>As a former practicing lawyer, I have fielded my share of “shark” jokes as well as deeply felt disappointment and disgrace at the sometimes behavior of my professional colleagues.  Such are my feelings yesterday and today regarding now ex-Governor Elliot Spitzer. It isn’t the sexual misconduct. That’s between he and his wife. It isn’t even his violation of the laws against prostitution, although that is the reason he had to resign…and should have.
    What’s most distressing is the message his behavior gives others, particularly the youth, about the need to live in accordance with the law. Whether or not the sociological basis for a law is valid, until such time as society, through either legislation or judicial action, decides to change it… we as citizens are bound to obey it. Nowhere is that obligation more vital than for officers of the Court or public officials whose very careers are predicated upon the upholding and monitoring of that obligation. When such people willfully, and with disregard for the fundamental ethical underpinnings of their positions, violate the law they act as a kind of perverse role model for the least of what we are capable of.
     So much moral and ethical damage occurred during the Clinton Administration when the President of the United States not only abused the influence and power of his position but also knowingly violated the law he was sworn to uphold as he intentionally lied under oath.  There was the highest official of the land sending a message that the law was no more than an inconvenience on the way to satisfaction of personal goals and, what’s more, something to manipulated for personal gain.
     I am saddened by Mr. Spitzer’s choice to violate the law..not so much for him as for the message it sent. However, I am heartened by the public uproar that has led to his resignation. At least the end result (for the time being) is a consequence proportionate to the behavior. This is an important message not to be missed.
     As we live through challenging times where changes are so rapid we hardly have a chance to adapt when the next one arrives…I think the overriding message from all of this is that Elliot Spitzer has now experienced what many others have and many more will.  We are living through a time of heightened transparency when efforts to deceive oneself and others will not stand. There are no more “secrets” whose disclosure would undermine the highest good for all concerned that can, or will, remain concealed. It would behoove each of us in our own lives, not to mention those with a more public persona, to heed this aspect and consequence of conscious evolution.
     Secrets are more easily kept among those who prefer to remain “unconscious” to the limitations, and ramifications, of deceit. While such people still exist, they will go the way of the dinosaur as humankind moves closer and closer to co-creating a world that more authentically mirrors our highest potential. That potential is to live with shadows without living in them.
     Elliot Spitzer got caught in the shadows.
     He has provided us with an important teaching.

P.S. Remember to download my FREE e-book, “TOO MANY SECRETS.”

              

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