Politics, Power, and Sex...

Why do political and religious leaders fall prey to the "desires of the flesh? Especially when they spend their their lives trying to convince the rest of us that such things are evil and need to be eradicated from society?

Latest case in point: The Governor of New York. Here we have a man who has been called the modern day version of the famous gang buster Eliot Ness. One who fought vice and graft with a passion. A family man with three daughters that has even been perceived by some to be a future Presidential hopeful. He has now resigned because of his transgressions.

This was a man that tried his best to stamp out corruption and vice, yet fell victim to the world that he so desperately tried to destroy. Part of his downfall was his relationship with a 22 year old prostitute/aspiring musician known as "Kristen". A woman who has become immensely popular of late with a "My Space" page that reeks with the mindset of a high school girl.

Before that, we had the President and his tryst with an Intern and his alleged history of using the state police to cover up previous encounters with "women of ill repute".

Oh yes, and let's not forget the Reverend Jimmy Swaggart, the renowned televangelist crying on television for forgiveness for having a prostitute call him bad names in a hotel room as she pleasured herself in front of him.

So... could it be that these great men were actually weak and troubled men? In an effort to force their demons out of their minds and lives they lived and acted in a manner very opposite of their desires. Then...finally succumbed to their personal demons? Perhaps their minds and souls could no longer lie to themselves.

Maybe the politician was sitting in a delicatessen and a waitress dropped an order of melted cheese fries on the floor. He looked over and saw her bending over to pick up the mess, he saw a woman's posterior and melted cheese. He snapped after many years of denial and thought; "Yeah baby... Hookers and cheese!, I need a hooker to spread melted cheese on me!"

Or the preacher perhaps had sexual fantasies of his mother as an adolecent (as Freud would suggest) really wanted a woman to chastise him and mix sex with his punishment?

You know, why couldn't these men just dress the wife up in red latex and have a good time? (ok, too much information there).

Some people believe the answer is actually quite simple...men often think with the smaller of their two heads, the one without the brain.

The Cutting Point: These men knew right from wrong. They chose to do wrong and should be held to the same standards they pushed upon the public and thus be punished accordingly.

This post can also be read at our parent site: The Cutting Point

Bush's final $3 trillion budget may lead to "fiscal mentdown"...

Bush's final $3 trillion budget may lead to "fiscal mentdown"...

According financial experts and democrats alike, the Presidents soon to be announced final budget proposal is based on flawed math and could lead to a fiscal meltdown.

Apparently the President's plan does not include the cost of both wars and still will leave the country in a deficit of $400 billion for 2008 and nearly 300 billion for 2009. He also wants more money for the war, Homeland security, Border security.

But do we really need to spend more money on a war that has gone bad that nearly 70 percent of Americans now disapproves of? A war that is sapping the economy to the tune of $3 billion a month? Do we need to spend more money on Homeland security when persons can enter the country without their passports being checked? (as was the case when one of my students came back from Egypt with her 3 brothers and simply said "They're with me" and their passports were not checked).

He is also asking for 3 times the amount of cuts in Medicare and Medicaid than he asked for last year, even though our aging population is growing due to medical advancement.

In regards to children's heath care; he wants to basically split the difference between what he proposed last year and what is actually needed to cover the majority of needy children.
Oddly enough, one of his favored programs is in the area of education. He wants to make it easier for poorer children to get monies for college. This is fine, yet he calls for more cuts in extra curricular activities and mental health services for children.In regards to mental health services he seems to be unaware of the increase in child crime and school murders committed by children.

The cutting point: The Bush administration is making a last ditch effort to give the impression of setting things straight (without admitting he was ever wrong). Yet, the Presidents thinking is flawed as always and slanted towards the financial interests of the wealthy.

Remember "Back in the day" upon his first election... Bush was going to have this country in a surplus of billions of dollars? ... and it all started with that "rebate" check? and now we are heading into a recession. Guess what? another rebate check is on it's way.

(We wonder... when George and Laura settle back at the oil ranch, will Laura be the one keeping the check book?)