isten
Do you want to get elected
Do you promise to do right, whoa-oh-oh-oh
Closer
Let us look into your background
See what we may have to fear
Because you work for us
Okay, so it isn't John Lennon or Paul McCartney, but I got an ear worm listening to Mrs.
Becky Gerritson, of the Wetumpka Tea Party, remind members of Congress she's a free American as she stated to the House Ways and Means Committee of our United States Congress "I'm not here as a serf or a vassal. I'm not begging my lords for mercy. I'm a born free American woman, wife, mother, and citizen. And I’m telling my government that you've forgotten your place."
I've seen several interviews of Mrs. Gerritson. She's smart, witty, and dedicated. Pretty too. Watching video of her testimony before this congressional committee, one must believe she's also firm in her beliefs as she gave them The Finger (not THAT one... the more than a Teacher Finger, almost a Mom Finger) while scolding "It's not your responsibility to look out for my well being and to monitor my speech. It's not your right to assert an agenda. The post that you occupy exists to preserve American liberty. You've sworn to perform that duty and you have faltered."
However, Mrs. Gerritson forgot that she also pays their salaries... which makes "(her) government" nothing more than the hired help, doesn't it. Something many, on both sides of the paycheck, seem to forget.
Are you listening up, Richard Floyd et al? Oops, I keep forgetting Richard doesn't believe he needs to pay attention to anyone he doesn't know contributed to his election coffers. It's going to be interesting when he actually has a legitimate, bona fide opponent.
It was interesting to listen to Congressman Jim McDermott tell that same audience some groups wouldn’t have been scrutinized if they hadn't applied for tax-exempt status and engaged in some of the activities they did. Isn't that tantamount to saying if a man had only handed the remote control to his wife she wouldn't have beaten him senseless or if a young lady had only given those boys what they wanted she wouldn't have been gang raped and left in a ditch beside a deserted road?
Blame the victim... but don't we often victimize ourselves?
Take, for example, Senator Alexander. To be sure, he did walk from the farthest northeast corner of Tennessee to the farthest southwest corner wearing a flannel shirt. Does anyone remember that on his watch as governor of this great State our sales taxes doubled? Has anyone paid attention to the sources of his personal fortune and how it was built? Or that he has no qualms at all about taking advantage of opportunities not available to Joe and Jane Schmuckatelli? I was always taught that character is doing the right thing even when nobody's watching. It'll be interesting to see if some of these, let's call them deficiencies, are brought out if that wrassler, Mr. Glenn Jacobs, who actually can string words together to form an intelligent sentence and has even gone so far as to challenge Lt. Gov. Ramsey to a debate over his stance on internet sales taxes. 6'9" tall, earned his fortune using the same methods available to everyone else... hard work and being all that he can be, and able to deliver both a physical and intellectual Tombstone Piledriver. One might easily imagine the good Senator will have a significant opponent.
Since Chip Saltsman has found an easy gig this election cycle, in the process causing one to believe Congressman DeJarlais, MD, maybe ought to sit this one out so he can read our Constitution, perhaps learn the difference between constitutional and unconstitutional statutes, repeal versus defund, and the meaning of "please don't touch the charming." Mr. Saltsman having gone on to a bigger and more credible candidate, stellar in performance actually, one might also wonder what's going to happen to poor old Congressman Chuck, Esquire, without him. I mean, like, even with Mr. Saltsman leading the charge while Congressman Chuck, Esquire, pulled up the rear, all he's been able to do is hold a bare plurality, not even a majority, in any primary race he's run.
Whenever I think of Congressman Chuck, Esquire, I also think of another wrassler or, more properly, for fear of Coach Horpel coming back to haunt me, a wrestler who's run for office in the past... one Mr. J. Pat Williams.
I've often asked Pat why he doesn't run for office again but his response is always the same, he's rather disgusted at the way the local republican elite have treated him when he ran. I can understand that. If one isn't a member of the chosen he receives nothing but token support. But Pat and I both grew up during a time of conscription, when every man was expected to at least register to serve this great nation for the privilege of being free... the proverbial draft. He's always said "don't go getting me in trouble."
After almost 20 years, Dude knows better than to make a statement like that.
Anyone who's ever known a wrestler knows they're used to grappling, up close and personal on both an individual and team level. Pat was a true varsity wrestler from his freshman year on at the University of Chattanooga. He's a self-made man, founding and then operating his own insurance agency for 43 years. He actually is a small businessman, a business he built, where he had to provide a product or service for which someone was willing to turn over their hard earned wages, versus being a collections lawyer whose hands have never seen callouses. As a participant in real capitalism he knows the difference between true capitalism and crony capitalism. A family man who often asks to call someone back because he's having breakfast with one of his grandchildren on the way to school, he also isn't afraid of those dastardly union members... and is actually known to hire from the union hall because he knows the level of training that worker is supposed to have.
But, you see, the last time Pat ran for elective office he ran against a Democrat, fully expecting the support of his own party, the Republican Party. And what did he get? A member of the party whose support he should have received threw a fundraiser for his opponent, the Democrat. Worst of all was most of the big high mucky-mucks of the local Republican Party were in attendance... an event thrown by a guy we now call Congressman Chuck, Esquire.
It would be nothing more than poetic justice for Mr. J. Pat Williams to allow himself to be drafted to run against the very same (Republican) guy who undermined his previous attempt at elective office. He could probably win, too... and the district would have a representative who isn't afraid to stand up to an elitist structure bent on doing nothing but maintaining their own power. And that's their primary concern, isn't it, their power. They certainly aren't concerned about protecting the liberty of plain old American men and women, American citizens, are they.
The '60s gave us a lot of things. It gave us commercially available stereo, color TV and FM radio, the British Invasion, 8 track tapes, hippies, protests, the end of The Draft, and philosophers who put their perspectives to music just to name a few. One of those, Bob Dylan, once wrote:
You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last.
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast.
I always appreciated Dylan. He's one of the few people on Planet Terra who sings worse than me, but the words he writes have always rung oh, so true. It's just a good thing Joan Baez was there to dress up his songs, and the stage, when she sang words such as "it's all over now, Baby Blue."
In the '60s people got fed up with the status quo, just as many say they are now. So when do we re-institute the draft, at least so far as candidates for elected office are concerned, and tell our self-serving elected officials "you must leave now, take what you need, you think will last... the carpet, too, is moving under you... oh, it's all over now, Baby Blue."
Or do we continue to allow Congressmen Chuck, Esquire, DeJarlais, MD, and others of their ilk, to flap their jaws as if they're accomplishing something, anything, more than feathering their own nests... at the expense of our children and grandchildren.
Royce Burrage, Jr.