The county and village I live in is known to be Republican. At least I thought so. In the past eighteen months I have suspected that a couple of new actions by our mayor have been under the guise of “for the good of the people.” To me that is code used by leftist big government to cover actions taken to remove liberty from their loyal subjects.
I am currently president of a local service club that is seventy-seven years old. The club is dedicated to serving the community. For the past thirty-eight years the club has held a raffle to raise money. A large percentage of the funds return directly to community members or organizations. A much smaller percentage leaves the community to fund disaster relief like the three hurricanes that demolished Houston, Florida, and Puerto Rico last year.
The raffle prize in the beginning was a Cadillac automobile. With inflation and poor economies the Cadillac became a Chevy, then the Chevy turned into a cash prize. From the beginning the tickets sold for twenty dollars which was the equivalent of a hundred dollars in today’s dollar. Today the same twenty dollar bill is the new fiver. Our raffle still limits the number of tickets sold, but since I have been a member we have never sold all of the tickets. Last year we came within twenty of reaching the goal.
We hold the raffle every year at a special dance. The raffle ticket is also your entrance ticket to the dance. It is a very nice community affair attended by friends and neighbors. It is a great time. At the same time the Chamber of Commerce runs a world class craft fair that brings thousands of people to the town over a three day weekend celebrating the waning of summer. The entire event, that of my club and the craft fair is a huge party. Every night the special tent set up for the party is filled to capacity with many happy citizens listening to popular bands and drinking beer. The proceeds from the sale of beer funds many community organizations like Boys baseball, Girls Soccer, the Band Boosters, Church Ladies Club, etc. all of them rely heavily on the proceeds to run successful programs
Last year the venue management which was made up of volunteers from the organizations that benefitted from the earnings disbanded at the last minute. Rumor has it that Dear Leader spent considerable effort to inform these local organizations that the liability they carry upon their shoulders for mishaps that may happen as a result of their volunteer workers pouring and serving beer may bankrupt them. The litigation that could result would be a disaster. The venue leaders ran away terrified of financial ruin.
Dear Leader rode in on his charging white stallion dressed in shiny armor to save the day with a plan in hand. The plan did away with using uncertified-licensed volunteers to pour beer. A professional management company will do that from now on, and they will carry the burden of liability. After all it is a state law that we will do that because it is for the good of the people.
Our club survived, but at the expense of three thousand dollars less in our till. That is a huge amount of money taken away from serving the community (which by the way is a lot like doing it for the good of the people, except we do it for fun not for control). Nevertheless, we survived.
Today, we are six days away from holding our raffle, tickets sales are crappy. We are getting feedback that community members didn’t like Dear Leader’s planned event, and they will no longer attend (why they want to stop supporting our club is another matter they don’t explain).
Yesterday, I opened an E-mail from one of our members who is also the Chief Constable. He was alarming me to get a permit to hold a raffle. Without a permit, the raffle is not legal, and as such can become a liability for the perpetrators. “Where the hell did that come from?” I asked, after slowly oozing down from the ceiling. The answer was: the Village passed an ordinance last year to comply with a State law, it is for the good of the people, and Dear Leader wants to do nothing to bring harm to the people.
My take on this matter is that slowly we the people are losing ground and our liberties are being taken away from us. It is an evolution of government. Illinois is more socialist, excuse me I meant to say more democrat than California. The difference is that we have ordinary people living here and California has a large colony of entertainers who believe we should all bow before them. Instead, we have a colony of politicians who believe the same thing, but they don’t act in movies. Illinois is so socialistic and controlling that those in charge can be referred to as “Dear Leader.” For those who can not decipher my code Dear Leader is the facetious title given to the Mono-leader of North Korea who truly believes everyone in his country belongs to him and their very lives are the result of him and his all knowing, all loving, all embracing administration.
Evolution:
The gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form, like from limited government to huge complex overly burdened bureaucratic government. It stinks even when it is in a small town like mine and my fellow neighbors are swallowing it hook, line, and sinker.
Filed under: Conservative, family, Government, politics, Sarcasm | Tagged: Dear Leader, Evolution, Liberty |
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