GUEST COMMENTARY: John Raese is West Virginia's Modern-Day Patriot
By Stephen N. Reed
Before tensions got to a boiling point for American colonists
in the mid-1770s, the men who would lead the American Revolution
arrived at their common cause through a wide variety of paths. For example,
John Adams, a Boston lawyer, came slowly to the activism his cousin,
Sam Adams, espoused against the British. But after awhile, John
Adams became New England's greatest advocate in the prelude to war.
But no Founding Father is more fascinating than George Washington, the wealthy Virginia planter and former militia commander, who learned everything he knew about warfare from his British superiors in the French and Indian War. Washington considered himself not only an Englishman before the war, but an English gentleman.
However, the poor treatment of the British crown and aristocracy towards their colonists began to touch even Washington and his successful life at Mount Vernon.
Second Class Citizen No More
Some historians suggest that Washington's turn towards rebellion came from something as simple as chipped chinaware and broken furniture. When Washington needed some of the finer furnishings for Mount Vernon, he contacted his agent in London. American planters did this frequently, as these high-end products were difficult to find in America back then.
Washington began to notice that the crates of chinaware and the occasional table or set of chairs that he bought from his London agent were frequently chipped, damaged, or even broken-- and not just from the ocean voyage. After a few times, he realized that the London merchants felt they could give Washington half-rate goods because, after all, he was a mere colonist. They could get away with ripping him off.
Washington reacted by gradually ending all personal commerce with British suppliers, giving his business solely to Americans. By the time the American Revolution had broken out, Washington had already declared his independence from the British economy.
Tenacity His Best Characteristic
We know the rest of the story, of course. Washington shows up at the Constitutional Convention wearing his old Colonel's uniform, silently advertising that he's ready to lead any military effort against the British. John Adams, seeing the advantage of having a Virginian in that position, nominates him for the position of Commander in Chief, and there is unanimous agreement that Washington is the man for the job.
He won only a few battles, just enough to keep the spark of the Revolution alive. His wife, Martha, always came to help him and his troops during their winter quarters at Valley Forge and elsewhere. It was a total commitment.
But what was most remarkable was that the Washingtons did this not only for their own self-interest. The American soldiers saw this example and realized that something important was going on if a man with as much to lose as Washington was in this fight.
Everyone began to know instinctively something more was at stake: Freedom for all. Freedom from oppressive taxation, keeping the lower classes from ever moving up. Freedom of religion and expression, never having to worry as their generation did about getting sent to jail or worse for disagreeing publicly with the King. Freedom from excessive government control.
West Virginia has known some of these oppressions over the years. True, we don't have to worry about going to jail for disagreeing with our elected officials. But they can make life hard on us if we don't fall into line, yanking coal permits, refusing to pave our roads in favor of more passive residents who go along and get along with them. Or raising our taxes to an oppressive level all over again.
However, it takes someone big enough, someone who isn't fazed by the petty threats of powerlords in Charleston or Washington, D.C. to rally all of us to remember our birthright as Americans and West Virginians.
We are free, after all. But we have to stand vigiliantly in defense of it for our children, grandchildren, and all those we hold dear.
Freedom for all
Fighting for our economic freedom is what John Raese
symbolizes to many of us. Like Washington, Raese's
willingness to stand up and defy the powers that be,
on behalf of all of us, straightens our backbones and
brings back to the front of our minds that we really are
free and should act like it.
No man is Washington's equal in America today. He stands alone. But the same tenacity and the sense of right and wrong that George Washington possessed is evident in John Raese as he gives us the opportunity this year to balance out the power structure in West Virginia.
If John Raese wins this time, there can be no doubt that he is the choice of the West Virginia people-- not the representative of the establishment, who have for years thrown this state into an economic ditch. They have Manchin as their worn out horse, and they can have him.
West Virginians deserve to have John Raese in the U.S. Senate to give the average person a champion, one who is fearless in the defense of our constitutional, God-given rights and who wants each West Virginian to thrive economically without fear of oppressive taxation and regulations.
Isn't it about time?