Does Parlett Own a Purple Robe?

To the Editor:

I have heard it said that the surest way to discover a fool is to give a person a platform from which to speak.  The county commissioners routinely validate this axiom.  The same can be said for discovering people who are unsuited to be elected to public office.

The Form of Government Task Force has ably served as the platform from which John Knight Parlett, Jr., has revealed why he should never be elected to any office.  What was only partially revealed by his wrongheaded actions on the school board has now been fully exposed.  He cannot be entrusted to hold public office, unless we desire to be governed by a man who has publicly stated his belief that St. Mary’s County needs a “benevolent dictator.”  Should the people unwisely choose to change the county’s form of government from county commissioners to a charter government led by an elected county executive, John Knight Parlett, Jr. sees himself as that person, wielding dictatorial powers but in a supposedly reasonable manner that is benevolent to the peoples’ welfare.

Former (one-term!) State Senator J. Frank Raley scolded Parlett for saying this in public.  Notably, he did not disagree with him, but simply objected because the statement would harm the campaign for charter government.  Perhaps J. Frank would have preferred the use of the term “Enlightened Despot.”

What benevolent dictator role model would Parlett use?  Parris Glendening or the Wizard of Oz?

Underlying Parlett’s statement is an egotistical and arrogant mindset that persons of supposed high birth or rank, i.e., wealth, have a right to govern us.  The French aristocracy called it “Noblesse Oblige,” the obligation of nobility.  I would not be surprised to learn that Parlett owns a purple robe.

The French philosopher Bertrand de Jouvenel observed that, “A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves.”  Such is most certainly the case in St. Mary’s County.  Now, the wolves are trying to huff and puff and blow down the county government, and in its place institute a so-called benevolent dictatorship.  Are “We, the People” going to meekly let them do it?

Mary Broadhurst