Veterans, Sacrifice and Perspective

Three recent events remind me of the sacrifice that others have made in service to our country and this community. First, I visited the Disabled American Veterans group and was much impressed with their optimism. They are looking forward to a better future for this country while forever joined by the memory of their past sacrifice. My father was a member of that greatest generation of Americans who fought in World War II and returned home to join their spouses in building this country into an economic giant. One of the DAV remembered my dad as a young lawyer in the 1940s. A second event, put me face to face with a man who in 1938 witnessed the deadly violence which accompanied the unionization of the Aluminium Company of America. He was a child and his father was a Union leader and the memories of dynamite bombings, the siege of the Union Hall and the neighborhood men sleeping on his porch to protect his family remain vivid. The pride over his father's bravery is still evident after sixty years. The third event occurred when I recently had the privilege of excusing a young Iraq War Veteran from jury duty for medical reasons. The young man approached the front of the jury pool room ready to serve but still visibly unsteady from the effects of the war. May God bless all of our fellow citizens who show up in service of their country and their beliefs.

The official Blount County Republican Party Website dramatically states that removing me from the Judgeship in which I am so diligently working to serve all of Blount County affects the future. In fact, about beating me, the website says: "Our future depends on it." I am not sure to whom the "our" refers, but I am certain that my working to be fair and impartial in every aspect of a judicial job does not jeopardize anyone's future. My opponent retains his Sessions Court Judgeship if he loses in the election. The County has a more balanced Government if I win and one more lawyer if I lose. Where's the beef? Each time I want to complain about the sacrifice which politics require, I vow to remember those others who have been asked and have given above and beyond the call of duty.