I ain't Tammy Wynette . . .

Jacquielynn Floyd, a writer for The Dallas Morning News, speculated in her column yesterday about why betrayed wives stand with their husbands for the husbands' public apologies. She lists a whole string of such incidents from Bill Clinton to Eliot Spitzer.



I've thought about this quite a bit. Recently, the minister of music at one of our local churches stood behind the pulpit to admit (some say without remorse) his adulterous affair. His wife stood with him. Actions speak louder than words, and what these actions say is that the husband is still a sorry, unrepentant, good-for-nothing. If he had any character at all, he would say to his wife, "I've put you through more than any woman should be asked to bear. I will not allow you to stand there in the spotlight to be humiliated even further. I got into this mess by myself, and I'll take the consequences by myself." Of course, taking the consequences by himself is impossible, but if he was any kind of a man, he would at least make what gestures he could.



Mr. Essie May is a fine man of unquestioned integrity. I don't believe he would ever betray me; but he knows that if he did, I might forgive him, but I wouldn't be standing up there with him to partake of his shame.