I’m am experiencing schadenfraude. Oh sure, we’ve all experienced it from time to time – when the bitchy runway model stumbles in front of an audience, when a moralistic preacher is caught having gay sex, when the smug neighbor totals his shiny new car – but this time it’s the deepest, most satisfying bout of it I’ve ever experienced.

As a native New Yorker I’ve been subjected to Eliot Spitzer’s self-aggrandizing career for the past decade. He made a name for himself as the NY Attorney General by blackmailing large companies over (often imagined) missteps. He’d march in, declare that he, the mighty AG, was going to charge them with various crimes and misdemeanors, claiming to be defending their customers who had been harmed by their actions. The companies would pay him off with a fine, he would get another headline, and all the money went into the maw of the state. To my knowledge no customer ever received a dime. It was a nice, safe protection racket.

He did, on occasion, go after criminals, and his career included busting up two prostitution rings.

Enough stupid New Yorkers were impressed with his”victories” to elect him governor.

His performance as governor has been abysmal, (one of his proposals was for drivers licenses for illegal aliens) but we shrugged it off. Pathetic governors are a hallmark of this state.

But now, now (ah it feels sooooo good) he’s toast. Burt toast. Dark burnt charcoal toast that’s so completely destroyed you can’t even feed it to the dog. It’s all over except for his resignation, which I expect will happen in the next day or three. Mr. Morals, Mr. Big Strong AG, Mr. Truth and Justice, has been caught paying for the services of a very high priced hooker. And what makes it even sweeter is he had her travel over state lines to meet him, which makes it a federal offense.

This is a man who had his eye on the White House. His entire career has been based not on doing a good job, but on getting grand headlines. And now he’s got the grandest headlines of them all:

Spitzer apologizes after report of link to prostitution ring

Spitzer Prostitution Scandal: NY Gov Admits Links To Sex Ring

Money Laundering, Cross-Border Prostitution at Heart of Spitzer Allegations

The Spitzer Scandal: Lust Plus Pride

Shock and Smirks on Wall Street as Longtime Foe Spitzer Squirms

Judgment (or Eliot Spitzer’s Lack Thereof)

Sweet: New York Gov. Spitzer snagged in hooker tryst probe. Should he resign? (At first I thought the headline writer was also reveling in schadenfraude, but it turns out the writers name is Lynn Sweet.)

Hypocrisy, thy name is Spitzer

HO NO! (Gotta love the New York Post)

Even though he violated the Mann Act, which makes it a felony to transport hookers across state lines, it’s unlikely he’ll receive any real legal punishment. The powerful always protect each other, and he can no doubt buy his freedom. And while that is slightly disappointing, it can’t diminish the sheer joy I’m reveling in watching his carefully calculated career crash and burn.

Like the rest of us, I’ve experienced my share of schadenfraude before, and I was usually a little embarrassed about it. But this time, ah, this time, it feels so good. It’s almost a physical sensation, a warm satisfaction that comes from seeing a weasel get what he deserves, and knowing this is just the start. If that makes me a bad person, then I’m really enjoying being a bad person.