Slouching Toward Tragedy

I wasn’t completely surprised by the outcome of English first vote. By the time the final vote rolled around, it was mostly symbolic, and it’s not hard to see that Mr. Crafton was forced to expend a great deal of political capital in order to save face. I expected those with nativist leanings to chime in afterward, and sure enough they did. But the post that got to me was Kleinheiders insistence that the opponents of this bill were only motivated by money. I don’t live in Nashville. I don’t own or operate a business there. Nashville property taxes could go through the roof, and it wouldn’t affect me one bit. This doesn’t mean that I am unconcerned by how the city is perceived around the world, particularly because I would like to see more diversity in Tennessee, but whether or not we lose a bid for a convention center or ball club isn’t important to me. What this bill represents, quite clearly, is that far too many Metro Council members lack the courage to actually lead. To be fair, that seems to be a problem throughout the State. Punitive measure after punitive measure is proposed, because it’s easier to appease an ignorant constituency than it is to educate them, and, well, lead. The snake oil salesmen that grace our radio airwaves will see this as a victory, and it will embolden them to continue the constant barrage of hateful rhetoric. So, the people trapped in their cars, commuting to and from the jobs they hate, and already gripping the steering wheel so hard their knuckles are white, will be a captive, and somewhat willing audience for those that seek to de-humanize those here without documents. They are not portrayed as fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, co-workers, neighbors, or even fellow consumers. Instead, they are demonized as disease carrying vermin, whose sole purpose here is to take your job, lower your property value, infest your local hospital, and pee on your lawn. Then, weak and cowardly elected leaders will see this as an opportunity to appease their “base”, and the one-up-man-ship begins. Eventually, someone like Daniel Shertz emerges, except maybe next time he’s not caught before he can commit murder. When that day comes, everyone, elected official, radio personality, or ordinary citizen that didn’t educate themselves and those around them about this dangerous, slippery slope will be partly responsible. It continues to amaze me that this happens in a State where there are so many self-proclaimed Christians. I believe that Scripture is pretty clear on this issue. Someone please feel free to point out where in the Bible it says to belittle, exploit, and de-humanize the strangers among us, and I’ll retract. So, Kleinheider, believe it or not, many of us “compassionate elite” are wholly unconcerned about how this affects our pocketbooks. You, Sir, are smart enough to know this, are the page hits that important?