The New York Times gets something right:

Aside from a brief reference to "my poor judgment," the governor's resignation speech was peculiarly self-serving. An outsider who had no idea the state had been struggling through a seemingly endless series of scandals might have assumed Mr. Rowland was giving up his job to accept an ambassadorship. In truth, the questionable dealings under Mr. Rowland's leadership ranged from who paid for the vacation house hot tub to a $220 million deal with Enron that left the state taxpayers holding the bag.



The inquiries into Mr. Rowland's affairs uncovered a raft of associates who were happy to give the governor gifts, forgive debts or let him in on favorable deals. These same people wound up with state loans or contracts. The best conceivable defense for the governor was that he regarded this as normal.