Tourist "development" vs. Armed Forces Day

State bureaucrat snubs soldiers -- and his bosses

By Tom Kovach

I don't write "hit pieces" very often. In fact, the only other ones that I've written all centered upon one man that single-handedly lied to Congress (about the anthrax vaccine), lied to the world (about the crash of United Flight 93), lied to the American voters (about the military record of President George W. Bush), and then — illegally — became a high-paid federal lobbyist. I've written several columns that highlight the misdeeds of Major General Paul A. Weaver, Jr., (ANG, retired). What can get me angry enough to write a "hit piece"? Read on.

I'm irritated. This should come as no surprise to my regular readers, because irritations are the usual cause of my need to fire another group of Short Bursts. (Originally, this column was going to be just one "burst" of several. But, as the details spilled out onto the screen, I decided to devote an entire column to this one topic.)

I'm typing this at 0500 (that's 5am, for civilians) on Saturday, 20 May 2006, which is Armed Forces Day this year. I should be sleeping, but I'm too irritated, because the local news media has totally ignored publicity of the AFD celebration that will happen in a few hours. (That point is no surprise to my regular readers.) I did not organize the event. But, the organizer did invite me to speak. (And, because others cancelled, I will now be the only speaker. No pressure there — ha! Fort Campbell is only an hour from downtown. Nashville is the state capital; therefore, home to several Guard and Reserve units, including the state headquarters. The Adjutant General is the father of a powerful state representative, who once interviewed me for a staff job. The day also coincides with the opening of the "early harvest" sale at the adjacent Farmers' Market, which is another tourism magnet. "No pressure, no pressure, breathe, breathe....")

As part of the celebration, there will be two reenactments of World War Two battles. There will be reenactors from almost every war in American history. Some of them will be giving "living history" presentations. Many of the reenactors got started as a way to honor their fathers, or perhaps their family's participation in historic battles. Some of these reenactors will travel hundreds of miles to participate. It's an expensive "hobby," but they get their satisfaction from seeing the faces of the troops that they honor.

It is precisely because Nashville is the state capital that I'm so irritated. The celebration is planned for Bicentennial Mall State Park — which starts literally across the street from the State Capitol, and stretches for about half a mile. Any visitor to Nashville should spend at least an hour walking the "Tennessee Timeline" and the "Tennessee History Wall" there. The entire focus of the park is state history, geography, and culture. It's done with style and taste; of course ... this is Nashville. History, culture, and style — those are things that help to make Nashville a "capital" of tourism, right?

Oh, did I say tourism?

Because the local news media does a thorough job of ignoring things with a conservative agenda (unless they can spin it to find a foamy-mouthed radical aspect), I helped out the organizer with a little "guerilla marketing." I've become pretty adept at that over the years. That's how I managed to be on the political radar at all. So, I sent out some announcements to people that I thought would be interested in telling other people about the Armed Forces Day celebration to honor the troops that protect us. (The purpose of Armed Forces Day, which is distinct from Memorial Day and Veterans' Day, is the topic of my speech.) Those announcements went out to leaders and Public Information specialists at key departments in state government; specifically, departments that have higher numbers of Reservists and veterans working in them. (And, to avoid any "spam" legal problems, I did not even mention that I was the speaker.)

I only got one reply to those messages. (And, I wasn't expecting any replies. I simply wanted those people to forward the announcement to people within their departments, to make them aware of a patriotic activity that they might find interesting.) The one person that replied sent a single, terse sentence. "please remove me from this list" [sic]. But, I think that readers — hopefully including Governor Bredesen, to whom I will send this column — would find it interesting just who sent that message.

The sender was Cullen Earnest, the Legislative Liaison for the state's Department of Tourist Development! That department is supposed to be interested in the promotion of tourist-attracting events! Now, given the factors in the second paragraph of this column, a reasonable person would expect that the department would want to know about an event such as Armed Forces Day. Right? But, wait, there's more!

Here in Tennessee, this is primary season in an election year. The state's primary elections will be held on the 3rd of August. (I'm unopposed in the primary; so, I'm only trying to be helpful to other candidates.) Thus, a reasonable person would expect a legislative liaison to have enough political savvy to know that politicians want to find large gatherings, so that they can meet people. Right? And, even though the state's House of Representatives is controlled by the party that I oppose, I still thought that — in the interests of fair play, and to draw more people to honor our troops by their presence — sending such a message to the legislative liaison would be a means of getting important elected officials out to a gathering where they could meet and greet both soldier and citizen alike. Sounds reasonable, right? Apparently, not to Cullen Earnest, who "earnestly" does not want any more messages from me. (Hey, Cullen, if I get elected to Congress, I don't plan to send you any!)

What has me galled the most, though, is the thought that some soldier might have had an opportunity to meet an official that they otherwise might not have met. Many an important legislative item has been sparked by a "chance" meeting, a handshake, a whispered concern. (I personally did that with candidate George Pataki, at the 1994 Conservative Party convention, when I urged him to oppose abortion if he got elected as Governor of New York. Obviously, he didn't care. But, I made the point with a handshake.) Our citizen-soldiers in the Guard and Reserve don't have as many opportunities to get their elected officials' ears, because they work two jobs. (Admittedly, in today's economy, so do a lot of people. But, while working in some warehouse, Joe Sixpack doesn't usually have a front-line opportunity to participate in the unfolding of history.)

So, thanks to one state bureaucrat, Cullen Earnest, who doesn't seem to appreciate the nuances of his job, dozens of his own bosses on Capitol Hill will also miss out on being informed about the opportunity to meet those troops. In that little exchange of e-mail, everybody lost: the soldiers, the elected officials, the reenactors, the other spectators (who might also have expected to see some elected officials at an event such as Armed Forces Day), and the organizers.

I don't get paid for writing these columns. I don't get paid for running a political campaign. I didn't get paid to try and help out the organizers of this Armed Forces Day celebration. The organizers don't get paid. The reenactors don't get paid. The only person mentioned in this column that gets paid for their role in the events described here is the one person that did nothing — and doesn't want to be told about any other events, either! If that makes you as irritated as it made me, you can call Cullen Earnest's boss, Commissioner Susan Whitaker. You can also call Governor Phil Bredesen — especially if you are a tourist that would've come from out-of-state, if you had known about the Armed Forces Day celebration. (That applies double if your are a military family from the Kentucky side of Fort Campbell.)

I'll let you know more about how this plays out in a future column.

© Tom Kovach