NIAGARA FALLS — During the Civil War, when our nation was in the middle of tearing itself apart, we counted on an army of gentlemen-generals to keep it together. However, not all were gentlemen-generals.  Because he did not fit into the mold from which came the rest of President Lincoln’s trust fund-type generals, the others did everything that they could to discredit him. Their biggest complaint against General Ulysses S. Grant was not that he was not a capable battlefield commander. Instead, their complaint was that, “the man is a drunkard.”

Lincoln responded, “Then we need to find out what kind of whiskey that he drinks and send a case of it to the rest of the generals. He is the only one that is winning battles.”

Sometimes we give and get mixed signals. We elect people to positions based on a skill sets and values that have absolutely nothing to do with the job. Because your little league softball coach allowed your son to bat in the winning hit doesn’t mean that he will be good councilman, mayor or anything — he is just a good coach and other than that, he is just a regular guy like you — and you know that you wouldn’t be a good councilman, mayor or anything like that.

And that brings us to gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, the guy that purchased the then-decrepit United Office Building and converted it into the gem called the Giacomo. USA-Niagara development, the New York state corporation that developed Third Street is in that building. Paladino admits that he knowingly and privately forwarded racy e-mails on to his friends. Somehow this disqualifies him for governor? Yet we defended Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton when he publicly left Los Angeles, while he was campaigning for the presidency, to oversee, unnecessarily, the execution of the mentally incapacitated, black, Ricky Ray Rector, just to show America that he was tough on crime. We later defended him for his actions while actually in the Oval Office of the White House with Monica Lewinsky. If memory serves me, people said, “His private life has nothing to do with his job. He is a good president.”

I cannot defend what either Clinton or Paladino did but I can defend the fact that each had a specific set of skills that enabled them to do their perspective jobs: Clinton was a governor, a human and the chief executive of a state, just as the president is the chief executive of all of the states. Paladino is a CEO and the chief executive of a multi-million dollar business, just as the governor is a CEO and the chief executive of a multi-billion dollar business.

Who knows what divorcee Andrew Cuomo may or not have done? Who cares? The issue is who can best manage a New York state that dearly needs someone that can properly manage it. Simply because these men may have done things that a priest ought not to do does not mean that they should not do what most priests cannot do — run a mega-corporation called a government. In fact, right now, there are questions if the world’s most famous priest— that also happens to run a small nation — may have passively participated in some questionable behavior.

We are not looking for a pope. We are looking for a governor. I and millions like me, am looking for results from our government and not divine inspiration.

Locally, it still appalls me what the former Buffalo board of education member and True Bethel Baptist Church pastor Reverend Darius Pridgen did. He left the city of Buffalo, with its school district’s rating of dead last of the 97 Western New York districts to drive through Niagara Falls, whose district finished in the 93rd position, to go to Lewiston, whose Lew-Port district finished 11th, to correct members of its school board for sending racy e-mails privately between their friends. For that, I have to think back to President Lincoln and General Grant. I would have recommended to the pastor that he have both the Niagara Falls and Buffalo boards send such e-mails between each other, if that is what it takes for the success of their students.

The men (and women) that aspire for public office are not role models for your children. You are supposed to be that. Because you may all too often fail to do your job, it does not disqualify them from being able to do theirs. It would be a sin to continue to fail our children by selecting people that we think are as pure as the driven snow, then only to have them do a snow job on our children as they drive them away from home to seek employment opportunities elsewhere.

Let’s elect generals that win battles for us, and not generals that just win elections.

I cast no stones. Pass me over that case of whiskey, please.

Ken Hamilton is a Niagara Falls resident. His columns run Fridays in the Gazette. He welcomes feedback at Ken Hamilton930@aol.com.