No Tax-Funded Abductions

“Tennesseans need to remind elected officials they work for us, not the feds, because if constitutional protections don’t apply to the most vulnerable of us, then they don’t apply to any of us.”

That’s Ren Brabenec describing our situation in the beautiful state of Tennessee.

“As we’ve said from the beginning, we want to be a willing partner with the federal government to remove criminals from our streets, and to the degree that they have an action we want to be a part of that.”

That’s our governor Bill Lee. That “we” sounds dirty to me. He isn’t speaking for hardly anyone I know or can think of. I am not good with our masked feds putting their hands on our people in Nashville with the assistance of our Tennessee Highway Patrol. I am not convinced that hardly any member of our Tennessee Highway Patrol is good with it either. Nevertheless, Bill Lee persists with his weaponized “we,” helpfully notifying each of us concerning what he’s good with. Data point.

Perhaps he believes he has no choice but to characterize his decision to side with this president (47) no matter what as something “we’ve said from the beginning.” In that case, were he listening to me, I’d want to tell him he does have a choice (Governor Lee, you have a choice). He doesn’t have to compel our troopers to pull people over and show their faces on camera while assisting in these horrors. He doesn’t have to tie his family’s public legacy and what we might call Tennessee’s brand into his own personal decisions.

Bill Lee’s hands aren’t tied. Ours aren’t either. By “ours,” I refer to anyone who wishes to be counted an active member of civil society. I also have in mind we, the people of the United States of America, which includes we, the free people of the beautiful state of Tennessee. Most of us aren’t beholden to Republican party leadership and its donor base the way Bill Lee appears to be. Free line for Bill Lee and other Republican high rollers in Tennessee whose values include (or might come to include) a commitment to due process: “I don’t serve the Trump administration. I don’t serve the Republican party. I serve the safety and well-being of the free people of Tennessee.”

“If I allow my identity as Governor to come before my identity in Jesus Christ, then I will have failed.” That’s Bill Lee bringing Jesus of Nazareth into his self-description. I am not sure what he means by this. His behavior in recent years suggests to me that the teachings of Jesus and the prophets are largely lost on him. If he imagines the blood of Jesus renders him forever unaccountable for the terror he reigns down on others with his signature, I hope someone he trusts will tell him he’s catastrophically mistaken. Again, Governor Lee, you have a choice. May the love of God help you overcome your fear. I’m serious.

“Good government matters…Good government starts with politicians who are more concerned about the people they serve than serving their own political ends.” That’s Bill Haslam speaking from a book on my shelf. I think good government starts with love sweet love and self-respect and folks assuming responsibility for their own words and deeds and spending, but yes, serve the people. Serve the people!

No tax-funded abductions. Stop the coup. Stay safe, y’all.