PUT IT ALL ON RED

SPOILER ALERT FOR THE DARK KNIGHT (NOT THE DARK KNIGHT RISES)

At the end of The Dark Knight Batman decides to take the blame for Harvey Dent’s crimes because he thinks it’s more important that the public have a hero who played by the rules than a vigilante. But why didn’t they just blame it on the Joker? It’s no less honest than blaming Batman and, as far as extralegal justice goes, it seems pretty fair. I guess it’s reasonable that Batman won’t use guns, but is he really too self-righteous to accuse a mass murder of a slightly larger mass murder?