.....don't say anything at all. My mom says that all the time. I try to follow it. So today, I'm going to follow it as best I can. The man who defeated my father in his last run for First Selectman (mayor) of our town passed away this week. Had my father been a lesser man, a man without a high level of integrity, a man who didn't insist on running on his outstanding record, but instead told some sad, but unfortunate truths about his opponent, then my father would have won re-election easily. Instead, he lost by a slim margin. My father was gracious in defeat. Sadly, winners are not always gracious. Their wives even less so. If my father had won re-election, then perhaps when he died suddenly two weeks later, perhaps his opponent and his wife would not have put on a distasteful display on at my father's funeral. The town would not have suffered through two years of embarassing leadership and smudging of ethical lines. My mother would have been spared the pain caused by two people trying to justify their actions and glorify their position.
So, back to my mother's credo. I don't need to really say anything bad about him. He said it himself some years ago when accused of an ethical violation and someone suggested that he was either stupid or dishonest. His own words were "I would rather be called dishonest than stupid." Allrighty then.
No comments:
Post a Comment