On this day that we honor the veterans of our nation's Armed Forces, in war time and in peace, it is fitting that we recall that many Tennesseans are currently in harm's way in Afghanistan and Iraq, and in other places around the world. During the last week of the Legislative session, I recall being on the House floor when Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver got up to sing God Bless America, and the occassion brought to mind that many veterans were right there in that chamber where I was sitting. Because of their sacrifice, Tennessee is not only blessed with a legislative body that meets openly and freely, but can meet without fear that an overbearing executive might try to dissolve them without their approval. In many countries, legislative bodies are mere puppets for the executive. In some places, legislatures have met or are meeting underground because they can't have a truly free election to meet in public.
We are blessed with this privilege and right because an American veteran fought somewhere in the world that we might today be free.
As of yet, I can't be locked away for being openly critical of the President, or of Governor Bredesen, or of our Members of Congress or the General Assembly. While I am well aware that there are many people both inside and outside of government who wish that I were locked away in a closet somewhere to be shut up, I am not because a soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine took a bullet that paid for my right to speak out.
Most people are aware of the "tea party" protests around the country, and the President would love the partiers to go away. You don't have to because some boys at Lexington and Concord were so tired of a government that tried to shut them up that they opened fire on its soldiers and faced the wrath of what in those days was the most awesome power on earth so we could freely choose not to have the will of government imposed on us.
The raising of the flag on Iwo Jima (Photo: The National Archives)
We don't have to shut up because some men and women at Anzio, the Kasserine Pass, the Ardennes, at Midway, at Bataan, and at Iwo Jima (just to name a few) fought so that we did not have to live according to the whims of a fanatic in Berlin or a suicidal Japanese Prime Minister Tojo.
Men and women fight today to keep us safe from terrorists like the very one who shot and killed the men and women at Fort Hood. Thank a veteran today, because the freedoms you have are the freedoms they won for you.
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