Behaving Badly: Old Smokey

David Letterman used his late-night comedy show to apologize for his indiscretions, thereby heaping additional humiliation on those he betrayed.

The public apology has become an American ritual, and an empty one at that.

Letterman has added his name to a list that includes such lofty personages as Sen. John Ensign, Gov. Mark Sanford, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Sen. David Vitter, and, pre-eminent in the pantheon, John Edwards, a former senator, former vice presidential nominee, and would-be tribune of the proletariat.

The other day we listened to a recording of "On Top of Old Smokey" by the Weavers: "Not one boy in a hundred/A poor girl can trust./They'll hug you and kiss you,/And tell you more lies . . . ."

Men behave badly indeed.

The fair sex also plays most foul. According to a variation of "Old Smokey," "Not one girl in a hundred/A poor boy can trust."

Forgiveness, it seems, is a full-time occupation.