New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine has been released from the hospital 18 days after suffering a large number of fractures in a high-speed car crash. Most, if not all, of the injuries were unnecessary. Had the Governor been wearing his seatbelt, as the other two passengers in the car were, he would almost certainly not have sustained such extensive injuries.
Before heading home to the Governor's Mansion, Corzine made a brief statement to the press. In it, he expressed remorse for his actions:
"I understand that I set a very poor example for a lot of young people, a lot of people in general," a teary-eyed Corzine said.
"I certainly hope the state will forgive me. And I'll work very hard to set the right kind of example," Corzine said from his wheelchair outside the hospital.
Personally, I'm happy that Mr. Corzine is accepting responsibility for his irresponsible actions, but I don't think he's quite got things figured out yet. Not wearing his seatbelt before getting into the accident would have been setting a bad example, had anyone actually known about it. When he suffered massive trauma as a result of not wearing his seatbelt, he set a different kind of example. I really doubt that kids are going to be running around saying, "Hey, that's a cool vent the Gov's been sporting. Let's go not wear our seatbelts so we can wind up in traction too!"
He should really play up his stupidity on this one if he wants to really make the best of it. Tearful apologies are good, but a "This is your Governor not wearing his seatbelt. This is your Governor on a vent. Any questions?" spot would be even better.
Well, he's now made the transition from Bad Example to Good Object Lesson.
It would help if Gov. Corzine would provide an explanation as to why he was not wearing his seatbelt and as to whether he will be wearing it in the future. It certainly didn't show much intelligence for someone who started his own company and built a 600 million dollar fortune, was elected US Senator and then New Jersey Governor.