• ETHICS, WHERE ART THOU?

The Eliot Spitzer announcement and apology, while not necessarily surprising, appears to have confounded most of us, "I have acted in a way that violates my … sense of right and wrong." What wonderful timing. The sense of bewilderment comes as the overburdened tax payers, while looking for a break, also look to political, or corporate leaders, for guidance on doing the right thing. What do they find? A vacuous depression.

Having stimulated belief in visions of an end to corruption, Spitzer enjoyed a historic victory, riding a wave of hope into the Governor’s office. Now we have America shouting, “say it ain’t so, Joe,” all over again.

Why is it so difficult to find the practice of generally accepted ethical standards by those inoculated with influence and power? Does morally just behavior evaporate upon being conveyed some level of recognition, or is it simply lacking in a high percentage of human beings driven to succeed at any cost?

This is not a debate on the ethics or morals of prostitution. It is a question on the ethics impelling and encompassing hypocritical behavior contradictory to emphatic utterances professed loudly for the single purpose of winning high office.

It’s down to the ego. Mr. Spitzer’s ego blinded him, in my opinion. It blinded him from being able to see possibilities that his behavior could arouse either detection or suspicion. It blinded him to the fact that those who would seek revenge, might be able to reach him. It blinded him to the devastating impact it would have on his family. Even in his announcement, his ego blinded him to the very evident and visible evidence that his wife, Silda, should not be at the podium with him. She looked even more overwhelmed than we felt observing the scene. She was very likely not there because “she supported her husband.” Spitzer is not an ignorant man, yet he was and still appears to be blind to the consequences. At his core his insecurity has wiped clean all remnants of ethics . Once caught, of course, there is no end of apologies and contrite rationalizations. The ethics , nevertheless, are missing.

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