At the end of the day, people who are elected officials are only human beings too, just like the rest of us.
Can you imagine, day after day, getting contacted by your staff so they can inform you, “Mr. Mayor, there’s been three more murders today. Mr. Mayor, four teens were shot just an hour ago, and two of them are now dead. Mr. Mayor, a police officer has been attacked today. And it goes on and on. After eight years of getting news like that, almost on a daily basis, I think some of the best of us might feel like we’re ready to scream, ready to crack, maybe to just quit.
Feeling a certain way and letting those feelings show out in public, however, are two different things. You know the saying, “Never let them see you squirm?” Well, that’s how I think people in positions of leadership, be that elected officials, appointed officials, or even civic and community leaders. There’s a time and place for everything. I would think, you definitely don’t want to “lose it,” in front of television cameras.
But lose it, is exactly what happened at the end of the day on July 4th, after two Philadelphia Police Officers, were shot by what we now believe were stray bullets as some misguided person or persons were shooting their guns off to observe the July 4th holiday. What a very bad idea. What a stupid idea, and what a very dangerous idea.
Personally, after learning of the mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois just after 10 am on July 4th, I became discombobulated. I was upset. I was angry at whoever perpetrated the shootings and killings in Illinois, so I was already way hyped up by the time the Welcome America July 4th Concert had just concluded in Philadelphia. I was watching the concert on my 6ABC phone App when a stampede of people began along Benjamin Franklin Parkway because people heard the words “shots fired.” That’s all it took, and concertgoers when running in every direction trying to get to safety and away from bullets. Thank God, ultimately the injured officers will both survived. In fact, did not have life-threatening wounds.
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