George Rebane

Where but in America can a poor immigrant boy just off the boat (in 1949) have the privilege of hosting his Congressman, along with many friends and neighbors, for a lunch at his house?  That is where over forty of us welcomed Congressman Tom McClintock and some of his staff for an al fresco affair under the trees on this warm day with a thankful breeze that kept the air moving.

Last spring Kim Pruett, Tom’s field rep in Nevada County, invited us to put on this little do, and then did a great job in helping get the word out and getting the congressman here on time.  Jo Ann and I are twenty-year fans and supporters of Tom, and we got a little excited about this gig.  Our previous experience was hosting candidates who spoke to smaller groups inside our house.  For us this was big stuff, and, as always, my sweetie-pie rose to the occasion.  Lots of discussions about alternative signage, sitting arrangements, food, drink, trash, parking of cars, it all came together – Ike would have been proud.

In the end, the thing was set up as Jo Ann wanted it, and when the all the folks arrived, they did pretty much what they wanted anyway.  It all worked out beautifully, thanks to the crew of stalwarts who arrived early to help, and help they did.  Thanks to all and to those who brought even more goodies.  It was a real neighborhood deal.

After everybody loaded their plates and sat down, Congressman Tom gave us an overview of some of the battles going on in Congress, especially with the recent action on the Waxman-Markey (cap n’ tax) bill and the upcoming healthcare legislation.  As always, Tom’s encyclopedic knowledge of American history and who’s on first was very impressive.  Then came the Q&A and group discussion part.

At our house, we don’t cotton much to daisy talk – never have, never will.  And today was no different.  If the congressman thought he was going to have a relaxed lunch fielding a few softballs from the gathered, he must be having some words with Kim Pruett right about now.  Because the Republican Party is on its collective butt, the questions on what to do next came hard and heavy.  Republican leadership did extra duty in the cross-hairs.

For my part, I brought up the calamitous situation with the country’s workforce – most of whom have a hard time competitively selling their labor in a global economy.  I talked about this to the county’s Republican Central Committee last month (details here) and wanted to get a dialogue started with the congressman on how this should affect Republican strategy.  To be fair, that was a tough hardball to field in this large of a group.  Tom took the position that the American worker would regain his competitive edge if only the various levels of government would get out of his way (his=her and all that).  It was not the time or place to delve deeper.  But deeper we will delve, and I will report on how this issue settles with our representative in Congress.

Many of our friends are to-the-last-breath liberals, and a few of them took the opportunity to be exposed at close quarters to a Republican politician.  One of these friends had an opportunity to introduce, with an amplified preamble, her question about America’s social conscience and its response to the sick and needy.  The result was a classical stand-off of conservative vs socialist values.  Not sure either side informed the other, but as I said before, this was not just daisy talk under the trees among the choir members.

Bottom line – we all witnessed and participated in another expression of liberty and democracy in action.  We are still a privileged people and a privileged nation.

(For more in-depth blow-by-blow, I direct your attention to my friend Russ Steele’s NC MediaWatch.)