A Wife's Perspective
Strumming the Guitar and Running as an Independent
My husband doesn’t “bend.” That’s why he makes a lousy dance partner. God gifted him with rigidity. . . Yes, I said, “gifted” even though that rigidity is sometimes a pain when he is still wearing clothes from high school because “there is nothing wrong with them.” (If you are thinking that is more cheap than rigid—I will admit it is a pretty equal struggle.) However, the stiffness (not the cheapness) explains more than any awkward attempts at dancing that you might ever witness by my husband. It is the reason Jason is running as an Independent for Marshall County Attorney.
This choice has nothing to do with a preference for one party over another or his lack of respect for either. Jason believes that much like judges are not permitted to run partisan races, prosecutor races should also be non-partisan. The County Attorney’s role is to prosecute crimes and lend legal advice to whatever policy making officials the county has elected. While the County Attorney’s job description shouldn’t allow for any bias, there is currently no statute on County Attorney candidates running non-partisan races.
Yet, uncompromising ethics doesn’t allow one to do something just because society says it is okay. That is when my husband’s gift shines. I have seen him sit on the phone insisting on paying for a plane ticket we somehow ended up with for free, and I have seen him seek justice for victims of crimes when many would have justified the crime. He is going to prosecute fairly without regards to someone’s political affiliation, and he is going to offer sound legal advice to whomever the county elects to create policy.
The only thing that might be more awkward than trying to watch my husband dance is watching him try to play the guitar. He tried for a bit, and I honestly don’t know how he did it as I have never seen a “stiffer” strum. I tried to show him how he might bend his elbow and wrist one time but found myself laughing more at his revised-but-uncomfortable attempts.
Compromised was not what Jason wanted associated with his run for County Attorney. This first political race was something Jason and I respected too much to try and run it in a manner Jason didn’t feel was ethical. While running a partisan race might have been the easier road, he was not comfortable with that, and as a wife who has had to witness his painful renditions of “Sweet Home Alabama” on the guitar, we knew it was best that he retired his guitar pic and stuck with running.
We would appreciate your consideration of Jason’s gifts and how they will make him an excellent prosecutor for our county on November 6th. We may have given up on the guitar, but I haven’t conceded the dancing yet.
Jason's wife loves to dance; and wisdom advises that a man shall keep his wife happy. It is always important for wisdom to trump rigidity.
Our Learning Curve
The Criminal Law of Kentucky is bound in a book thick enough to serve as a booster seat, and our copy looks like we have used it for just such a purpose. When we first married, Jason kept that big green book under his side of the bed. He would pull it out for those midnight calls from law enforcement officers to make sure any advice he gave would ensure a sound search warrant, the correct charge, and proper procedure.
At first I was surprised Jason had to consult any book, for as badly as any wife hates to admit it, I rarely have known Jason to be wrong about any fact. He is a very intelligent man. If I want to know something about Russian history, the mating season of skunks, or the name of any Kentucky Derby winner from any given year, I don’t have to Google it. I just ask my husband.
But, I shouldn’t have been surprised. I did the same thing in my early years of teaching. I checked myself often. I discovered what did and did not work when talking to students. When Russell Palmer walked into my classroom one afternoon and asked me if I had failed to notice a kid in my second block class with purple hair, I had to admit that I hadn’t even noticed. . . yes, purple hair was against school policy at that time. There was so much to learn; so I don’t know why I would have thought Jason’s job would be any different?
As intelligent as he is, he had to learn the job. I remember Jason sometimes conferring with his colleagues before he would make a call to ensure that he was indeed offering the best advice. Although it has been a long time since I have heard Jason call someone to check his advice, that isn’t to say he doesn’t do it—just last month I heard him discuss a situation at length with another professional in regards to the best way to guarantee treatment for an individual in need. Jason is not above conferring and getting advice, but these days he is often the one called for the advice.
After 18 years in the classroom when I teach gerund and participial phrases, I know that my students will confuse these two types of phrases, and I know the trick to help them see the difference and punctuate each correctly. I can anticipate things like that now.
Jason has always been a thorough and painfully accurate professional, but now he also has experience on his side. He can anticipate the bumps in the road, and he knows how to navigate each and every case to the best possible conclusion.
I can’t tell you the last time I saw him pull out that big green book to consult it. In fact, we don’t even keep it under the bed anymore—Pharoah, the dog, would chew it up anyway. Let’s not worry about that big green book; just let Jason’s experience work for you and Marshall County.