This column may resonate if second chances are something you believe in. If at this moment you are thankful for one, or perhaps a bit blue after blowing your second shot, nobody is unaccustomed to these feelings. Bill Clinton got his right after the lower half of Congress decided to impeach him by the means of an acquittal delivered through the Senate; Aurelius Augustinus, an admitted “great sinner” received his through history’s judgment and ended up with sainthood; even Daryl Strawberry got his back in ’95 when George Steinbrenner signed him into pinstripes.

Yet our most notable sinner of late, Eliot Spitzer, does not seem to be due for a second chance during this lifetime. A Wikipedia-approved statement lists Spitzer as a “former politician,” which I assume means he has lost his right to take positions which require public service. Involvement with a prostitution ring will do that to you these days.

See any of the irony here?

Out the window goes the hours Spitzer spent in the courts fighting organized crime. In comes our sudden amnesia on the counts of his contributions as attorney general, patrolling Wall Street and hounding Dick Grasso over a $140 million compensation package. Such efficiency on Spitzer’s resume certainly factored into the high hopes that came with his gubernatorial campaign.

Unfortunately, the hopes that this ruthless public servant, mastermind of the law, could put some discipline and accountability in Albany were dashed slightly more than a year into his term. No one could have expected a rising star to fall so fast. And, of course, the turn of events which ultimately brought Spitzer down leaves little hope for any chance of political revival.

Something is unsettling about how our ex-governor has been pushed out of the public eye, resigned to nothing more than a late-night punch line at best. It was too easy for people to forget all the work he has put into regulating Wall Street, keeping tabs on gang activity and his efforts to reform the New York State budget — to rip apart a man who had dedicated his life to improving the conditions of our state. Suddenly, so much political and legal talent is thrown away because of a personal mistake, one that in no way has shown itself detrimental to the well-being of our state. While it is difficult to predict how the rest of Spitzer’s reign would have played out, the public, with its judgmental power trip, has denied Eliot Spitzer the second chance that was given to so many others who have rebounded from crimes of equally personal standing.

Ali Rasoulinejad is a freshman, and is undecided as to his major.