The Flog – The Fabry Log

Dear Senators Obama and McCain,

Hi there. My name is Chris Fabry. I’m a radio host clinging to my faith and my RE-20 microphone. (I hope I can afford a Neumann one day.) I am not going to be watching much of the upcoming conventions because I think I know what’s going to happen. I’ll be tucking my kids in bed, reading them a story, and trying to figure out how to pay for the next day’s worth of gasoline.

A little about me. My grandfather on my father’s side came from Europe before WWI because he saw what was happening in his country and wanted freedom from that. He came here not knowing a word of English, except what he probably picked up on the boat to Ellis Island. He worked in the mines and tried to forge a life for his wife & children, but when one of his children died in an influenza outbreak and then his wife died, it nearly did him in. But he was a farmer and did what he had to and finally bought a little farm in WV and lived there until a few years after I came along. He loved America. He loved the opportunity of this land for his children.

I mention my grandfather because I keep coming back to him in days of confusion and worry. When people talk about the president and electing one of you, I get the feeling that many are looking for salvation from something. Relief from high gas prices. Lower interest rates. A job. An education. Health care. The list goes on. But my grandfather didn’t look to government for any of these things. If someone were to walk up to him on the street and say, “Here, this is a check from the government to help you feed your children,” he would have walked right past them. His kids would have cashed that check in a second because, from what I hear, they were hungry a lot of the time and Christmas to them was an orange and maybe a peppermint stick. How I wished someone from the government had given my grandfather a check. Then I wouldn’t have grown up with the story about the harmonica…the silly 5 cent Hohner harmonica that my dad wanted in grade school. All they had to do was bring a nickel to school and you could get this harmonica and learn how to play it.

When I heard that story for the first time, I wanted to run to my piggy bank and bring back the nickel for my dad so he could get the harmonica. It broke my heart. But his mother said they couldn’t afford a nickel for a harmonica. This was in the 1920s. They couldn’t afford 5 measly cents. My dad could have been Buddy Greene for all I know. He could have turned out to be some great blues harmonica player, but they couldn’t afford a nickel.

Why am I saying this to you, Senators? Because I think someone has to stand up and say something unpopular to the American people. We don’t need anything free from the government because WE are the government. And we don’t need either of you making promises about paying for our education or our health care or giving us a chicken in every pot. WE are the ones who are going to have to work and learn and pay for our house and our cars and the insurance and textbooks. WE are the ones who will have to shoulder the burden. And all we ask, all we really need, is for GOVERNMENT to not get in our way and make it harder for us. We’ll pay our taxes that go to roads and schools and libraries. We’ll shell out money for toll roads and improvements. We don’t have a problem paying our fair share. Those who are considered rich don’t have a problem paying their taxes. A lot was made about Exxon Mobile’s profits in the past few weeks. Someone said they made almost $1,500 a second. What that report didn’t tell you was that they also paid more than $4,000 in taxes every second.

Here’s what I’m tired of. I’m tired of people looking to the president for EVERYTHING. We want the president to get us a job. We want the president to help with our health care. We want the president to raise the minimum wage. We want the president to trim our toenails.

In my opinion, the president is in office to protect us. To uphold the constitution and make sure, as much as is within him or her, to make sure that no nefarious people who hate our country will harm us. I’ve had a lot of problems with certain things our current president has done, but I have to admit that he has done everything in his power to protect us. To keep us safe from those who want to destroy us. To appoint Supreme Court justices who believe that the constitution is a document to be respected and not tampered with lightly.

My housing price is not your job. Don’t worry about it. My income stream is not your job. Take that off your list. I don’t want you trying to provide my health care. Just do the job of running the country and I’ll be happy.

And a note about faith, which I don’t cling to, by the way, it clings to me. In order for you to be a person I’ll vote for, you don’t have to agree with me on every jot and tittle of theology. You don’t even have to be a Christian, for that matter. We are a melting pot and there are a lot of faiths out there and a lot of moral people who believe in Judeo/Christian values. What I need is for you to be honest with me. If you believe Jesus is the only way to God and that salvation is through him alone, great. That’s what I believe, not because I discovered it and am so proud of myself, but because that’s what Jesus said and I believe it. However, don’t say, yes I believe Jesus is the only way for ME. But there are other options out there.

That would be like me saying, “Yes, the IRS is the way YOU pay your taxes, but I believe in another way.” If I were to say that to the IRS, and not pay each April, I would be writing this from my prison cell. No, if you don’t think Jesus is the only way, then tell me that and say you’re part of some other religion, but don’t call it Christian, because that’s not a part of a Chrsitian’s belief system.

So, as I said, I will probably not watch much of the conventions because on both sides, that’s pretty much for SHOW. It’s a week-long commercial, which is fine, I understand the need to have it and what’s behind it, but I don’t find it compelling. What I do find compelling is a person who will tell me straight out what they’re going to do. What will you fight for? Do you think we already pay enough in taxes? DO you think we should pay more? What are you going to do to keep our country secure—and that has to do with the borders and the wars we’re involved in overseas. You both seem committed to the theory of Global Warming as a result of our collective carbon, so I’m not even going to go there with either of you. Is there a battle to win against our enemies or do we simply appease? Because I want a president who is willing to identify evil and go after it when necessary—not to start a fight, but to end one.

Speaking for my family and me, we want to make a difference in people’s lives through our church, through missions, through our local charities. We want to worship God, work at our jobs, attend our schools and learn as much as we can so that we can be productive members of this society, contributing as much as we can. We want to reach out to people who don’t have as much as we do, down the street and across the ocean. And we want leaders who will recognize that the best part of America is not represented in movie stars and athletes or even people holding governmental office. The BEST part of America is right here, in this community, where people band together to help each other when a flood hits, or a tornado rips through a town…or when a young mom dies and there are people who flock to bring food and share grief and try to nurture young children. The BEST part of America is a dad who gets up every day, and though it’s not the most scintillating thing he’d love to do, he goes to work and he does his job well and his employer is happy with what he does, and when he comes home for dinner around the table, there are kids who love him and wife who at least tolerates him.

The BEST part of America is NOT the government telling me how tall my grass can be or telling us to use less water so that when the bill comes the next month it’s more expensive to buy water because when consumption falls the price goes up.
The BEST part of America is freedom. And if you are a candidate who wants to free us up to be all we can be, if you want less governmental control and more opportunities, if you think the separation of church and state was put there to protect the church from governmental intrusion and not the other way around, then I will vote for you.

I don’t need the talking points anymore. I don’t even need debates per se. I just want you to tell me what you really think about what I’ve just said, and then I can make my decision.

Sincerely,
Chris Fabry
(And if one of you would hold up a copy of my new novel at your convention, I would watch.)