Mentally Awake And Morally Straight

Asking those tough questions, previously the domain of Edward R. Murrow, Mike Wallace and Joyce Behar, now welcomes a new interrogator: Ames Mayfield. Earlier this month, Ames' Cub Scout pack was invited to interview Colorado State Senator Vicki Marble. This kind of "get-to-know-you-legislator" is a pretty common civics lesson for scouts. During this particular back and forth, topics ranged from the border wall to Obama to fossil fuels, all of which were considered fair game.
Then young Cub Mayfield spoke up: “I was astonished that you blamed black people for poor health and poverty because of all the chicken and barbecue they eat.”
To which Senator Marble responded, “I didn’t, that was made up by the media. So, you want to believe it? You believe it. But that’s not how it went down. I didn’t do that. That was false. Get both sides of the story.”
Okay. In 2013, Marble had this to say: “When you look at life expectancy, there are problems in the black race. Sickle-cell anemia is something that comes up. Diabetes is something that’s prevalent in the genetic makeup, and you just can’t help it. Although I’ve got to say, I’ve never had better barbecue and better chicken and ate better in my life than when you go down South and you, I mean, I love it. Everybody loves it.”
Scout Mayfield also asked the senator about her co-sponsorship of a bill to allow domestic violence offenders to continue to own a gun, phrasing it bluntly: “Why on earth would you want someone who beats their wife to have access to a gun?” 
That's when Ames was cut off by his pack leader, and a few days later, he was kicked out of the Cub Scouts. Ms. Marble had this to say about that: “Decisions about who is in or out of a den are internal organizational matters that I won’t second guess. I don’t blame the boy for asking the questions, since I believe there was an element of manipulation involved, and it wasn’t much different from the questions I normally field in other meetings.”

Ames' mom Lori told the Denver Post that her son spent a lot of time researching Marble before the den meeting, “The only coaching I gave him was to be respectful,” she said. “Don’t be argumentative, preface things ‘with all due respect.’ I felt my son followed directions. He asked hard questions, but he was not disrespectful.” Was he respectful? Was he following the Cub Scout Oath? 

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
And to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight

Maybe he can find another den that leans a little more to the journalistic side of things. You go, Ames.