And Yet Another Open Letter to Ron Ramsey

Dear Ron,

Man, you did a good job picking a communications guy, because I don’t remember hearing from you half this much when you were, oh, running for governor. Now, I know, we already discussed how you have put that unfortunate business out of your mind, but let’s just sum it up by saying that you were the scary crazy guy who grew more coherent the longer you talked, there was another scary crazy guy who grew less coherent the longer he talked, and Dana Carvey, all lining up to take on a Democrat who seemed perpetually disconcerted and tired after waking from being put on ice 50 years ago. (“Wait, Democrats like gay people now?”). You didn’t win.

But, I’m writing not to pick on you. Well, okay, not solely to pick on you.

I’m writing to commend you on standing up against the Governor’s “Let’s just let some appointed smart guys tell us what to do about meth” plan. You’re scary and often incoherent and I’m not sure you’ve actually thought through a lot of what you say, but you are an elected official in a representative democracy. And you get that. It is your job and the jobs of your colleagues, all of whom are accountable to whoever bothers to vote, to craft the laws the govern us.

Letting a commission make laws?

It’s not just, as you say, that the proposal “abrogates our authority to those commissioners and I have a little problem with that,” it’s that the proposal abrogates the authority of the voters, removing lawmaking from the realm of public debate and accountability.

I’m sure it’s easier to run a benevolent dictatorship than an unruly republic, but Haslam didn’t get voted in to run a benevolent dictatorship.

I don’t know if he quite gets that.

So, I am grateful for your efforts to remind him.

Love,

b.