By Faith Chatham, April 20, 2018
I am a daughter of East Texas. My father's family settled on the north shore of the Cypress Bayou in 1839 and my mom’s settled on what is now the south shore in 1850. Although I no longer reside in the Piney Woods, I understand East Texas values. Common sense or what my relatives frequently referred to as "horse sense" was always held higher than "book learning." There was a place for "book learning" but without common sense, we were warned, it would only get us in trouble. It takes both, we were told, to be successful.
As a people watcher and political scientist (perhaps that "book learning" gets me in trouble,) watching E Texas politics, I remain astounded. East Texas is in the deep south. It is definitely the Bible Belt. I grew up in Marshall, Texas and there was a service station and a church on nearly every corner. During the time I was there, we had three colleges, all church operated schools of liberal arts. These institutions each ran seminaries - two Baptist and one Methodist. Each of those schools taught religion. They taught the "Golden Rule." They taught how Jesus urged his followers to be merciful. They taught how He instructed followers to care for the orphans and widows and not to exploit the poor for profit. They taught about being a "good steward" and that mean more than just giving a tithe to the church. It means managing the resources entrusted to you, including budgets of the church and the community and government.
Having grown up in East Texas and knowing East Texas people and knowing that they were taught the same as I was, I am astounded at how many vote year after year for Louie Gohmert. I was astounded that any of them voted for Donald Trump, but that has been hashed and rehashed to Infinium. Today, I am focusing on who my former classmates, neighbors and extended family and their families have consistently voted into Congress.
Having grown up in East Texas and knowing East Texas people and knowing that they were taught the same as I was, I am astounded at how many vote year after year for Louie Gohmert. I was astounded that any of them voted for Donald Trump, but that has been hashed and rehashed to Infinium. Today, I am focusing on who my former classmates, neighbors and extended family and their families have consistently voted into Congress.
Social Security is a program where workers pay every week for their entire working lives and in return should they become disabled before reaching retirement age, they have a safety net. Once we are too old to work, social security is supposed to kick in to give us a safety net. We are not taking other people's money but drawing from part of what we earned earlier. It is not welfare. It is called an "ENTITLEMENT" because it is OUR MONEY and we are ENTITLED to it through an agreement with the Federal Government. However, Mr. Gohmert and the Speaker of the House and others in Congress do not think that Americans should get what we are ENTITLED TO.
A similar situation exists with Veterans Benefits. Our government through our Legislature for generations has agreed to provide a safety net for those who put their lives at risk to protect us. We have Veteran's Hospitals to care for injured soldiers and Veterans. We have veterans housing benefits so that those who serve will not be homeless when they return home. We give veterans preferences to employment in governmental jobs so that those who leave their jobs to go defend our country have opportunities to rebuild their lives by returning to work when their military service ends. We give them educational benefits so that they are trained for civilian jobs when they return from the military These benefits are prat of our contract with the individuals we enlist into service. To change them is to break the contract, to betray their trust.
When I was growing up in East Texas I was taught at home, church and at school that you come to an agreement first and once the service or job is done, you stick with it. You do not take from someone and then change the rules to their disadvantage after they have served you. However, that is what Mr. Gohmert and others in the Freedom Caucus in Congress are ALWAYS ADVOCATING and VOTING to enact. It is not right. It is not fair. It is cruel. It is dishonest. It may be legal, but being legal does not make it right, fair or honest.
A similar situation exists with Veterans Benefits. Our government through our Legislature for generations has agreed to provide a safety net for those who put their lives at risk to protect us. We have Veteran's Hospitals to care for injured soldiers and Veterans. We have veterans housing benefits so that those who serve will not be homeless when they return home. We give veterans preferences to employment in governmental jobs so that those who leave their jobs to go defend our country have opportunities to rebuild their lives by returning to work when their military service ends. We give them educational benefits so that they are trained for civilian jobs when they return from the military These benefits are prat of our contract with the individuals we enlist into service. To change them is to break the contract, to betray their trust.
When I was growing up in East Texas I was taught at home, church and at school that you come to an agreement first and once the service or job is done, you stick with it. You do not take from someone and then change the rules to their disadvantage after they have served you. However, that is what Mr. Gohmert and others in the Freedom Caucus in Congress are ALWAYS ADVOCATING and VOTING to enact. It is not right. It is not fair. It is cruel. It is dishonest. It may be legal, but being legal does not make it right, fair or honest.
This is not a new practice with Louie Gohmert, yet people I know grew up being taught the same values I was taught, continue to vote for this many year after year!
So, what alternative do they have? They have a very good one. They have an excellent alternative. She is a daughter of East Texas. She is a decorated former military officer. She is a very intelligent woman who has both "good ole common horse sense" (in the words of my Uncle Bill and Daddy) and lots of appropriate "book learning." She is a woman of great faith and is known as a person who lives her faith. She is an educator. She is a business woman. She creates jobs. She solves problems, she serves people. She brings people together to solve problems. She is Dr. Shirley J. McKellar, PhD, US Army Maj. (Ret.), CNS, a retired army nurse corps officer.
It astounds me that more East Texans voted for Louie Gohmert than for Shirley McKellar in 2014 and 2016. Before that perhaps they had not had enough time to learn about her. She continues to run. She continues to meet people. She continues to mentor, empower, equip and lead. Everywhere she goes she solves problems for East Texans. In the past 8 years she has created hundreds of jobs in East Texas through the businesses she founded and the initiatives she has led others to create.
