(1) Happy Thanksgiving to all & (2) Rep. Chuck Sims, Part XI (I think). -- An Ode to Rep. Chuck Sims, A Man Without a Party.

Things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season: If you are a politician, having a party, a party with whom you are as much a part of as it is a part of you.

This thought makes makes me reflect on the current status of Rep. Chuck Sims, former Democrat, who once enjoyed his native land of Douglas and Coffee County, but now as a deserter has been cast away by the locals to go wandering on a foreign stand, the foreign strand of the Philistines.

Did you ever read Sir Walter Scott's poem about a man without a country? I commend it. I do not commend Rep. Chuck Sims' current situation.* For truly Chuck is a man without a party. It's poetry time . . .

A Man Without a Party (or if you prefer), An Ode to the Poster Child Party Switcher Rep. Chuck Sims

Breathes there the man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my natural group!
Whose heart no longer within him burns,
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd
From wandering on his self-made coup?

If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no longer his District's raptures swell;
High though his ego, once his proud name,
Boundless his statewide publicity as wish can claim;
Despite the countless press, perceived power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonored, and unsung.

Adapted from Breathes There a Man, from The Lay of the Last Minstrel, Cando VI, Stanza 1, by one of my favorites, Sir Walter Scott, the Scotish author the grandmother of one of our local Committee officers introduced me to many fond years ago.)
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And yes, since this post is about Rep. Chuck Sims and owes 99% of its words to the great Sir Walter Scott, I would be remiss -- remiss beyond forgiveness -- and guilty of derelict of duty if I did not note that this is also the author of that most relevant and favorite line of all of us:

"Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!”

(Sir Walter Scott's Marmion, Canto VI, Stanza 17.)
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* For an understanding (appreciation is the more apt word if you are a Democrat) of Chuck's current situation, see my 11-11-04 post saying:

"Take note Representatives Sims, Moseley and Houston: Big Brother is watching you,"

and my 11-19-04 post saying:

"But for poor Chuck, the script already may be written."