course the answer is: You can do what John Profumo did. You can go away. You can do something good. You can help women instead of degrading them, help your culture and your city instead of degrading them."

"You can become a man."