Terrible Tragedy

Strange. I got home Monday night and went to the market and grabbed a newspaper while I was there and started reading about our latest local scandal. Seems they never end. Anyway, I was telling Cliff during our nightly phone txting session that one of our City Councilman, Donna Fairchild was accused of submitting a falsified travel voucher and they were talking about kicking her off the City Council. We kind of laughed at the drama as it is a local election year and looked like the current mayor was taking major advantage of the situation calling press conferences etc to "expose" the situation , nothing unusual since Ms Fairchild was running against the mayor for the office of mayor in the up coming election. Anyway we talked about how ridicules politics are in that the smallest issue (the voucher was for $94.00 and was never actually paid) is so blown out of proportion. Even if she was guilty (as it turns out she was) then there are legal ways to deal with the issue and those should be followed and let the politics stay where they were. Anyway after we tossed that around we went to bed.

I woke up the next morning to Charlee Ann calling me and telling me that Donna Fairchild had shot her husband in the head in the middle of the night then shot herself. I was flabbergasted. I mean all over $94.00 and some loss of prestige. It is so sad that someone would put something like this as more important than their life. And to take the life of her husband, who by the way was one of the nicest people I have ever met, is an absolute tragedy. There is just way too much pressure on people these days and our value system is too out of whack and understanding and forgiveness in the face of justice is a lost idea. I am sad for the Fairchilds. Sad that we as a community have gone the way of Nasty National Politics. I keep thinking we are better than that and I keep getting disappointed. Guess I am a terminal Pollyanna