RUTHFULLY YOURS

In a glaring example of bad judgment, the State Department has chosen former Olympian and convicted perjurer, Marion Jones to represent the United States as a diplomat to Serbia and Croatia in an effort to encourage those countries devastated by war and natural disasters.

A spokesman for the U. S. Embassy in Belgrade said Jones was chosen as an example that; “you can have things go wrong and you can move beyond them.”

In light of the spokesman’s reasoning, Marion Jones simply doesn’t fit the profile of someone who has overcome something that “went wrong.” Marion Jones didn’t have something “go wrong” in her life; Marion Jones deliberately and purposefully took illegal performance enhancing drugs in an effort to cheat as an Olympian on the world stage and then proceeded to lie to federal Investigators about her drug use, resulting in her being stripped of her Olympic medals and being sentenced to prison.

While everyone is entitled to a second chance once they have paid their debt to society, not everyone should be considered as examples of courage and perseverance as a result of their actions, especially when representing the United States of America.

If choosing Marion Jones is not considered a huge mistake and her offer by the State Department rescinded, then our prisons are full of thousands of potential ambassadors awaiting a call from that same State Department to represent America’s diplomacy around the world.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of American citizens that would actually fill the profile of moving beyond something that “went wrong” in their lives; many with stories that would both tear at your heart and give you lasting encouragement as well. Maybe one of the hundreds of our brave wounded soldiers would be a good place to find that person.