By Linda P. Campbell
lcampbell@star-telegram.com
When @JohnCornyn tweeted about Jason's Deli on Tuesday, it wasn't about the restaurant's excellent and gargantuan muffalettas but a carefully calculated pie in President Barack Obama's face: "Great to be with Joe Tortorice, who founded Jason's Deli in Beaumont in 1976 and now has more than 200 restaurants in 28 states. He and his family DID build it!"
It linked to Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn's Facebook page (
fb.me/1fCCLkKjY), where a political food fight ensued about a statement Obama made in July that his opponents have taken great relish in flinging back at him:
Bruce West: Joe Tortorice holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from Texas A&M University. I think we may have helped pay for his education.
Bryan Hunter: Bruce -- obviously we don't live in a vacuum, and obviously we all help pay for each other's education, roads, bridges and what-not. But that doesn't diminish the fact that Joe had an idea that, through hours and hours of hard work, employs thousands of people.
Tamra Knight Stevens: LOVE Jason's wish we had one in Marble Falls!
Juana Hughes Countryman Collida: He did not build the MALL where his business is located in my town. And Mr. Cornyn you know exactly what Mr. President said!
Bryan Hunter: Obama should be ENCOURAGING and AFFIRMING folks like Joe, not tearing him down with political rhetoric.
Jamie Allen: Bryan the President didn't tear any business leader down. The quote was taken WAY out of context and our fine Senator continues to mislead with this post. Jason's is a great restaurant. And I'm sure he agrees that a healthy middle class is very important to the continued success of his business. He should also be grateful that our taxes provide infrastructure that supports his efforts. I sure am.
April Sterling: Anyone who can find any sense in the president's statement has surely never started their own company, and that includes the president.
Jamie Allen: April -- I am a business owner and I watched the President's speech. You should too. He never said one didn't build their business. He said business owners didn't build the roads and other infrastructure that all businesses benefit from. He said the American people built those through taxes. We're all in it together. And that's a positive truth.
Andy Garza: What I'm getting from all the detractors is that if we ALL built the roads (I've never built a road but I have paid taxes) we should ALL pay for EVERYTHING for each other. Limited government insures maximal freedom and if we pay taxes to provide for roads, fire protection, police protection, judicial protection and military protection, and finally catastrophe protection, the rest is up to us to make with our lives what we choose to.
Cherei J McCarter: WOW! I did not know they were Texas founded!! Kudos!
Let's be honest: Obama said, "Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business -- you didn't build that."
And a few breaths later he said that "when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together."
The "you didn't build that" part wasn't eloquent. But it wasn't as snotty as our divisive politics have made it out to be.
Cornyn, though, tried to keep hammering the wedge using a round table of what he called small businesses. (See photos:
on.fb.me/Ox6P6a)
I'm a fan of Jason's (especially the salad bar), but I'd hardly call a company with more than 200 restaurants in 28 states and grossing more than $400 million "small."
From what I can tell, Joe Tortorice, who started Jason's Deli after his father offered him a Laundromat to convert into a sandwich shop back in the 1970s, isn't big into politics. (
bit.ly/SnG7iE) Instead, he lives out his Catholic values by treating employees and customers right.
When I asked to talk with him about being thrust into the political debate, a spokeswoman politely declined but offered this statement:
"We enjoyed the opportunity to meet with Sen. Cornyn. Our roundtable discussion was focused on our company history, growth, and development of our people over the last 36 years. We're at our best when we stay focused on serving our people through our Core Values, which in turn allows us to serve our guests with the highest level of hospitality."
Too bad the politicians can't seem to help themselves.
Linda P. Campbell is a Star-Telegram editorial writer.817-390-7867Twitter: @LindaPCampbell
Looking for comments?
