What About Bob?
I didn’t want to write this, but the goddamn comments bothered me so much this past week. This isn’t about politics, it’s about how to act with decency. We gotta get it back, damn it.
Robert Mueller died this week. Bob enlisted in the Marines during the Vietnam War and served in the infantry. He could have gotten out of the draft if he wanted, but he didn’t. During combat, he led his team of Marines across a fire-swept area. He received the Bronze Star for heroism. Later, again under fire during a lethal Viet Cong attack, he led his platoon and was awarded the Purple Heart. He was wounded during that attack. Mueller also served 12 highly respected years as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Bob Mueller was a Republican. He was married, with two kids and five grandkids, But when he died, the President of the United States said, “Robert Mueller just died. Good. I’m glad he’s dead.”
I guess we’ve given up on expecting our leaders to demonstrate character. My mother used to say, “If you don’t have anything nice to say about people who have died, don’t say anything.” We gotta show some basic decency and kindness. Our young kids are watching and listening. And you wonder why bullying in schools and on social media is so bad. It’s because crude, mean, vindictive behavior is endorsed. This ain’t us.
Here’s how decency works. I was on one side of the Phoebe Prince bullying issue in town, and another guy who really resented me was on the other. Well, one day we were both in the checkout line at Rocky's Ace Hardware. He was behind me. I knew his mother had died a few days earlier. I turned around and said, “I’m sorry about your mom,” and he said, “I’m sorry about your mom,” who had died a few days before his. We shook hands, and we’ve been friendly ever since. Hey, we’re Americans. Let’s act like it. Keep your dukes up.
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