stephens_donald.jpgOne of the men in government past and present that I respect the most gave the eulogy for Donald E. Stephens, the Mayor of Rosemont, and a man that I know rather little about yesterday. Thompson did it with great flair and punctuated Stephens life with a stirring speech that he spoke from the heart. He didn’t pull any punches and spoke directly to Stephens legacy - one which will last for many years in the future. He also spoke to a politics that so rarely exists these days:

“How do you expect people in public office to use the political process to carry out the wishes of the people who elect them, unless they can bring into office those who believe in them and support them?” Thompson said. “The real world understands that.”

Everyone talks about the need to clean up government these days. It’s certainly true that there are some bad apples and that money corrupts plenty of people. What Thompson was speaking about and how Stephens lived wasn’t about money and corruption, it was about loyalty. That’s something that everyone can take away from the Village of Rosemont.

Loyalty doesn’t exist much anymore. When Thompson goes, that’s one thing that people will say about him: he was loyal. Look at his defense of Governor Ryan. Do you think that he did that because of the cash? No way. His firm defended Ryan because Thompson wanted to. He was loyal to Ryan and he was loyal to the office of the Governor.