In one of those periodic revelations that seems to occur in order to juice up the monologues of Leno and Letterman, Senator David Vitter has been revealed as a patron of prostitutes. Obviously, there's a certain entertainment value in the embarrassment of the rich and powerful, especially when they've been so sanctimonious in scolding others for lesser offenses…but there's also something sad about it. In this case, I think the sadness has to do with Vitter viewing his actions as excusable (or at least forgivable) in a way he would never allow with regard to someone else, especially a political opponent.
I was going to write a longer piece about this but I stumbled across a comment on the weblog of Matthew Yglesias. He articulates my feelings here better than I could.