Dear Messrs. Fincher And Herron: TN-8 Congressional Race

It seems presumptuous to write an open letter from behind the screen of a non-de-plume, but honestly, this writer's identity doesn't matter.

He and Mrs. OS, very reluctantly, voted for Mr. Fincher. They met the man during the primary at a restaurant where he was glad-handing, and had a conversation with him. To his credit, he sat down and talked, and was attentive. It was difficult to talk with him on the most basic subject of all, the true overriding ethical issue of our age, which is the public debt, and the fact that we will hand our children and grandchildren a country that resembles Argentina under the Peróns unless this is addressed. He wanted to talk about being pro-gun/pro-life/pro-military/pro-family, etc., the entire talking points list of the Religious Right, as well as the entire talking points list of the RNC. Here's what we couldn't get him to address directly that day:

(HT to Denninger at Market Ticker--look to your right, and you'll find him, America's Jeremiah of the 21st century.)

We're not even certain Mr. Fincher knows where Argentina is, or who Juan and Evita Perón were, or the damage they did to a once-great country. And, we asked the restaurant owner last week: Mr. Fincher has never made a return visit to our humble town, here on the outskirts of TN-8.

The only reason Mr. and Mrs. OS voted for Mr. Fincher is that we cannot survive as a country with Barack Obama in the White House and a Democrat majority in the House of Representatives.

Period.


So, here goes.

Gentlemen:

You are both very good men in your own way, and arrive to next Tuesday from very different paths. Both of you are family men, and are as morally upright as they come. Honestly, we're probably in good hands with either one of you.

But, as admirable as all that is, and as pious Christians we know you both to be, unless the problem posed by that graphic above is addressed, the other questions could become moot: Family life is already falling apart, the marriage rate will plummet, the military could be put in a position of having a much greater role than the Constitution ever contemplated; and yes, we'll be armed to the teeth, out of necessity.

It's not about Liberal/Conservative or GOP/Democrat. It's about math. We cannot continue this way, and survive. The entitlement programs of Medicare, Social Security, and the effects of the health care 'reform' that will kick in beginning 2014 will swamp the culture and economy. The money must come from somewhere, and even this economy cannot generate the revenues to sustain the system in place. That's not even accounting for emergencies, such as major hurricanes, earthquakes, oil spills, a major terrorist hit, a major war, or some other outside event like Europe melting down.

It's about math. We need sober grownups in charge. Obama and company do not qualify. Neither did his predecessors post-1989. It will be up to whomever of you wins, sitting on your back bench, shuttled off to obscure committees dealing with issues with which you have no experience or interest. You'll have to stand up and scream 'NO' when the Speaker wants to spend the next 40 billion on a pile of pork on a voice vote at 10 p.m. on a Friday night. It's about math, and courage.

An old friend tells a wonderful joke, with a proverb imbedded. Goes like this:

A young man asks for the following Monday off from work, telling his boss he's the best man at a Polish wedding in another city. Boss agrees, and wishes him safe travels.

A week late, the young man returns to work, looking like he has been run over by a truck--hung over, bloodshot eyes, exhausted, and relieved to be home. The boss demands--'You're a week late! What happened!

Young man replies: It was a Polish wedding. I had no idea. They hold a raffle at Polish weddings, and I won second prize.

Boss: Second prize?

Young man: Yeah, second prize is I get to take the bride out on the honeymoon, the cruise, the bedroom, the whole nine yards. It was exhausting. It was traumatic. I'm so grateful to be home, even if you fire me.

Boss: So, if that's second prize, what's the Grand Prize?

Young man: A canned ham.

Best wishes to the winner. If you lose, consider that Providence has done you a favor.

If you win, print up that graph, frame it, and set it on your desk. It's the only thing that deserves your undivided attention at work.

OS

TN-8 Congressional Race: Q & A From Each Candidate

An interesting Q & A article with responses from each candidate.

Fincher is a Tea Party endorsed GOP nominee.

Herron is a classic Blue Dog Democrat.

Two independents, who also add food for thought.

If reading from overseas, it's worth exploring to get a sense of the debate and the local flavor. The questions are pretty clear and specific, so everyone had to behave like a grownup and submit some clear and specific answers.

OS hopes this is helpful.

