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A
Second Letter to Kilgore
It's
been a tough summer, hasn't it? That squabble with
your mama... Electronic eaves-
dropping...
The BIG money... Where do I begin?
Dear
Jerry:
Sorry I’ve been neglecting you in what is surely your
summer of discontent.
Did you ever read Steinbeck’s The Winter
of Our Discontent?
It’s a classic.
But, hey, he’s got nothing on you.
I need to ‘fess up here. Every
time I think I won’t have a compelling topic for
this weekly column, all I have to do is turn the
dial to the Kilgore Channel and — boom — there
it is. Thank
you for that.
You’ve been busy. Where
to start?
Let’s get this one out of the way first.
What’s with
that squabble with your mama, Willie Mae, and
her sister, Betty, and folks back home?
(I love that name, Willie Mae.
A good southern name.)
I tell you my thinking on it.
It’s a sorry day in public service when
somebody like you is not even allowed to run the
courthouse gang in your own hometown.
What’s public service coming to?
Seems the board of supervisors wanted to trim your mama’s
budget. (I
love that name, Willie Mae.)
Thank God we had your brother — and my friend — Terry
to sort that out for us.
Took about a week, but Terry finally got to
the core of the issue.
“Politics was involved,” Terry said.
Imagine that.
Of course there’s always some Steinbeckian hero who steps
forward in these things. Said
supervisor Paul Fields, a Democrat:
“Nobody’s ever fought these people
before. They’ve
done what they wanted.”
Don’t you love it? The
Grapes of Wrath got nothing on Gate City.
Rut-row. The
Daily Press reports this week on its editorial
page that John Gregory, that Tennessee
pharmaceutical fat-cat, has given you $325,000 —
directly or through an investment company — since
2001.
And now, don’t you know it, the Securities and Exchange
Commission and the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, are looking to see if Gregory and
his outfit followed the rules on pricing drugs for
the Medicaid insurance program.
I hope all your ducks are in a row on that one, Jerry.
I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
Just keep saying over and over that
everything is on the up and up, that there’s
nothing wrong and… well Jerry… it just looks…
well… you know how it looks.
And will this eavesdropping case ever go away?
Hope it does. I’m
getting tired of reading about it.
How about you?
I’m with you on this: The
Democrats are just being perfect butts about the
whole thing. I
mean, good grief, the first time in years than
anybody was interested in what a bunch of Democrats
had to say, and now they’re suing ‘cause folks
were listening in?
What’s with that?
Folks get so caught up in this stuff called the "law."
You’re the Attorney General, you know how it is.
Good for you for offering that two week squeal
window. I know
squealing doesn’t come natural to you, but good
for you for offering.
Say, how’s the campaign going?
You still got time for that with all this
other stuff going on?
I hope so. I
know you don’t feel like it some days, but keep
your chin up. Remember:
"Eyes on the Prize."
In the end, maybe all of this aggravation will be worth it.
Just think of the perks, the glamour!
Hey, how ‘bout that afterlife?
Look at Doug!
Maybe when this is all over, you can be mayor of Gate City.
Surely, that would put the fear of God in
that Mr. Fields.
Hate to cut this short, but gotta go.
Stay in touch.
Say "hay" to Willie Mae.
Best.
BKD
-- August
23, 2004
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