"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Thursday 14 June 2012

"Listen to me carefully. I will say this only  w-a-n-c-e
It's a line of dialogue, in an exaggerated French accent, from a Brit-com on PBS. 
It features Rene's Cafe in  Nazi-occupied  France during the war. 
Renee is a bemused Frenchmen caught up in all manner of
predicaments involving a dreadful spouse,. lascivious waitresses,a mother-in-law, female French underground characters, downed behind enemy lines, mustachioed British airmen,  numerous Nazi and German military (not the same thing ) a precious painting  of a "Madonna with the Big Boobies" and  various other  unforgettable characters. 
Nobody makes greater fun of  the  Brits than  Brits.They will do   French and the Germans too while they are at it.
I am going to tell you something I have never told  before.
Listen to me carefully because  I will say this only w-a-n-ce  and you may have a hard time understanding.
I  have an affinity for municipal politicians.
I respect people who put their name forward for elected office
Stick their heads above the crwod and invite dolly-molly shots. .
Being  elected  is a shared  experience like no other.
We are not elected  under a party banner
We are on our own. .
People identify with us. They put themselves in our shoes and imagine what it must be like. The expect no miracles.
They give us leeway.
But some  behavior  is not  countenanced.
They will not excuse clear manifestation of dishonesty. Gratuitous spite.Arrogance.Public degradation of another 
People always identify with the victim.    .
Other than that, Councillors have a free run to make their own way. 
A political reputation is ours to build. No-one else can contribute. 
I recently heard. George St Kitts made scurrilous comments about myself. I  neither know nor care what Mr. St Kitts thinks of me.
Apparently, a sufficiently negative reaction  prompted removal of the comments from a web site, featuring  the St Kitts Jazz Festival.also known as The Aurora Jazz Festival when it suits.
Councillor Able, acting on his authority as spokesperson for Aurorans, called upon front person for  the Jazz Festival, Susan Morton Leonard, to account for  the  comments.
No matter the outcome, Councillor Able acted on his  initiative, as a Councillor/.
What people make of it will  be independently realised. 
From such endeavor a reputations grows. 
Or  not.
It's a risk a Councillor takes. 
I personally prefer  risk to the alternative. .  
 

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