Here is a thumbnail of what I have witnessed her do while Louie Gohmert was campaigning for Donald Trump and voting to dismantle affordable healthcare and to reduce funding for Veterans Benefits or trying to cut Social Security.
Shirley McKellar returned from serving in Afghanistan, injured, and spend a year and half in the hospital having numerous surgeries and physical rehabilitation. She was with soldiers whom she had helped in the field when they were injured. As an officer in the Army Nurse Corp, she saw the sons and daughters of her friends and neighbors bleeding, and at the point of death. She suffered as far too many of them died from their injuries, or were permanently harmed. She returned home and saw them discounted by Congress and watched Gohmert vote to cut funding for the VA t the very time when more of our Vietnam era vets were aging out and needing more services and we had new generations of soldiers Louie and his friends voted to send into combat returning home injured. She heard from veterans who were homeless. She learned that there were no mental health services for veterans in the 12 counties of East Texas where she lived. She saw nothing being done to address homelessness among the veterans who served. Instead of doing some of the much more which was needed, she saw Louie Gohmert and the Speaker of the House and others fighting to end or reduce the services which were already in place.
Shirley McKellar is a woman who lives the East Texas Values she was taught. She stands up for others. She lends a helping hand whenever and however she can to whomever needs it. So, she went to work.
Shirley McKellar is a woman who lives the East Texas Values she was taught. She stands up for others. She lends a helping hand whenever and however she can to whomever needs it. So, she went to work.
While Louie Gohmert was voting to reduce funding to the VA and to dismantle the affordable care act, Shirley McKellar was pulling together a team of mental health professionals, forming a non-profit organization and getting the federal contract necessary to bring mental health services to the 12 counties in East Texas which had none! Louie could have done that. But he didn't. Was it stupidity or selfishness or plain stupidity and ignorance -- I don't know. I do know that it was needed, and it was something that usually we look to the leadership of our Congressional Representative to help us solve. In East Texas the Congressional Rep was Louie Gohmert and Louie wasn't solving problems. Instead he was working to make them bigger!
Dr. McKellar recovered from her injuries, she continued to serve veterans. After she no longer needed to go to the Veteran's Hospital regularly for medical care, she continued to drive to Dallas from Tyler twice a week to volunteer helping other veterans get the services they needed. She began serving as an officer on the Veterans' Administration Mental Health Advocacy Board. When Congress moved to cut services to women, she spoke out and mobilized others to save some of the programs which were on the chopping block. She continues fighting to get others restored.
While in the military, she arrived in the European theatre and found almost no health services for women. She helped implement women's health services in the European Theatre She noted that there was soldiers were dying from breast cancer. More women than men contract breast cancer but the death rate for men is much higher than for women. She opened the only comprehensive breast center in the US Military to screen and treat soldiers for breast cancer. The death rate among minorities is higher than among white breast cancer patients. Back in the USA, she partnered with UT Medical School and co-founded the African American Breast Cancer Awareness and administered a $5 million dollar grant. She is a problem solver who understands how to get things done in government and in the private sector and in the community.
While in the military, she arrived in the European theatre and found almost no health services for women. She helped implement women's health services in the European Theatre She noted that there was soldiers were dying from breast cancer. More women than men contract breast cancer but the death rate for men is much higher than for women. She opened the only comprehensive breast center in the US Military to screen and treat soldiers for breast cancer. The death rate among minorities is higher than among white breast cancer patients. Back in the USA, she partnered with UT Medical School and co-founded the African American Breast Cancer Awareness and administered a $5 million dollar grant. She is a problem solver who understands how to get things done in government and in the private sector and in the community.
Last year she attended a ribbon cutting for a housing complex for homeless vets in Dallas. HUD Chair Ben Carson was there. Shirley was never a supporter of his political aspirations, but he is he person in the chair at HUD. She approached him and inquired "What will it take to get a similar housing program for homeless veterans in East Texas?" She worked with the VA and with HUD and drew together a steering committee of local stakeholders. She donated some of her own land. Last month they had the ground breaking for the condominium complex where veterans can use their VA benefits to buy their own condos. This complex is in US District 1 in East Texas. Louie Gohmert did not do this. Shirley McKellar did. She did it because she cared enough and knew enough to be able to make it happen. Louie served in the JAG corps but does not seem to care enough or know enough or be willing to exert himself enough to bring solutions to East Texans. Thankfully, Shirley McKellar cares enough. Thankfully, Shirley McKellar knows enough. Thankfully, Shirley McKellar is never too tired or unwilling to exert herself enough to pull together the people and resources to serve the people she knows need and deserve to be helped and served.
So, why is it that more East Texans do not recognize that there are many more differences which truly matter between the Republican Incumbent and the Female Military Veteran who is running for Congress in US Texas's First District than just gender and skin color? How can so many decent people, who value "Common Sense" and decency, continue voting for Louie Gohmert?
When you encounter someone from East Texas, please ask them "Why do folks in East Texas vote for Louie Gohmert?" If they say they did or do, quiz them. Ask them if they think veterans deserve to have health services? Ask if they feel safer when veterans have mental health services? Ask them if they think there are enough jobs in East Texas. Then challenge them to show you what Louie Gohmert has done to solve any of these problems!
