Ladies, if your husband was caught with a prostitute (oh, excuse me, a call girl), would you stand next to him in front of the entire country as he apologized for his wrongdoing?

Would you stay silent as Dr. Laura blames you for his cheating on national television?

I don’t think I would be able to do what Silda Spitzer, who stood at her husband’s side as he admitting to his involvement in a prostitution ring and later resigned from office.

But we’ve seen it again and again. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Dina Matos McGreevey in the “I’m-gay-and-sleeping-with-a-male-aide” debacle. Even Suzanne Craig stood by her husband, the Idaho Senator who was accused of soliciting sex in an airport bathroom. Just once I would like to see a male politician caught in a sex scandal standing alone on that podium during the fateful press conference. No wife, no three sad but strong children; just him and his actions.

Or, better yet, I would like to see a female politician caught, oh, I don’t know, having an affair with the pool boy (clich’eacute;, I know), and having her husband stand next to her as she apologizes to the county. But, no, female politicians don’t do that (or maybe they just don’t get caught). They don’t put their lovers on the payroll, use taxpayers’ money to get a prostitute or receive oral sex in the Oval Office. Though that last one might not be fair, because women haven’t had the opportunity to receive oral sex in the Oval Office. Maybe that will change sometime soon.

The icing on the cake of this whole situation, of course, is Eliot Spitzer’s hypocrisy. As attorney general of New York, he was known as a fighter of corruption and often led criminal prosecutions against prostitution rings.

So Spitzer resigns, effective today, but was it really necessary? Bill Clinton didn’t step down. Larry Craig remained in office after being arrested. Louisiana senator David Vitter stayed put after being linked to a D.C.-area escort service. Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is vowing not to resign, as he is currently being accused of lying in court about a sexual relationship with his former chief of staff and using taxpayers’ money to settle lawsuits that might have revealed the relationship.

Eliot Spitzer would have been in good company (well, probably not “good” company, but you know what I mean) should he have chosen to stay. Some speculate that he resigned in return for leniency, as he could face charges of violating interstate anti-prostitution laws and splitting bank transfers.

While I am grateful I did not have to make the decision to stand next to my husband while he publicly apologized for X, Y and Z, I still do not understand these women. Many say Silda Spitzer, who gave up a very promising law career for her husband’s political aspirations, was in “crisis mode” or “had to do the right thing for her children.” And what is the right thing? To show her three teenage daughters it’s okay for your husband to cheat on you?

Matos McGreevey, who is apparently an expert on all things relating to wronged political wives, is in support of Ms. Spitzer.

“I’m reliving that moment and what it was like standing there next to Jim. I wanted to embrace her and say, ‘Be strong, you’ll survive this,'” McGreevey told the Associated Press.

She gave her reasoning to CNN: “We all do it for personal reasons,” said McGreevey, who is now going through a contentious divorce with the former New Jersey governor. “I did it because he was my husband. I had always supported him. I loved him. I had a daughter. … I wanted her to know I was there for her father.”

So where does this leave us? Hillary loses a superdelegate. New York has a new governor, the first African-American governor of the state. And one more woman is a victim of her husband’s ego. Only in America.

– Chelsea Reil can be reached at [email protected].