In
the first seasons of “Boardwalk Empire”,
my Grandfather, Walter Edge, then a Senator from New Jersey, is often depicted
enjoying the attentions of Atlantic City showgirls and strumpets as payment for
favors he may or may not have bestowed on Boss Nucky Thompson. In his
autobiography, Governor Edge, not surprisingly makes no mention of Boss
Thompson or showgirls, although there is some question about receiving a smooch
and hair-tousle from Josephine Baker some years later in Paris.
There's a
possibility he was between wives as Prohibition dawned, and, as my Grandmother
was some twenty-eight years his junior, we'd like to think he wouldn't have
required the company of showgirls, strumpets or other men’s wives. In any
event, until modern media brought it to our attention, any indiscretions
Governor Edge may have indulged in under the Boardwalk had been kept under
wraps.
It was our privilege some years ago to
attend a wedding reception at the Governor's Mansion in Princeton hosted by the
young and attractive executive couple, Governor and Mrs. James McGreevey.
Shaking hands with them over a spot of small talk in the receiving line, one
could scarcely imagine the spectacular humiliation awaiting this rising star.
There's something even more torrid, salacious and compelling when the
protagonist not only switches partners but genders as well. Whereas a
high-powered pol might have survived a few affairs back in The Day – boys will
be boys, after all - this extra little frisson, the “outing” of the likes of
Larry Craig, Mark Foley and McGreevey, pretty well drives a stake through the
heart of any old whore-dog’s future. The further to the Right these
transgressors are, the closer to the Scriptures they purport to cleave, the
more fascinating their infidelities, which shouldn’t surprise us given the
behavior of their counterparts in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.
How Bill Clinton not only survived his own
blush-worthy humiliation but seems to have risen anew as an elder statesman and
possible asset and councilor to the next President may take years to sort out.
Why women in power haven’t felt the need to stray and strut their stuff – or at
least haven’t been caught at it yet – is also an open question. From Margaret
Thatcher and Golda Meir to Nancy Pelosi and Michelle Bachman, the possibilities
are endless! Maybe having a powerful and entitled woman in the White House will
put a temporary end to such philandering, at least at the executive level. It's
hard to imagine Hillary buns up kneeling in the coat closet with some young
page but, then again, it's just as hard to picture the likes of Warren Harding,
Dwight Eisenhower or Lyndon Johnson in there, either!
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