Last week's political theater in Raleigh unfolded when the State Board of Elections questioned a host of folks about their roles in the Mike Easley campaigns for governor in 2000 and 2004.

Easley's case has now been referred to the District Attorney in Rowan County for possible criminal charges.

But a great many thoughts passed through my head as I watched the testimony last week.

The first thing I noticed was how the people on the witness stand dealt with their questioners. Most of them looked directly at the Board of Elections members as they listened to the questions coming from their interrogators.

That kind of body language expresses a certain degree of confidence, or at least a sense of straight-forwardness on the part of the witnesses.

Gary Allen was the notable exception. He looked down at nearly every opportunity, glancing up at the board members only briefly before returning his eyes to the table in front of him.

It stands to reason that, even for the most polished of politicians like Easley, there must have been a certain degree of nervousness. After all, it's not often that people who run in those circles are forced to answer questions they don't want to answer - especially in front of a bank of television cameras, photographers and reporters.

The other question that popped into my mind, especially as I listened to Allen, was this:

Exactly how rich do have to be not to remember all the circumstances around your decision to write a $50,000 check?

I've only written one check that big in my life and it was to buy a house. You can bet I wasn't giving that kind of money away.

And I was nervous as a cat when I wrote the thing. My fingers could hardly manage to write that many zeroes.

And yet, Allen, according to his testimony, couldn't remember the circumstances around the two $50,000 checks he wrote.

Something sound a little strange there?

Methinks so too.

There's no telling what will come of the remainder of the Easley saga, but it does remind us that powerful people are all too likely to get the impression that they can do what they want, regardless of the rules the rest of us must follow.

That's too bad. Easley, who grew too detached from the public he served, could have served the state honorably for another decade or so if he'd made the right moves. Instead, he distanced himself from the folks who put him in office and drew attention to his actions by his secretive nature.

Now, regardless of what happens in the next few chapters of this story, a once-promising state leader is left to wonder how he let the trappings of power co-opt his good sense and derail his future.