No doubt many in the insurance industry are dancing with glee over the demise of New York's wayward governor, Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in the wake of a prostitution scandal. But no matter how far he has fallen, it doesn't change the fact that as attorney general Mr. Spitzer exposed a seamy side of the business, putting carriers and brokers on notice that misleading policyholders or investors won't be tolerated. That will be his legacy.

In my blog, I called on Gov. Spitzer to step down right after his criminal behavior was revealed, but I do not celebrate his downfall. Any cheers you hear come from those in the peanut gallery who mistake his reformer's zeal for persecution.

Mr. Spitzer, like most prosecutors, was a bully as attorney general. He didn't have patience for trials, preferring to tar and feather targets and parade them before the court of public opinion, leveraging the damage that could be done in the stock markets to force public companies to jettison top dogs, fork over hefty settlements and alter operating procedures.