Jay GreesonSo we have come to this.
A Goodlettsville, Tenn., fellow named Scott Lillard has started a petition in hopes of preventing the University of Tennessee marching band from performing at Donald Trump's inauguration later this month.
Here is the statement accompanying the petition, which as of Wednesday afternoon had more than 2,600 signatures:
"As either proud residents of Tennessee or proud University of Tennessee alumni, we are greatly disturbed by the behavior exhibited by Donald Trump both during and after the recent presidential campaign. He has made racist and sexist remarks that should never come out of the mouth of someone in public office. As residents of Tennessee, we believe that the attendance at the upcoming inauguration of a band representing the state of Tennessee would condone this behavior."
You have to wonder what would motivate people to be so interested in the movings and shakings of the Pride of the Southland Band. Don't get me wrong, those folks are great at what they do, and that spin-wheel maneuver the band pulls off at halftime has to be seen to be believed.
But what is the goal here? Lillard did not respond to emails from The Associated Press, so his original intent is still unknown.
The petition, which is directed to UT administration bigwigs Joe DiPietro and Dr. Donald Ryder, asks for 5,000 signatures.
And you know what, social activism is always better than social indifference, whether you think Lillard is as cracked as a downtown sidewalk or think he's spot-on. We could quibble about Lillard's logic on this one, since, well, Trump did carry the state rather easily last November. (And since more than 60 percent of the 2.5 million votes went to Trump, that certainly seems like a pretty powerful statement from the majority of the state, right Scott? Plus, it's not as though if the UT band skips this event, the inauguration would be canceled or anything.)
Now, whether 5,000 signatures mean a hill of beans to DiPetro, the CEO of the statewide university system, or Ryder, the director of the UT band, remains to be seen. (And let's remember that the petition circulated to try to get UT to rehire Bruce Pearl a few years ago got more than 25,000 signatures and went nowhere.)
In truth, it's kind of puzzling considering the variety of issues that could be addressed in petition form at UT that Scott and the 2,600 folks are targeting the band's participation in Trump's swearing in on Jan. 20.
Petition to get the office of diversity overhauled before UT's administration tries to outlaw pronouns again.
Petition to get Butch Jones to never use the "Champions of Life" phrase ever again.
Petition to get Peyton Manning in as the offensive coordinator.
But the band? Hey, Scott, it's your petition, so go crazy.
And isn't this a very passive, very online and very isolated way of protest in the modern age? (Some online folks call this form of protesting slacktivism, and the results are certainly debatable.)
Still, there are crazy petitions floated almost every day on Change.org, which appears to be the leading landing spot for this type of activity.
Sure, the business requests that gain momentum - a few years ago there were more than 600,000 signatures for a specific video game called "Grand Theft Auto" to be released in different versions and the company was happy to oblige - make a lot of fiscal sense.
Actual transformation, though, is harder to gauge. Plus, while there are some thoughtful, well-intended requests for signatures at Change.org, there also are a few that seem, well, shall we say, rather off the wall. There are, or have been in recent years, requests for support to:
- Keep the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from performing at Trump's inauguration (sorry, Scott, but that one has more steam than yours with more than 35,000 signatures);
- Put a veggie burger on the menu at the In-N-Out Burger fast-food chain;
- Have Jell-O Pudding Pops back on the market;
- Hire Weird Al Yankovic to perform at halftime of the Super Bowl;
- Elect some dude named Perry Ouzts into the horse racing hall of fame;
- Ask Beyonce to comb her daughter's hair;
- Get a sarcasm font on social media.
Wait, that last one actually has merit. Where do I sign?
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6343. His "Right to the Point" column runs on A2 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.