Oh, for the good old days when a late-night disagreement might result in a cutting or two down in the Bottoms or up in Potlikker, and it could all be filed away under Adventures Among the Lowlifes and forgotten.
But nowadays otherwise rational, even admirable citizens performing a public service--like an election commissioner--may reach for a rod instead of their better judgment. Citizens like Stu Soffer, who has served on Jefferson County's election commission with distinction. Or at least he did till the other day when, instead of calming things down, he inflamed them. All it took was for him to grab his shootin' iron. How sad. And inexcusable.
What ever happened to "Come, let us reason together"? Has it now been replaced by "Reach for the sky!"? As if this were a barroom brawl out West instead of gentlemen conducting themselves like gentlemen down South.
Once upon a time a public official who had displayed such poor judgment would have quietly submitted his resignation and faded away. But today such simplicity and grace are in short supply. They take effort and manners and self-control. How we miss all that. Stu Soffer should, too.
Editorial on 04/06/2016