MISSOURI WATCH: IT'S NOT SUCH A HOT LIFE

(With apologies to Frank Capra's "It's A Wonderful Life")

William George Clinton-Bailey had never intended to spend his entire life in Hope Falls. He had always dreamed of larger cities, foreign locales, exciting challenges that would make him world famous, and even as a youngster growing up he had seemed destined for greater things. His father's death brought the small Clinton-Bailey -family closer together, and William George and his mother and younger brother faced life together, confident that fate would be better in the future.

Just as William George reached manhood and prepared to leave Hope Falls, fate intervened. Management ineptness by older officials of the hometown Capital & Dome called out for new, youthful leadership and for a long time William George resisted the pleas of those who saw in him the promise of new prosperity. "It's your duty and responsibility to step in and infuse Capital & Dome with integrity, energy and decency," 43 percent of his friends cried.

Stricken with guilt that he might be letting his family and friends down, Clinton-Bailey became the new president of Capital & Dome, and joy reigned throughout all of Hope Falls, particularly by those most in need of its assistance and the help. that could only be provided by such an institution.

For awhile, things went well at Capital & Dome. The new young chief executive, together with his dutiful and devoted wife and young children, prospered and grew in stature. Those who had previously stood in his way on the ladder to leadership, particularly adherents of the Grand Old Potter Party (GOP), seemed reconciled to their second-class status and offered only token resistance. All the while, William George was building a better Hope Falls, supplying the needs of those who most needed help and ignoring, for the most part, the anguish of those who deplored the large spending that threatened their community.

Ignoring the Potters proved to be Clinton-Bailey's fatal error, and as he persisted in following his own dictates, the Potters gained in strength and eventually called for a showdown. Overestimating the willingness of his friends to rescue him during his time of need, the Capital & Dome president finally realized that he had been overrun by the enemy who demanded that he correct his management techniques or they would remove him from office within a very short time. Clinton-Bailey's plea of help fell on deaf ears, and when the annual meeting was held, the new president was outvoted at every turn. The Potters were firmly in control and they demanded changes and new policies, even the deed to Capital & Dome.

Crestfallen, Clinton-Bailey considered the alternatives at hand and concluded at long last that the best and most honorable course for him to take, in light of the overwhelming power of the new owners of Capital & Dome, was political suicide. "I shall become more like the Potters and less the man of great principle and shoddy working habits that I was before. I will not only accept the new owners of Capital & Dome, I will adopt their plans and suggestions and end, once and for all, the dreams that I have harbored these many years."

As he stood on the bridge crossing the Whitewater, ready to sacrifice his life for the sake of harmony at Capital & Dome, he was visited by a strange figure of a man wearing a bow tie. "What in the hell are you doing?" asked the nattily dressed figure in a double-breasted suit and steel-rimmed glasses. "Have you forgotten your dreams of health care for all Americans? Are you willing to betray your desire for a company that reflects the best of its owners and provides the best of service to its customers? Where I come from, fellow, we talk plain and we don't kowtow to the enemy. We give 'em hell. Now get back out there, young man, and do what I tell you. Take your fight to the people, all of them, and pay no attention to those do-nothing GOP people."

"By golly, strange figure in a bow tie and a familiar twang in your voice, I believe you're right. I won't give up and I'll fight to recapture the ownership of Capital & Dome for all the people, not just the rich and the privileged few. Thank you for coming to answer my prayers." When William George looked around to shake the figure's hand, he had disappeared.

Following the figure's advice, Clinton-Bailey fought back and at the very next company meeting, he was unanimously re-elected, although no one seemed happy when it was over.

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of the Missouri News and Editorial Service.