It's what they do that counts.

It doesn't make any difference if it's your parents, your boss or a public official, they all say things that they might even mean at the time they say it, but it's what they do that counts.

How many times have you heard the old story of the father telling his kids not to smoke as he puffs away on his ever present cigarette. Parents are aware of their own short comings. Nicotine habits, over eating, not getting enough education are all regrets that many parents have about their own lives. They try to impress on their kids that own choices were wrong. They should have put off having sex. They wish they hadn't married so young. The problem is the family is the reality and the kids don't really visualize the alternative. What would life be like without Dad standing in the garage puffing on his weed? How would life be if mom had received her degree and we belonged to the country club?

My favorite corporate fantasy is the tried and true mission statement with the mandatory part that states, "the company recognizes that it's most important assets are its employees." Of course, and that is exactly why the first quarter that the company isn't going to make its numbers (the expectations of the board of directors for profits), the managers lay-off or terminate large numbers of those very important assets so that the company looks successful.

Politicians! Oh this is an area that is so ripe for cynicism that it's hardly fair, but let me just mention a few. I want to be a uniter not a divider. Compassionate conservatism. I represent the average guy. We need to investigate this matter more closely.

No one is perfect and few people are knowingly dishonest. The situation of being the parent, corporate boss or elected official is not an easy thing. We who are effected have a tendency to lower our expectations of these people. Parents do the best job they can. The boss has to worry about his job. The politician has to get reelected. What we should do is learn that it's not what they say that counts but what they do.