Who Said There Are No Second Acts?

So I flipped open my Google Aggregator this morning and here's Eliot Spitzer getting all pitchforks and tar buckets about executive pay; indeed he seems to be everywhere these days: see, e.g., link, link. You remember Eliot, right? Who resigned the governorship of New York, just 13 months shy of two days ago, with his fingerprints all over a high-priced hooker?

And then click over to Greg Mankiw, who showcases a speech by (and indeed, an award to) Robert Merton (link). You remember Robert, who helped to engineer the most spectacular financial market disaster prior to the current uproar?

In Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, Antony's beloved sidekick, Enobarbus, betrays his master. When he comes to understand the enormity of his deed, does he go on Larry King? No; Enobarbus says:

I am alone the villain of the earth,
And feel I am so most.
... I will go seek
Some ditch wherein to die; the foul'st best fits
My latter part of life.

Next up: Hannibal Lector on the Cooking Channel, to show us what goes with a nice Chianti.

PS: Pretty good lecture, actually.

Update: It has been urged upon me that Spitzer was framed by those who wanted to prevent him from pursuing fraud and abuse in the financial industry. That is: I don't think anybody denies that Spitzer did what he did; the assertion is that he fell into some kind of honey trap. If so, the more shame on him. If he threw away an opportunity for a huge public good in exchange for a bit of nookie, he's got nothing to brag about.