After the recent Hamilton County Commission meeting, Commissioner Highlander was rushed to Memorial Hospital to perform X-rays and confirm his complete lack of a spine.
Commissioner Highlander slithered into the most important zoning meeting of his tenure, fully intending to recuse himself from voting for the safety of his constituents because of “personal reasons.”
Nevermind that this zoning vote involved a roadway in his district nine times more dangerous than the state average.
Nevermind that 238 wrecks occurred on this road in two short years.
Nevermind that a family still mourns the death of a loved one on this road in his district.
Instead of voting against a multi-million-dollar senior living facility located on this Highway To Hell in Ooltewah, he smugly chose to do nothing. By doing nothing, he did everything. Everything to place his constituents in continued harm’s way.
I voted for Mr. Highlander. Like all of his constituents, I expect an explanation of how his recusal based on “personal reasons” is more important than the safety of his constituents.
That’s the problem with a snake. You cannot trust its motives.
C. Mark Warren
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Before I begin my reply to C. Mark Warren I want to thank Mark Caldwell for one of the most insightful articles I have read about Eddie Rickenbacker. I have for a long time known of Captain Rickenbacker's Medal of Honors heroics but have never read “the rest of the story.”
Mr. Warren, as I have noted in this publication before, I find it amazing that you have such a lack of understanding about our Constitution. So much so that I offered to bring you my PMBR review material on Constitutional law. I never heard back from you, leading me to believe that a trial lawyer may not feel the need to know that information. However, I’m stunned by your lack of knowledge in other areas.
In your visceral indictment of Commissioner Highlander, I learn that you also don’t have an understanding or knowledge, or both, of Biomedical Sciences. When I was in the ninth grade we called it biology. Snakes do have a long spine with hundreds of vertebrae and ribs that protect their organs. For a man who holds himself out to be the “Bat Man” of lawyers, I expected more. That’s on me.
I would suggest you contact Commissioner Highlander and ask him why he abstained from the vote. It’s so disappointing when someone of your supposed intellect doesn’t hesitate to articulate without the full facts and fundamentals of his abstention. Could it be you who is slithering, rather than Commissioner Highlander?
J. Pat Williams
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J. Pat, thanks for your article regarding Commissioner Highlander and the unwarranted remarks by Mr. Warren.
I did what everyone should do, as you suggested, and called Mr. Highlander and asked him why he abstained from the vote. I was well satisfied with his answer and as you know, I am hard to please.
Thanks for your article, J. Pat, and highest regards.
Ernie McCarson