Leadership I can believe in

I covered a ceremony today where 14 elected officials took the oath of office. The chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court handled the swearing in.

He was a distinguished man with a handshake so firm that it could make one wonder if he makes homemade fruit juice with only his bare hands.

It was nice to see all the families and supporters gather to congratulate the elected officials but for me the best part was watching the three boys of the Chief Justice. They sat in the jury box and were well-behaved, but I did see the youngest, a 9-year-old, raise his arm to the square and take the oath of office at least twice.

After the ceremony, I saw the boy approach the judge whose courtroom was used for the event. He asked for and was granted permission to sit on the bench. The Chief Justice worked the room posing for pictures and shaking hands with many of the people. At one point he worked his way over to the bench just as his 12-year-old was preparing to shoot a rubber band at his youngest son.

He gave his son one of those glares that a parent always hopes works in such a public setting. Luckily for him, it did. He then told his son to make sure all the rubber bands he shot were cleaned up. I didn't even see any other rubber bands. Oh well, I guess that was a father's intuition.

I know very little about the Chief Justice and his qualifications for office, but from what I observed, he has put in a lot of work at home. And I firmly believe that no other success can compensate for failure in the home.