Let He Who is Perfect Criticize

There’s a story in the Bible about how a group of people were about to stone a woman who had been caught in adultery. One always has to wonder why they didn’t have the man there with her to be stoned also, but the point of the story is that Jesus told the crowd that whoever was there that was perfect and had never sinned should throw the first stone. Everybody left.

It’s pretty easy to be an armchair quarterback and know how the game should have been played, or to look at politics and situations and know all the answers because we are not actually the ones who have to figure it all out. It must be a hard life being a politician and being watched at every moment. A mis-pronunciation can be used to lead people to think a person is stupid, and a wrong action might just end a career entirely.
But it is important to keep all of the facts in mind before coming to a conclusion about a situation, not just follow the 11 p.m. news lead that dramatizes events and draws conclusions far beyond what is necessary or wise.

There was a story about Kip Smith, a Republican state congressman in our fair state, who unfortunately made a decision to drive after drinking and ended up with a DUI. He ran a red light and fortunately did not harm anyone by doing so. (By the way, has anyone reading this ever run a red light? Has anyone here ever driven after drinking a couple of beers? (Not saying either one was right, just saying that it is not that uncommon.)

Well, all the info hit the fan because he is a state senator and not just Joe the Electrician down the street. And mostly, it hit the fan because when Mr. Smith went to Congress, he recently sponsored the bill that would have required random drug testing for welfare recipients. Of course, the news grabbed these two facts and slapped them together into a “how dare this hypocrite do this!” kind of story.

But here are a few things to consider. First of all, alcohol is legal whereas illegal drugs are not. Second, random drug testing for welfare recipients has been considered in nearly every state in the union within the past year, so it’s not such an unusual bill for him to promote. There have been problems with some recipients finding ways to use their benefits to further their drug habits. Third, the point of the law is to discourage drug use by not providing support to those who continue to use it. Fourth, since most jobs these days require drug testing, also testing welfare recipients may not be considered such a big deal.

Smith made a bad decision, but unless he is prone to doing it frequently, it is beside the point in regards to the legislation.