The thing is, ya'll, whoever wins is in for one hell of a bad time in his new job. If Roy wins, the left-edge socialists who run the place will make him a pariah, and have in fact already. Roy knows how to do math, and they'll despise him for it if he attempts to do it in D.C. They just think Uncle Ben will print up a bunch of fresh money for them any time they need it.

If Fincher wins, he'll have to learn how to say 'Hell, no' when John Boehner cooks his next side of pork, and he'll end up as a pariah as well. And he's got all the nut-job Religious Right fundamentalists all over his ass, demanding he spend his time beating up Disney or some other such nonsense. Good luck with that, bubbah Steve.

Either way, the BIG issue is the fact that our government has pointed our culture over the fiscal cliff over the past fifty years, and has floored the accelerator.

Argentina, move over, unless enough people in Congress act like grown-ups, finally.

It's gonna get painful, no matter what.

The High Price Of Candor: Juan Williams And Katherine Birbalsingh

It's been a tough couple of weeks for people who suffer from the vice of speaking candidly in public.

First, the lovely young Katherine Birbalsingh, an Oxford-educated teacher who had devoted her career to teaching kids in the forgotten neighborhoods of the the UK, was shown the door after speaking her mind candidly at the Conservative Party congress.

(If you haven't had the pleasure of hearing her brief address, this would be the time to invest about eight minutes of your time. Well worth every second.)

Of course, her sacking was accompanied by the usual British couching of inexcusable behaviour in the most civil-sounding of verbiage. But, for all their attempts to sound plausible and professional, her superiors at St. Michael and All Angels School come off sounding, well, like a bunch of petty academics in search of a scalp. And hers was an obvious choice.

Her crime? Candor, and an elegant and piercing command of the English language, employed for eight memorable minutes in a public forum, where she stated the obvious about the decayed conditions of state-funded education in the UK. Had she instead addressed the Tories and informed them they were the most unimaginable heartless scum who cared not a fig for the poor children whose families could not afford Eton, she would have returned to her school, and been hoisted upon the shoulders of her cheering colleagues for a victory lap around the halls. Too late she found out that academic freedom is only for the Left.

Juan Williams was not even afforded the faux civility shown Miss Birbalsingh. His boss fired him over the phone, with no opportunity to even discuss the situation, and then publicly dissed him and his opinions, saying that they should be between him and his pyschiatrist, or publicist, or whatever. OS heard the recorded comment, and the disdain and condescension were overt. Too late he found that freedom of speech is only for the Left.

Locally, poor Roy Herron, Democrat candidate for Congress in the Eighth District of Tennessee, was screwed royally by his ostensible allies. When it dawned on him that most people would not vote for him because they knew his first vote as a Congressman would likely be to return Nancy Pelosi to the Speaker's chair, he let it be known that he would oppose MizNancy's return to power. For his candor, the money allocated by the Democrats for his TV ads was summarily pulled. Too late, he found that freedom of conscience, and sensitivity to voters' sensibilities, is something for which the Left has no patience.

Roy is a good, honorable gentleman with whom OS disagrees, and for whom he could not bring himself to vote. OS was hoping he would run for governor, but 'twas not to be.

None of these folks were mean-spirited, or racist, or dishonest. They simply spoke words into the open air that they meant, and stated the obvious in the process: Schools are failing, sometimes climbing onto a plane with people who may be religious extremists is unnverving, Nancy Pelosi is a real liability to this country as speaker. The Sword of Damocles descended anyway. Luckily, all three will land on their feet, and blessedly we haven't heard the last from them.

And, I hear the reader say it already: Bubbah, you're bloggin' under a nom de plume! What-choo doin' blathering about candor?

OS admits to his cowardice, but he had to make a decision to protect his family. It is a matter of physical safety. Don't ask, 'cuz OS won't tell, and if you think you know, you're mistaken. Besides, ya'll, this is a hobby, and always will be. OS can't imagine people parting with their hard-earned money for the privilege of reading his scribble. Puh-leeze!

And, there are many things he won't write about, 'cuz he already knows the high price of complete candor. He hopes, while he has to be discreet, that he has helped add a bit of humor, a bit of insight, and a bit of dignity to the public discussion.

And he hopes he'll make it a safer world for candor, one fine day.