Watching the Elliot Spitzer situation unfold in New York, and having been the subject of some bullying myself lately, it brought to mind the whole issue for me again. It may seem like a rather mundane question, but the truth is that it is a big important question that we as a society have had a lot of trouble dealing with.

It is rather amazing to see the reaction to Spitzer, as even libertarians who oppose prostitution laws are ripping him apart. Here is a man who has built his whole career on bullying and misusing his elected office to grandstand and unethically punish people he didn’t like. He used intimidation and threats to force company CEO's to resign without ever having filed a legal action against them.

The really bad part of all this is that his public reputation, as granted him by the press and the majority of New York voters, was as a Dudley Do Right giant killer. It is sad that people support that kind of behavior, but they do.

Then of course there is Hillary Clinton, on hearing that Obama was asking about why she hadn't released her tax returns, labeled Obama a "Ken Starr." That is bullying. Then you have her high level supporter, Geraldine Ferraro, claiming that the only reason Obama was winning is because he is black. When she was criticized, she claimed that the criticism was because she is white. And of course, any criticism of Clinton is labeled as sexism.

But it is all bullying, and often much of the citizenry support it, even relish in it. In fact, we demand more of it. Isn't one of the main reasons that many of Hillary's supporters support her is the belief that she will be "tough" on the Republicans? Knowing her brand of "toughness" which I don't think even the most partisan Hillaryite could be oblivious to at this point, isn't that supporting bullying? I think so.

Is it any wonder that we have an epidemic of kids bullying each other in schools? People are being taught by example and by leadership that the way to win is to be the biggest bully.

Aren't terrorists bullies on a worldwide scale, extreme bullying, like a new extreme sport of hatred and power tripping? And wasn't the whole problem with Saddam that he was a big bully, pushing his weight around all over the Middle East?

The Bible says you reap what you sow. Or if the Bible isn't your thing, how about the New Age-ish idea that you create your own reality. Your life is a reflection outside of what is inside of you. Or call it Karma if you like. All the same idea, more or less.

The fact is that there is way too much support for bullying in America, and that comes back to bite us from around the world.

Bullying is a form of power, winning through intimidation and destroying your opponent. It is ugly, mean, and really hard to deal with when you are on the other side of it.

If Obama comes back at Hillary in kind, then he looks like a bully himself. If he doesn't stand up to her, she wins. Bullies create no win situations.

To stop bullying, you have to stop doing it yourself. You can't end bullying by being a bully, but you do have to stand up to a bully. To stop it, we have to use the power of character, honesty, telling the truth. Standing up to bad behavior without engaging in it ourselves.

That kind of power needs alliances; people working together, because it is not coercive like bullying. To most people that sounds weak, in fact it is far stronger.

In other words, you have to decide that whatever Hillary's policy positions might be, her exercise of power is too unethical to support by voting for her. When a Saddam wreaks havoc, you have to work together with allies to say, No. When an Eliot Spitzer comes along, no matter how much you hate the corporations he is ripping the guts out of, you have to say no, this is not the way to do it.

When everyone says No to a bully, they the bully has to stop.