SPELLBOUND....#26

He captivated the State if not the country. Eliot Spitzer held the electorate of NYS..... SPELLBOUND. Too many saw him as a savior, a political savior to be sure, but a savior never the less. He was the knight in shinning armor who would lift NY from the stagnant depths of depravity and into the status once held by the EMPIRE State. As a man of multi-millions he would be immune to bribery from the prostitute lobbyists populating the capital. He had charisma and chutzpah. His take no prisoners, holier than thou approach to reform of both wall Street and Brothel lane Showed him to be the high stepper we needed.

Although I voted for his opponent, John Fasso, I secretly wanted, no, I knew in my heart of hearts that Eliot Spitzer was going to be elected. No one, well 70% of the voters, listened when Fasso pegged Spitzer as a low life sleaze. They shucked it off as political rhetoric of a namby-pamby hotshot wanna be. “Eliot Spitzer, he’s our man, if he can’t do it no one can!” Ta-rah-rah-rah-boom-de-aye!

As the drama of March 10^th, 2008 unfolded and the pundits, the amateur psychologists weighed in with their analyses, I was compelled to do some research into the sexual peccadilloes of American Politicians. Lordy, God A’ mighty, the list of mayors, governors, legislators, and presidents who have had their careers marred or destroyed by their sexual indiscretions was/is phenomenal. From Thomas Jefferson, to Eliot Spitzer, the list would fill an average size roll of toilet paper.

Reading along, my memory stroked and stimulated into recalling many of these events, I asked myself if I could detect any commonality in these people. This is what I came up with: First, they were all men. Not one woman was listed in the whole sordid bunch (on the perpetrator’s side). Next, because they were all elected, most of them to more than one term, they more than likely possessed some sort of hypnotic attraction, the ability to mesmerize their public, to hold the populace SPELLBOUND.

Ponder these names for but a moment, and if my essay has not held you captive then certainly do a Google search and discover for yourself the sexual scandals in their lives and careers: Thomas Jefferson, Dwight Eisenhower, FDR, Gary Hart, Marion Barry, JFK, MLK, and of course, Bill Clinton.

These pedestalized men all had/have the appeal necessary to bamboozle and captivate the public. These qualities aren’t something that are kept in some election time file for “character traits to exhibit to get elected.” No, these are the same qualities that allowed them to attract and keep beautiful, intelligent women by their sides and call them wife.

It is these same attributes that promote hero worship and demagoguery. They are seen as modern day Sir Lancelot. Yes, it’s these characteristics which allow him to dally and dance in forbidden women’s underpants.

Usually some good comes from catastrophe. I believe that Gov. David Patterson can do what Eliot Spitzer could not; bring the NYS legislature together.

On another, but related note, this debacle has given me a focus on our nation’s presidential race. Let it be known before hand that I intend to vote for Sen. John McCain ® Ariz.. We are brothers of the Vietnam War. He took my share of torture and suffering and the share of many others in that V.C. prison camp. He refused to feed their propaganda machine by rejecting early release or any leniency. I feel that I owe him.

Barack Obama has given the youth of this great nation a reason to get involved in our country’s politics. That’s a wonderful thing. He has given the black populace (he is black isn’t he? Geraldine Ferraro said as much) a hope not enjoyed since MLK. He is a handsome, soft spoken, bright, very intelligent man with a beautiful, intelligent woman at his side called his wife.

He has charisma!

He has the populace SPELLBOUND!!!!!!