The Commies are coming...

Well, I guess we should have known that in November 2008, but that's beside the point.  Apparently, pinkos have been emboldened since one of their own was elected to the highest office in the land.

Comes now news that Lynchburg, Tennessee, the storied home of a certain popular libation (marketed with the imprimatur Lem Motlow, Proprietor), is faced with some budget woes.

Who isn't these days? 

The town, like other cities, counties, states, and the federal government, apparently has problems funding its schools and infrastructure repairs.

But a Lynchburg resident is now trying to get the town council to slap a $10/barrel tax on the output of the town's largest employer, because, “We are entitled to more money from the only industry in the county – Jack Daniel’s distillery,” said Charles Rogers, a 75-year-old retiree and self-described “concerned citizen” of Moore County.

This sounds a lot like William Francis "Willie" Sutton Jr.'s justification for robbing banks: "Because that's where the money is."¹

Mr. Rogers goes on to attempt to rationalize his expropriation scheme by suggesting that the distiller's marketing use of imagery related to the quaint town is somehow a windfall to the company, and that the worldwide fame of Lynchburg (created solely by the Jack Daniel's distillery) puts an unfair burden on the town due to the quarter million visitors it draws every year.

After telling Mr. Rogers something like: "Sir, you are a peterhead!", I would explain to the twit that where I'm from, cities and regions spend large amounts of money trying to lure people to the area, believing that those people will spend larger amounts of money that will help the local economy.  The supposition isn't without flaws, but, seriously, can this guy not see that Lynchburg is getting free publicity and a huge potential customer base, courtesy of the distillery, that other locales would thirst (and have to pay) for?  Maybe he should try to convince the Moore County commisioners that being a dry county surrounding the home of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey is not a successful mixer for economic success.

The more I see stories like this, I am convinced that Pat Buchanan's latest book title may be right: Suicide of a Superpower.

¹ Mr. Sutton disclaimed the quote in his autobiography stating it was made up by a reporter, but it is nonetheless attributed to him in popular culture.