I know this video has been circulating around the net for months since Buck passed on, but it is a classic, and has one of the greatest guitarists of all time, the great Don Rich, backing Buck up in his classic role.
I have explained on a number of occasions my dislike for Bob Corker as a candidate, and during the Primary season I made that fact abundantly clear. Now Corker is falling behind Harold Ford Jr. and some Corker supporters are blaming folks like me who were outspoken in our opposition to Corker in the Primary.
I invite readers to forget for a moment the things I said about Corker either publicly or privately during the Primary. Instead, let us assume that I will do as many others have done and will follow the line of my Party and support Bob Corker just because he has an "R" next to his name. The reason that Corker keeps dropping in the polls has little to nothing to do with the divisive Primary campaign, and a lot to do with the fact that Bob Corker comes across as a robot on the issues-a stiff. It is as if he has been trained in what the right things are to say. Corker comes across as a man who lacks passion or conviction.
I have yet to hear Bob Corker take a hard position on anything of substance. He tells us what the end result should be, but he doesn't bother telling us how it is he would bring that result about. His issues are redundant and his ideas are as original as a bale of hay.
On immigration, Corker says:
"The first thing we need to do is secure the border."
NOOOO...really Bob? How would you bring about this border security if you ran the show? No solid answer.
"Allow people to work here, but make sure they are legal."
Sounds great...by the way, how do we make sure of that Bob? No real answer. "Legal workers must learn the English language."
What an original idea...wow! You, the entire South, and much of the Midwest hold to that opinion. It is the position you must take to win, and people know that too.
Immigration is just an example of this. I have yet to hear Corker speak on an issue where he doesn't sound like a robot or a wind-up doll. If Harold Fraud, Jr. wins in November, it will not be because Tennessee has become a bastion of liberal thought. Instead it will be because he will have shown himself better able to communicate his message than Corker-and he is less like Al Gore (not a stiff) than his opponent.
I am still waiting for Corker to convince me that he is worthy of my vote in November-he might try by speaking with some passion and conviction on the issues for a change.
Sorry about the lack of an entry up to this point, but Nicole and I haven't had the greatest of days. Most people who read this blog know that I now live in White Pine, Tennessee but may not know that as a side business, Nicole and I have a small rabbitry. When a rabbit is seriously ill, most rabbitry owners try home cures and don't bother with the vet, because exotic vet bills often cost more than what the rabbits are actually worth. This is our policy with the exception of one of our rabbits: Our first one-who is solely a pet, unlike the others-a pearl grey mini-rex doe (female) we named Savannah.
Miss Savannah has not eaten in four days, and today when I tried to feed her, she wouldn't even nibble at her favorite foods (carrots and bananas). She is rapidly losing weight, and is drinking water like a thirsty camel, but is so weak she is content to lay in her own waste, something a healthy rabbit simply will not do. Our local vet recommended we take her to the University of Tennessee Veterinary Hospital.
I hope the fluid food and the anti-biotics they gave us are some help to her, but I do not know if she will live or not. When we brought her to UT we did not know what was wrong, and when we left we knew no different, the experts there could only do as we had done and harbor a good guess. I think this wouldn't be such a big deal if she weren't the foundation of our stock, our first rabbit, and a pet. I enjoy raising rabbits, but in terms of personal attachment, I could much more easily part with any of our other rabbits (we raise meat rabbits as well as pet breeds), but not with the bratty grey one.
If something should happen to her, it will be much harder on Nicole, and Nicole barely made it through today without breaking down. Hence, that is why I am so late to post today.
I have heard a rumor (and I say it is a rumor because I have not talked to anyone who can confirm it) that one of the reasons Tyler Harber is clamming up and not saying much at all about his exploits in the Ragsdale administration after giving a tell-all interview to Betty Bean is because now everyone is calling Tyler-at work.
I don't know how true this is, but Harber may have been a bit more willing to talk to Gene Patterson if his work phone weren't ringing off the hook with requests for exclusives every five seconds. If this rumor has any truth to it, Harber could lose his job because too many people are calling him with Harbergate questions on company time.
If this is the reason Tyler Harber is not talking, please remember to use more tact when dealing with this important story.
On a side note, don't you think the News-Sentinel waited a bit long to "check out" Harbergate. One thing is certain: Jack McElroy is no Bob Woodward.
I've stewed in recent days over how to remember the fifth aniversary of September 11th. Whatever your politics are, one thing I am sure we can all agree on is that 9/11/2001 changed the world for every one of us.
A few folks who are reading this may have lived and worked in the City of New York at that time five years ago. I have no doubt that for you, that day brings a real remembrance. Maybe you worked near the World Trade Center, perhaps you recall what you were doing when you heard the awful noise of the towers falling. A few of you might have even been close enough to see the terrible specter.
