Democratic Party of Carroll County, Arkansas

To Be or Not To Be...

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Does the Constitution protect your right to be miserable? I say this with tongue deeply imbedded in cheek. I know the Declaration of Independence spoke clearly about our Creator endowing us with certain inalienable rights, i.e., Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. It is difficult, at best, to wake up in the morning and be faced with a kazillion emails decrying that the sky is inches away from smashing into us and the only answer is…to send money to some well-meaning erstwhile candidate for office. I suppose s/he is allowed to try and scare the bejeezus out of me and make me feel miserable in order to pursue her/his own happiness. A word of warning to all of you politicians and wannabes, the spigot has been turned off at my email address. “Oh,” you say, “you’re just going to let the country go down in flames without even fighting back?” Nope, that ain’t what I said.

 

I am out there working every day. For the future of my family, my community, and my county. And hopefully, by extrapolation, my country. I work with both Democrats and Republicans and so far, they have all been reasonable folks. Working toward the same goals, just with different worldviews. But having a different worldview won’t keep me from working with someone who is willing to work with me. Folks in Carroll County have quit running around with their hair on fire and started rebuilding their party in a positive and productive way. I have watched this enthusiastic group of Democrats show up at Agri Days in Green Forest, the Kings River Clean-up, march in the First Amendment Parade, and work together to build a Donkey float that can participate in the 50 some odd parades that take place in Carroll County each year. I have sat through four hour meetings with your Executive Committee building a dynamic organizational structure for the DPCC. The result is that I have watched our party grow and become involved.

 

So do you have a right to run around with your hair on fire screaming that the sky is falling and it’s the other party’s fault? Do you have the right to make everyone around you feel miserable? Of course you do, your right to be miserable is protected under the Constitution. But so is our right to pursue happiness. Our mission is take that anger, that righteous indignation, and channel it into something positive and productive that will work for all the residents of Carroll County.

 

In a country song, Kevin Welch wrote, “There’ll be two dates on your tombstone and all your friends will read ‘em, but the only thing that matters is that little dash between ‘em.” It is truly happiness for me watching the folks in the DPCC make their dashes matter.

Charles Templeton Chair DPCC
chairdpcc@gmail.com                                               June 21, 2017

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