Letter Sent to Dixie Stampede

It occurred to while I was reading an article in Sunday's The Mountain Press, "Child Molestation trials to start", that, I believe, The Knoxville News Sentinel has reported that the accused Armando Martinez Gonzalez is illegal. That being true and since securing our borders is such a hot topic in the news it might be good for Dixie Stampede to explain your policy on hiring illegals and how extensively you verify the legality of hiring an individual.

The Mountain Press reported Gonzalez will go to trial separately for each charge. That means his case is going to be in the newspaper and on television for many weeks if not for many months and maybe a year or so. Imagine the bad publicity for Dixie Stampede at all locations.

You may recall the following situation 25 years ago.

In 1982, Johnson and Johnson experienced a major crisis when it was discovered
that numerous bottles of its Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules had been laced with
cyanide. By the end of the crisis, seven people had died. How Johnson and
Johnson dealt with this situation set a new precedent for crisis management. The
company was lauded for its quick decisions and sincere
concern for its consumers. Despite initial losses, Johnson and Johnson regained
and exceeded its previous market share within months of the
incident.

Actions of the CEO and other senior management were a
major part of the corporate reaction and eventually to the recovery of
reputation and market share.

Only you and Armando Martinez Gonzalez know what really happened. It has been reported he does not speak English so for Dixie Stampede to put him a situation where he is one on one with your guests is most problematic.

As President Harry S Truman said, "The buck stops here." Where does the buck stop for Dixie Stampede?

Dixie Stampede, and its owners, have a very short window of opportunity to show yourself a community leader or that you are more interested in keeping hourly rates artificially low by hiring criminals.

Religious Beliefs Have No Place In Government

The 1st amendment to the Constitution prohibits congress from “making laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Most of those involved with developing the Constitution believed in God or a higher power of some sort. Most were not “church goers.” Prior to the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War there was financial penalty for those who did not attend the “official” church, that being the Church of England. The Constitution left open the possibility of that being continued thus, in 1791, the 1st Amendment. Thus today people talk of separation of church and state, which is nowhere found in the Constitution.

Religious convictions and beliefs have no place in government. Hopefully a religious person who chooses to indulge in politics brings from their religion, ethics, morality, and honesty nothing more. Sevier County politicians,as well as those in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville might want to take note.

Claiming religious conviction, our President is unwilling to permit the sacrifice of embryos in an attempt to improve the lives of American citizens but is willing to sacrifice the lives of American citizens, some against their will, in an attempt (futile as it is) to improve the lives of people who hate us and hate those being sacrificed and who will, whenever possible, persecute us because of our religious convictions.

If a member of the Muslim religion becomes a person of influence in our government I do not want them applying their religious convictions concerning women or religious conversions or honor killings. I want them to apply laws and the Constitution not the Koran.

Referencing the Saturday, June 16, The Mountain Press Political View cartoon that quotes Mitt Romney as saying "I can't imagine anything more awful than polygamy;" in the drawing the voters are shown to be saying, "Please tell me 'nuclear annihilation at the hands of terrorists' is a close second." My guess is most of us can think of many things much worse than polygamy even though we do not believe it to be right. I do not want a member of the Mormon religion applying their religious convictions concerning marriage. I want them to apply laws and the Constitution, not the book of Mormon, or Pearl of Great Price etc.

Beware of politicians who wear their religion as a badge. A religious person should bring morals, ethics, and honesty to government, nothing more.

Letter Sent to Tennessee Federal Senators and Senate Majority Leader

With all the talk of earmarks and how much they cost the American taxpayer, don’t let the talk discourage you. Someone---Ben Franklin, perhaps---said that democracy will survive only until the people discover they can vote themselves money from the national treasury. We in Tennessee have you.

Will Rogers is alleged to have said “we should elect the local thief and send him to rob Washington.” We in Tennessee have sent you. As you, our government representative, achieve seniority you have more opportunities to give something to us, and we don’t care how you do it, so we elect you again and again and again. The idea of a professional representative was foreign to the men who began this country.

Priorities in public office are: first: take care of ones self; second: take care of the people who provided money; and last, if it does not negatively affect the other two priorities, help the voter.

A definition of a "professional" politician is “one who is more interested in securing their own lifetime career in office through repeated re-election than in fulfilling the duties of their elected office.” As a professional you are more interested in your own re-election, and are willing to subvert the Constitution in order to use the public treasury to buy blocks of votes from the public. “Professional" politicians such as yourself have converted our "republic" into a democracy by surrogates. Where the Founders envisioned statesmen winning elections based on principles, unhampered by term limits and with the entire US treasury at their disposal, "professional" politicians began the wholesale buying of various blocks of voters.

You are a fine example and are proving the rule so keep up the good work….