MR. BIG

A Brownsville commissioner sat in a bar with a friend.

"I feel bad," he said as he drank his beer as if he feared losing a drop. "I don't know what to do. If I speak my mind, I'll lose clients Mr. Big has sent my way."

His friend looked at him and felt sorry for the city commissioner. Almost apologetically, he told him, "You are no longer the man you once were. You gave up your spirit and honor in return for Mr. Big's endorsement. You once spoke out. You were a champion of what was right and just. Now you can't even look at your reflection in your beer. You have let your people and your family down."

The city commissioner cried out, "What if I stand up and speak out? It's not too late. I will tell Mr. Big and others like him that I will be my own man. I will be the honest and just person my friends think I am."

The city commissioner then looked into his beer and stared at it for what seemed like an eternity. He appeared to be searching for something he had lost in the glass. Both the politician and his buddy knew that the commissioner's soul was lost.

He had sold it in return for whatever recognition Mr. Big had thrown his way. He lived in shame while Mr. Big counted his riches. Mr. Big slept well knowing he owned so many souls. He liked counting those names that once stood for integrity. So goes Mr. Big, so goes Brownsville.