Branch Rickey Called It ‘Addition by Subtraction’

Don’t ya’ll think this election thing has done got out of hand! There are people running for president that I’ve never heard of. And, after listening to some “back and forth” amongst this gang, I realize why we’ve never heard of them! It is rhetoric on top of rhetoric, mostly pointing out what the other fellow DOESN’T have to offer. To make matters worse, the ones we have heard of don’t seem to be making enough sense to separate themselves from the pack. 

I hope and pray my candidate hasn’t announced yet.

I remember years back when the chairman of the deacons at our church died. The church never bothered to appoint another one. Most folks declare to this day that was the best year the church ever had. Attendance was up. Baptisms increased by leaps and bounds. The choir never sounded better. The Haskin brothers had a “reconciliation”. Sister Crowley got up one Sunday and testified. And the sheaves just kept on pouring in……

You reckon that could work on a national level.

Daddy got mad at the guy heading up one of the car dealerships in town. This was in the late ’50’s and it had to do with some work done on his truck. Suffice it to say they didn’t fix it to Dad’s satisfaction. When the owner wouldn’t “make it right”, Dad went after him with a monkey wrench. After they finally got some semblance of order restored, Dad declared that “NOBODY would be better than what they had running this outfit”!

Now, there is some food for thought.  

But it would present some serious problems. If we didn’t have a president half the people in the world wouldn’t have anybody to complain about. Who would throw out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals’ home opener? Who would slant the State of the Union address to make themselves look good? Who would take those expensive vacation trips at the taxpayers’ expense?

Y. D. Moore was the mayor in McKenzie, Tennessee, when I was a boy. I don’t think he ever ran for the office. I know he never came to our house and ask for a vote. I never saw a sign saying “Vote for Y D” stuck in anybody’s yard. And if he had’a put some kind of announcement of his impending election on television, if would have done him absolutely no good in three/fourths of the houses in town!

I never heard him give a speech. I never saw him cut a ribbon. If they had a town hall meeting, I was too young to attend. He didn’t go to the football games on Friday nights. I’m not sure where he went to church. He would wave to us when we passed his house on our way to the picture show. And he did introduce Jim Alexander who introduced Governor Frank Clement when he spoke from the “Banner” balcony overlooking the square.   

But mostly Mr. Moore stayed out of the way. I’m not saying he wasn’t important. I’m not saying he didn’t play a role in our city. And I’m certainly not saying he was just a figurehead or inept in any form or fashion. He just seemed content to visit a little at the barber shop and sit in on a few checker games up at the park bench across from Freeman’s Menswear.     

In short, he didn’t do a whole lot of governing. But that was exactly what we needed at the time! We had about the best run town on the planet. Everybody seemed to get along. We had electricity and water piped right out to our house. Police Chief Aaron Pinson kept order with a smile and a friendly word. Most of the roads as you got close to town were paved. The Fourth of July parade was something to behold. I’m telling you with my hand up, the sun shined on us year ’round!

If America was run half as good as that today, we’d be applauding every president we’ve ever had…….and we wouldn’t be shaking our collective heads about what to do with the upcoming election. Now, you can say “it’s a bit more complicated today,”, “no way those 1950 tactics could work in 2015”, “you’re being silly and unrealistic”, “get your head out of the sand”…..

But why couldn’t less government be a viable option. Why and how did it get so big and complicated? Who let that happen?

Let me tell you something, if Y. D. Moore was fixing to get us into a war with Huntingdon, if he was hinting at raising taxes, if he “executive ordered” something the town didn’t like, why my Daddy would have been charging his house with a monkey wrench faster than you could say, “Recall”. And Aaron Pinson would have been right behind him, followed closely by Chandler King, J. A. Abernathy, Robert Hall and the whole rest of the town!

I think back on it now and realize….. I don’t know to this day if Mr. Moore was a Democrat or a Republican.

How refreshing!

Respectfully,
Kes

*Previously published in the August 15, 2015 Edition.