The Crossbow

This blog entry is short and simple.

Please help me to stay out of jail.

This is being typed at 0300 (that's 3am, for civilians) on Monday, 05 January 2009.  I've already been awake for almost two hours, and didn't sleep much before that.  At 0900 this morning, I must be in court.  The topic is a follow-up hearing, after the dismissal last year of my lawsuit against Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen.  The topic is the so-called Bredesen Bunker.

For those that don't know, the Bredesen Bunker is a planned $19-million underground party hall at the Governor's Mansion in Nashville.  Out of eleven million citizens in the State of Tennessee, I'm the only one that tried to take the governor into court to block that wasteful and arrogant project from getting started.  The state sent a senior attorney from the Attorney General's Office to face me in court.

The suit was dismissed on a technicality.  There is a law on the books in Tennessee that says a plaintiff can only sue the state in Davidson County (the county that surrounds Nashville, the state capital).  That law is unconstitutional, and I made that argument in court.  (I live in neighboring Wilson County, and had filed the action in my home venue.)  I also cited several cases, which had survived appeal, in which plaintiffs in other parts of the state had sued the state in their various home counties.  The judge dismissed my case anyway, and also decided that the first lady is "an official of the state, and therefore cannot be sued".  (The first lady, who is the driving force behind the Bredesen Bunker, was a co-defendant in my lawsuit.)

Now, the court wants me to pay court costs.

Imagine that:  being required by a court to pay money to come into court to defend the Constitution by airing a "redress of grievances" to stop an arrogant move to waste taxpayers' money.  Imagine that nobody else in the entire state filed a similar lawsuit.  (There are about a half-million citizens living in Davidson County alone.  Why didn't one of them simply copy my papers -- which I had posted on the Internet for that reason -- and then sue the state in that county?)  Imagine that only one person (yep, me) drove in circles for four hours around the State Capitol, honking a car horn to protest the Bredesen Bunker.

In 2001, thousands surrounded the State Capitol and honked their car horns for several weeks.

Well, guess what?  I'm not gonna pay!

Never mind the fact that I can't afford it.  Never mind the fact that the wealthy neighbors that live near the Governor's Mansion spoke on talk radio about raising $30,000 to fight the Bunker, but then only spent it on a flimsy Web site and some glossy brochures.  And, despite my several written requests, multi-millionaire car dealer Lee Beaman (the guy that put up most of the $30,000) has not sent me one penny.  His phone number is in the Nashville phone book, along with the numbers to his several dealerships.  (or, click the above link)  Feel free to call him, and remind him that the Bible says "the workman is due his wages".  The legal work that I did would've cost a paying client thousands of dollars.  (Even Judge Smith said in court that not even most lawyers know about the law that caused my case to get dismissed.)  Never mind the fact that I injured my back at a job in early September, and have not found another job since.  I'm not gonna pay today.

So, you're wondering, "What can be done to help Tom Kovach?"

The answer is simple.  You see, I don't like asking people for money.  (If I were any good at that, then I'd already be the Congressman for this area, and then I wouldn't need to write this to ask for money.)  I prefer to actually earn my money.  So....

Please purchase, for only one dollar, a copy of my spoof song, "The Battle of Bredesen's Bunker".  And, please send that link to all of your friends, and ask them to also buy a copy.  That way, I'm not asking to "mooch" even a dollar from anyone in these difficult times.  (Admittedly, I don't sing well.  But, then again, I'm not selling it for ten dollars.)

The song is done to the music of the Charlie Daniels hit song "Simple Man".  And, I sent a copy of it over to him.  I didn't get to talk with Charlie directly, but his manager told me that they played it on the tour bus, and Charlie liked it.  That was good enough for me.

Hopefully, I can make a good argument in court today, and convince the judge to waive the court costs.  But, if not, I have no money to pay them.  Theoretically, he could send me to jail for contempt for not paying.  Then, in order to get out, I would need to "remedy the contempt" (legalese for pay the costs).  If the judge does send me to jail, then selling that spoof song will be my primary means of earning money to get out of jail.

Thank you, in advance, for your support.

(I have some topics planned for this blog for the next few days.  If you don't see them posted, then that means I'm in jail.)