You may recall Terry Gant, owner of the aptly named “Walls of Books” shop in Cookeville, TN. He’s celebrating Christmas at his mask-free bookstore tomorrow, complete with hot chocolate and a naked-faced Santa who will treat children as children rather than lepers.
Trust a politician to ruin this idyll, however:
Our illustrious GOP Governor Bill Lee has decided he wants to cancel Christmas and issued a limit of 10 people for indoor gatherings. Well, this conflicts with our plans to have our Christmas party at the bookstore. We thoughtfully considered the Governor’s suggestion and decided to decline.
Yee haw!
We are going ahead with Christmas here and Santa is still game. A part of my brain was a little concerned we would get shut down, fined or even arrested, even though I thought that was not very likely. But, my fears are pretty much laid to rest thanks to the following memo from the Sheriff of my county:
MESSAGE FROM THE SHERIFF ON EXECUTIVE ORDER 70
“In light of Governor Bill Lee’s latest Executive Order, citizens of Putnam County should know that the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office will NOT be using our resources to restrict your constitutional liberty by ensuring ‘only ten people’ are gathered together for indoor public gatherings over the holiday weekend, especially while hundreds of people are allowed to be in grocery stores together on any given day of the week.
“Deputies will not be seeking out violators of this order. We trust our citizens to use their constitutional liberty to make the right choices and decisions for themselves when planning social gatherings with family for Christmas and any other time.
“If you are sick, stay home; otherwise, enjoy your family and have a Merry Christmas!”
– Sheriff Farris
Merry Christmas indeed. Let’s hear it for the sane lesser magistrate!
Were I at the party and taking a turn with Santa, I’d ask the old boy for such sane lesser magistrates in every jurisdiction as well as hearts adamantly opposed to despotism for each American.
7:28 pm on December 22, 2020
