A Splinter in the Eye

For the past few weeks I have silently observed the increasing drama that has engulfed Virginia’s Governor. While the guys in bunks all around me feasted on the almost daily disclosures of more alleged improprieties. I held my tongue. There were reasons for my lack of comment on the Governor’s potential legal problems. For one thing, there is too often in this country a rush to judgment. This rush is fed by a media which places ratings over careful, ethical journalism. Getting the story first is more important than getting the story right.

          

And the media almost always seeks to sensationalize the story. Everything is “Breaking News.” Every story is told in catchy, rhythmic, two-minute blurbs. Getting the story out is more important than considering the effect the release will have on the people involved. The media tells us how we should view those involved. They almost always label someone a hero. We’ve reduced heroism today to anyone in the vicinity of almost anything.

          

It’s worse if you are an accused. While the Constitution may guarantee a presumption of innocent until proven guilty, no such presumption exists with the press. An accused’s life becomes fodder for the person’s background. Facts aren’t important. Rumor, anonymous sourcing, and speculation routinely take hold.

          

The power of the state to direct a prosecution and bring vast resources to convict an accused is a power that the framers of the Constitution feared. That is why limitations, in the Bill of Rights under the 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, and 8^th amendments, became pivotal to the nation’s founding. All of that means that I take what I see on the news about the Governor with a grain of salt.

          

The second reason is along the same lines. We have become a nation built on schadenfreude; you know, we revel in other’s – especially successful people’s – misfortunes. Nowhere is that more evident than in our politics. During George Bush’s two terms, the Democratic Party regularly labeled him akin to a Nazi. He was called stupid, slow, ignorant (and terms I won’t even use in this blog). Not to be outdone, after Barrack Obama’s election Republicans launched their own smear campaign.

          

We love when the rich, the powerful, the famous fail. We are better than they are, we smugly tell ourselves. I have grown to hate that attitude. One thing prison has taught me is that the writer of Proverbs knew a good deal about human nature. Pride does go before the fall. And, all of us are capable of moments of unjustifiable pride.

          

The third reason is more personal. How can I gain any joy out of watching this man’s difficulties? His current legal problems won’t change my status as a convicted felon serving a prison sentence. And the news of his son’s arrest for disorderly conduct in Charlottesville? As a father, I understand the pain and worry he must feel. I would never want anyone’s son – or daughter – to go through the humiliation of booking and arrest, or face time behind bars.

          

So, I’ve held my thoughts about the Governor’s troubles to myself, until now. Here goes.

         

Bob McDonnell is a smart man. He wouldn’t have gotten where he did if that wasn’t so. But, smart men can (and do) do very stupid things. If Governor McDonnell accepted even a dollar from a political supporter and that was used for a watch, his wife’s dresses, or maintaining rental properties at Wintergreen or Virginia Beach, then that was stupid. Gov, you know better. Don’t obfuscate and play semantics. The Governor needs to say what he did and acknowledge it gives – at the very least – the appearance of unethical conduct.

          

Second, this should be a wakeup call to him that something is terribly wrong with the criminal justice system. He is facing numerous felony charges. This could – and should – be an epiphany for him. What useful purpose is served in seeing him indicted and imprisoned? None. The Governor can use his personal difficulties to spur him to transform Virginia’s current punitive sentencing and incarceration terms for non-violent felons. “Walk a mile in that man’s shoes.” I have.

          

Here’s what I mean. President George Bush, on a recent tour of Africa was asked to comment on two polarizing issues: gay marriage and immigration. He told the interviewer he was “not going to comment on political issues. I’m retired.” But then he added, “You know, I don’t know what it’s like for those folks (meaning gay American and immigrants). Who am I to judge them with the log protruding from my eye.” I really love that. He was referring to the Gospel statement by Jesus about pointing out the splinter in your neighbor’s eye while a log protrudes from your own.

          

That same attitude should apply when we see a bright, successful politician like Governor McDonnell face legal scrutiny over impulsive, dumb decisions he made. “As you judge, so shall you be judged.” That’s another one of those Biblical truths that keeps coming more clearly into focus for me from the inside.

          

So, I tell the guys around me not to be so quick to gloat over Governor Bob’s difficulties. “Empathize,” I tell them. “You know what it’s like.” We all do. Everyone (yes readers, “everyone”) will make a mistake now and again. And when those mistakes, those impulsive, or violent, or reckless decisions are made, there is no lonelier feeling than wading through the mire that is the consequences.

          

I’m not suggesting people get a free pass. There are consequences that arise for our behavior. But, punishment must be tempered and must fit the crime. And, it must not be meted out with revenge or glee.