Filling in for Ray Thursday, I got a phone call on air from an elderly gentleman who expressed how much he loves 970 WMAY.
He says he can't stop listening to it.
The gentleman, who did not provide his name, also told me I was his favorite on-air personality!
That, needless to say, made me smile!
He then said that I had a role in helping him realize he's now a libertarian.
"It took me 89 years, but I'm pretty sure I'm a libertarian."
Eighty-nine years!
This made my day.
Then the World War II vet told me to look into an article from this month's VFW Magazine.
He said there is an excellent story about some guys who came back from WWII and forcibly took over their town from a corrupted political machine.
I found the article
Titled "Ex-GIs Battle for the Ballot," the article describes a moment in the history of McMinn, Tennessee, that those in power would love keep hidden.
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| The aftermath of election day in Athens, Tennessee, 1946 |
After a long history of insider-establishment politics, returning vets from World War II found the land they love in the hands of corrupted leaders who intimidated voters, turned police into profiteers and stuffed ballot boxes.
According to an official statement released the following day by the all-veteran group, “The GI election officials went to the polls unarmed to have a fair election as Pat Mansfield promised.They were met with blackjacks and pistols. Several GI officials were beaten and the ballot boxes were moved to the jail. The GI supporters went to jail to get these boxes and were met by gunfire.”
Read the Wiki Article for the Battle of Athens (1946) here
And, yes--there was even a made-for-TV Hallmark film about the Battle of Athens called An American Story.
The 89-year-old veteran who tipped me off to the article said that the story emulates exactly what I've been saying on the air about the importance of the Second Amendment.
What have I been saying?
Surely you can check out some of the podcast updates on the Saturday Session Podcast page.
Our right, as Americans, to keep and bear arms is not about hunting. It's about keeping tyranny in check. It's about ensuring that, if need be, we the people can correct the corruption in our government.
As Abraham Lincoln is quoted in the above article,
"Whenever [the people] shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it."
A disarmed public has no teeth when it comes to being able to "dismember or overthrow" an out-of-control government.
This story must be in the forefront in the ongoing debate about the infringement of the Second Amendment.
Seriously! Thanks to the caller for telling me about the article, because it's spot on highlighting the real reason for the right to bear arms.
Other podcast updates
Several podcasts I want to share with you from Monday's show includes my talk with Julio Rausseo about the TSA in Chicago's Union Station and fusion center lists putting libertarians on lists as threats.
Also I was able to touch base with Karen Sheley from the ACLU of Illinois to talk about their request to the Springfield Police Department for information about their use of license plate reading cameras.
