Credit due: Jean Devine

Until today, it appeared that not one element of the Poplawski family had done anything to avoid unadulterated opprobrium, creating a risk that some might find the concept of attainder (corrupt blood) apt in this circumstance.

Enter Jean Devine, cousin of Margaret "What are those police officers doing to my boy?" Poplawski. Ms. Devine, the Tribune-Review reports, threw Margaret Poplawski out of her home on Monday, but the eviction is not what marks Jean Devine as a decent person. Instead, it is this statement:

"If I saw my child buying guns, trading guns, stockpiling food and all that in my house, I would have some issues with it," said Devine,

that distinguishes Ms. Devine and earns a sharp salute.

It can be tempting, but is wrong, to hold others' relatives against them. Judge each by deed and word, not by family -- a useful point when electing presidents, endorsing judicial candidates or gauging relatives of racist, hate-consumed psychopaths.