Elliot Spitzer and the Elucidation of Shakespeare

David Brooks' Thursday column in the NYTimes makes the provocative case, based on his own observation of successful politicos and tycoons, that many hard-driving alpha males ("they treat their conversational partners the way the Nazis treated Poland") hit middle age and realize "that their grandeur is not enough and that they are lonely." Such men, Brooks argues credibly enough, have an almost limitless capacity for self-pity, even as they've spent their careers pushing away family and friends for the company of useful toadies.

Sooooo --

They seek to heal the hurt. Maybe they frequent prostitutes because transactional relationships are something they understand. But in other cases, they just act like complete idiots.

I don't know if you've seen a successful politician or business tycoon get drunk and make a pass at a woman. It's like watching a St. Bernard try to French kiss. It's all overbearing, slobbering, desperate wanting. There's no self-control, no dignity.

In short, Angelo. In the past week, many (mostly female) columnists and talk-show hosts have argued angrily whether Spitzer's sexual deceit and self-destruction are typical of married men. In fact, no -- the percentage of American men hiring prostitutes has actually declined steeply since the '50s, according to a 1994 survey by Edward O. Laumann. But then Bill Clinton and Senators Vitter and Craig get thrown in, muddying the argument but upping the anger. (For what it's worth, Clinton was a seducer, Craig seems to be a closet case. Vitter is the figure most similar to Spitzer/Angelo, yet Vitter, although a "family values" conservative, hardly had Spitzer's fearful reputation as a vengeful enforcer of the law).

Given this apparent wave of sexual indiscretions, Mr. Brooks, typical of head-shaking pundits, sees these top dog types as a broad, sad, American social problem: "Every society produces its own distinct brand of social misfits, I suppose, but our social structure seems to produce significant numbers" of the successful and emotionally stunted.

But it's not so localized once we see Angelo in this light. I suppose it's typical of book/daddy that he would see in the Spitzer demolition a literary insight and confirmation of Shakespeare's close observation of character and situation. It would seem plain that it's the right mix of inflexible public morality, power, personal failings and longings, plus the right opportunity (even the sordidness or illegality of the sex has its appeal, stolen candy being sweeter) -- all of this is what leads to an Angelo. Or a Spitzer.

A book/daddy thanks to Patrick Kelly for the original (borrowed, not stolen!) insight.