Upton Sinclair wrote; we should not be so worried that our children never listen to us,

as we should be worried that, they are always watching us.

There are children watching as the story unfolds about the
Governor et al, and their handling of "ethical" obligations
in the aftermath of an otherwise, almost inconsequential
boating mishap.

Children will look at behavior, weigh the consequences, and
make a decision, based in no small part, on what they see
others doing.

So will adults.

There will be some drunk boater who wanders off from
a boating accident and hides for two days, because that
is the behavior that was role modeled this weekend and
is being condoned, still.

We tell children that good character is a good thing.
We tell them to step up to the consequences of their choices.

It is among the very first formal lessons we teach them.

We illustrate the point by telling a fable about a young man
who chose to chop down a cherry tree and then stood up
for the consequences of his choice.

Then we model before them, a completely different choice.

This is problematic because, as Christian Nestell Bovee
first noted;

Example has more followers than reason.

If William Inge was right;

The proper time to influence the character of a child
is about a hundred years before he's born.

we're already a hundred years too late for this generation,
and for the next generation, and for the one after that.

The responsibility falls upon the shoulders of
good men and women who are willing to do nothing.

Edmund Burke was spot on;

All that is necessary for evil to prevail in the world,
is for good men to do nothing.

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