Last Friday, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith made a visit to our little corner of the world.
While in town she visited the campus of Northwest Mississippi Community College to address the Senatobia Rotary Club. At the meeting, the Senator spoke about current issues in Washington D.C. She spoke about the energy crisis, the war between Ukraine and Russia, and the upcoming vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
As special guests of the Senatobia Rotary Club, members of the NWCC rodeo team were on hand to explain some details of the program. Senator Hyde-Smith, obviously enjoyed listening to the students because some of her first remarks were about how moved she felt at the sight of the American Flag waving in the air as a cowboy or cowgirl circles the arena on horseback to open every rodeo with the National Anthem playing on the loudspeaker. She spoke of the patriotism of the sight and ritual.
Honestly, I think that was moment of candid truth from a practiced politian. Now I’m not saying that is a bad thing.
Here’s the deal, by the time a lot of these politicians get to Washington, D.C., they can rattle off responses that sound like an answer to a question without actually answering the question in their sleep. I think it’s just a side-effect of national politics.
But when Hyde-Smith spoke of the sight of the American Flag at a rodeo, I think she was being perfectly honest. There wasn’t a hidden agenda in the words to put down the current administration on their handling of the oil crisis. I believe she was thinking back to her days of being an AG commissioner and genuinely reminiscing about a fond sight.
Who knows? Perhaps the sight of that American Flag waving magestically while being carried from the back of a horse spoke to an inner part of the Senator to inspire her patriotically to become further involved in politics in the first place.
From the Rotary Club meeting, the Senator and her entourage made their way to Broken Cup Cafe in downtown Senatobia.
The town and county were well represented with members of the community gathered to enjoy coffee and meet the Senator face-to-face.
I have to admit, I was curious about what questions might arise from such an eclectic group of citizens. See, I’ve been to enough community gatherings here in Tate County, to know our citizens aren’t afraid to ask the tough questions. I’m sure Mayors Billingsley and Graves along with Supervisor Sandridge would all agree with me on that point. So, I got my coffee, turned my camera on and sat back to watch it all unfold.
Sure enough, there were a few Tate County citizens in attendance who were, shall we say vocal in their questions. A few of the questions actually made me set my coffee cup back down mid-sip.
The Senator, well practiced in the art of addressing the crowd, calmly steered the conversation in a different direction. She handled it well. Everyone in the shop were excited to meet their representative face-to-face, which was the point.
More representatives need to take the time to meet the people they represent on their “turf”. Had Hyde-Smith not visited Broken Cup that day, I wonder how many of those in attendance would have gotten the chance to meet her otherwise.
Quite frankly, I believe that is the biggest problem in D.C. today. Too much disconnect between politicians and authentic “everyday” Americans.
It’s time more national leaders take time to remember the sight of the American Flag circling the rodeo arena and shake the hands of Americans in their local coffee shops.
