To Cast the First Stone

I try not to comment too often on news stories, but sometimes the issue is so compelling I can’t resist. The precipitous demise of NY Governor Eliot Spitzer is a case in point. While I find his actions lamentable, I still feel for the man. To be in a position of such power, to be an admired husband and father, to be widely respected for one’s moral strength--and then to risk and lose so much for so little, is remarkably tragic—and remarkably human. If a man of such accomplishment and presumed strength of character can so quickly bring himself to naught, what should we lesser mortals expect of ourselves? It’s easy to condemn the guy, to find his behavior contemptible, to laugh at the irony of his crime in the face of his notorious self-righteousness, but I ask this: Is there a person out there (of the three or four who read this blog) who has never done a bad thing? Don’t we all have a skeleton or two in our closet that if discovered would cause us no small amount of embarrassment, humiliation and shame? C’mon, fess up. I know, Spitzer’s a leader, a parent, a former lawman, a role model to young people, etc., and as such his sins loom preternaturally large. But he’s human, like you and me. Does he have any more responsibility to do the right thing than we have? Let’s face it—he’s going to pay in more ways than we can name, and he’ll be paying for the rest of his life. If he’s done what he’s accused of, he’s got a burden to bear that would cripple the best of us. So put yourself in his shoes and walk a mile or two. You may find you can forgive him a little, and maybe you can forgive yourself, too.