YOU CAN'T PLEASE EVERYONE

In a drama my family and I perform the opening words of a young lady, as she rings a bell are, " The Convention is over." The question is then asked, "what have you given us a republic or a monarchy?" To which I, as Benjamin Franklin, reply, "A republic, ma'am, if you can keep it" (critics will challenge the authenticity of the previous statement, but the principle is valid). The convention to which she is referring is the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

As I read the Ashe Mountain Times of April 14, 2011 I was treated to a summary of another convention. That jewel was the "Ashe County Democratic Party Convention." Now it needs to be understood that, as Americans, we have the right to assemble. But what comes out for public consumption is fair game.

According to the Times the keynote speaker Rev. John Duvall "...goes on the attack..." and the tea parties were his target of choice. Fair enough. Yea First Amendment. However, Rev. Duvall is a little lean on the facts. He accused the, "GOP-TEA Parties," as being, ....."hell bent on wrecking this nation." He continued, "Trust me, I am in my eighth decade and I have never seen or heard of anything like we have going on in North Carolina, in Ashe County and in every state."

There you have it folks. The GOP-TEA Parties are the Bogey-Man and our country had better beware.

As Rev. Duvall stated, he is either an octogenarian or working on it and as such he should certainly know about FDR, who tried to pack the Supreme Court, LBJ who ushered in a boondoggle "Great Society," Jimmy "Trust Me" (where have I heard that?) Carter who grew great peanuts, Bill Clinton, who didn't know the meaning of "IS", and Obama, well he can sure read a teleprompter.

Rev. Duvall has "...never seen or heard..." well, I have. It happened in the mid to latter half of the eighteenth century and was an uprising against a tyrannical King and Parliament. And now it's time again.

And, by the way, the next time Duvall wants "50 black folks" to attend his convention, let me know, the tea party has 100s of thousands and I'm sure 50 would pop in for a chat as long as they aren't required to stay.