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Dalton
Roberts |
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I really liked Billy Long and thought he would be a great sheriff. He worked extremely hard to get elected. I don’t go to hear many politicians speak but I went to hear him a few weeks ago when he spoke to the Southeast Tennessee Political Action Committee (SETPAC). He talked about all the progressive things he was working on and, yes, I was impressed. Now if half of what the FBI says they have on audio and videotapes is true, I feel I have been sucker-punched by a friend or stabbed in the back by someone I trusted. One thing is definitely clear: I no longer think he is smart enough to be sheriff. The “cooperating witness” had a pocket full of carrots and every time he dangled a new one under Lung’s nose, the tapes report that he chomped down on it. Some of those schemes looked wild and goofy to me. Bear in mind that the cooperating witness was a felon and the sheriff knew it. Who in his right mind would trust a convicted felon that way? So many people suffer when an elected person sells out the public interest. Those who voted for him feel betrayed. We can only imagine how those in his inner circle are embarrassed. The only ones who feel good about it are his enemies (personal and political) and some of them may be so principled that they grieve over the damage to the community. Politicians must realize they are held to a higher standard simply because they answer to all the people. If you work for a small company and are dishonest, you may hurt less than a dozen people. When thousands of people go in a booth and punch a hole by your name, each one will be wounded by your dishonesty. Some of the people I know who openly supported Long have almost cried as they talked to me about the case. Some are angry. They have a right to be angry. They went to the mat for a man who apparently sold their hard work and confidence for a handful of carrots. The money he is said to have received in payoffs pales when you realize that his salary could have made him a millionaire if he had simply done his job well and been re-elected a couple of times. The people seldom turn out an elected official who performs well and tells them the truth. Multiply his salary times 12 years of service (three terms) and you will realize the truth I am speaking. It spotlights the truth George Washington spoke, “Honesty in states as well as individuals will ever be found to be the best policy.” I know how juicy some of the fruits can look when they are dangled in the face of an elected official. Once a wealthy man offered me one of those deals. I said, “I decided when I got this job to not do anything that I could not look my Mama and Daddy in the eye and relate to them.” There is a transcendent richness beyond the financial. It is the inner knowledge of knowing you have been honest with the people’s business. It’s a richness you will possess the rest of your life and a comfort when you die. As politicians do their jobs, they need to think of things like a little widow on Social Security who doesn’t find it easy to pay her taxes. They need to behave as if the eyes of little school children are on them at all times. These are very sacred things. They control the destiny of our nation. We are strong enough to stand almost anything except greed, corruption and prostituted power in high places. A lot of hearts are broken. I hope one of those is Billy Long’s. If so, there’s hope for the man.
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