Remember that scene from the Wizard of Oz when the Wizard is exposed to be a fraud by Dorothy’s little dog Toto?

That’s sort of what happened to Eliot Spitzer, the once-thought-to-be Superman of consumer and shareholder rights. This Gov. of New York made a career as an Attorney General out of going after the bad guys, fighting injustice where ever it was and upholding the rights of all the little guys out there.

Well, it turns out this guy with the big white hat actually had some dirty secrets under his sombrero. While he was fighting crime, and even exposing prostitution rings, he may have been all the while pinning to be a customer.

From MSNBC:

NEW YORK - Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s political career teetered on the brink of collapse Monday after the corruption-fighting politician once known as “Mr. Clean” was accused of paying for sex with a high-priced call girl.

The scandal drew immediate calls for the Democrat to step down. At a news conference before about 100 reporters, a glassy-eyed Spitzer, his wife at his side, apologized to his family and the people of New York.

But he gave no details of what he was sorry for, did not discuss his political future and ignored shouted questions about whether he would resign.

How do you craft a career that really isn’t what it appears to be?

This isn’t uncommon. I have spoken with many working folks who spend their lives doing jobs they hate or jobs that have nothing to do with the people they really are inside.

Usually, it’s someone who is working at a job in Corporate America but they dream about heading a non profit, or doing something that helps society.

Typically you don’t get this type of twist — a worker who spends his life holding himself up as above the under belly of society but he turns out to be trapped in the under belly himself.

We hear about crooked CEOs or greedy hedge fund operators, but when they go bad it doesn’t seem like they have very far to fall. They weren’t in it to help the world anyway. It typically is all about profit, so when they turn out to be cooking the books few are surprised.

Spitzer, however, played the I’m-holier-than-though game. His fall from grace is a bit more shocking.

This whole episode makes me wonder how our work lives jive with our personal lives. Can we still do great things on the job but be slimy off the clock?

So what, if the end result was that Spitzer accomplished something in his working life. Right?

Or does his personal behavior cast doubt on his “Mr. Clean” persona?

Is it time for the Wizard to leave the kingdom?