I remember where I was that morning. I was living in Dayton, Ohio at the time and I lived just a stone's throw from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Like any other day, I got up early in the morning and went to work, and like many-a-day, I got to work earlier than I had to be there, operating under the assumption that usually proved true: "If I go in early, my boss will let me leave early so I can make a beer run if I like this afternoon." I had no idea just how early I would be let off the job.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary that morning as I went to work, but once I got to my office I remembered that I had been in such a hurry to leave my apartment that I left the television on. I had been watching Don Imus that morning on MSNBC and had left the TV tuned to MSNBC. I got to my office, I shut the door, but I left my cell phone on. Many times my cell would not ring in my isolated back office. At 9:05am, my cell phone beeped indicating that I had a message, but the phone never rang on my end. Since few people ever called my cell phone while they knew I was working, I decided the call must be very important and I decided to leave the office for a moment to check my voicemail. When I did so, I heard my long-time friend and then-attorney R. Jason Howard on a message.
"David, I assume you know what has happened...this is terrible. You need to go home immediately for your own safety." I kept thinking "what the..." so I returned his call immediately..."Can you put me through to Ja..." "Jesus son, it is awful. Two planes just crashed into the World Trade Center, it is an attack...downtown (Dayton) is crawling with the Law [federal agents] and the streets have all been closed. They'll shut down the [Colonel Glenn] Highway soon, you best get home." I went into my boss' office..."Donna, I just got off the phone with my lawyer, he says two planes just crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York, and that we are under attack." "What?" "Attack-we are at war, if this is to be believed."
My boss ran out of her office and toward the front desk to the radio. I rolled that direction and she turned around and said "David, head on home. If you want to come in tomorrow, that's fine. If not, don't worry about it." On the way home, I called my then-girlfriend and now wife, who was sleeping in, and was still to be found in bed. "Hi honey, we're at war." "What are you talking about?" "War-we are at war. Turn the television on..." "Oh my God..."
By the time I got back to my place, the TV was tuned to the news and I watched the collapse of the South tower of the World Trade Center with my own eyes. They also showed pictures of the suicide attack on the Pentagon. My phone rings. It was my roommate, who was a civilian employee at the Air Force Base. "Dude, the base is on full alert...all non-essential personnel have been ordered off. They are going to close the highway down, too. I am on my way home. Let me take care of lunch please, I'll get it on the way out of here and bring it home, yeah, it will take that long...I'm pissed, I want to shoot somebody...I hope these bastards burn in Hell."
When my roommate arrived, both twin towers had already collapsed. We reviewed where we were when we heard the news. A knock at the door. It is my neighbor from across the street, who had a cousin who was in the North Tower. Thankfully, his relative escaped unharmed and had survived. We talked about what we knew. Phone again. A friend of mine who is not particularly politically astute but knew that I kept up on that sort of thing was calling with the question "what happens now, what does all this mean.." I answered honestly "I'll be damned if I know, Jamie-the only thing that I can say with any certainty is that America as we know it has ended, nothing will ever be the same again."
Immediately after that call came another one. The phone got so busy that I answered it "Forest Lane news bureau" (that was the name of the street I lived on at the time.) It was my mother. "David, I was just calling to make sure you are alright." "Yes Mama, I'm fine-we're okay. Yes, they shut the highway down, but we don't need anything, we're fine."
The last call of the day I got was from an old friend of mine who was in a Special Forces unit who was on leave and I had visited the day before. "I leave for Fort Bragg in the morning-my unit just got activated..."
Here are my votes for the Top 25 this week as submitted to this week's IRA-CF college football poll.
1. Ohio State 2. Notre Dame 3. Auburn 4. USC 5. Florida 6. LSU 7. West Virginia 8. Georgia 9. Texas 10.Florida State 11. Oklahoma 12. Virginia Tech 13. Louisville 14. Iowa 15. Michigan 16. Tennessee 17. Virginia Tech 18. Nebraska 19. TCU 20. California 21. Alabama 22. Arizona State 23. Penn State 24. Boston College 25. Oregon
First of all, any doubt as to whether Notre Dame is for real as a title contender should have been erased Saturday, as the Irish picked apart a good Penn State team in the second half. Brady Quinn looked a lot better in this game than he did against Georgia Tech. That doesn't necessarily mean that the Irish are going to run the table, but right now they can't be dismissed as a serious contender for the national championship.
Is there any question who the best team in the nation is after Ohio State spanked the Longhorns 24-7? I don't think so, and the size and scope of the victory surprised even me, who believes in the Bucks-I thought Texas was a better team than what showed up Saturday night, the absence of Vince Young notwithstanding. Troy Smith looked like a Heisman Trophy quarterback precisely because he was able to keep his composure early on when the Texas secondary looked to be having their way with the Ohio State passing attack. The player of the game was not Ted Ginn, but the surprising Anthony Gonzalez-where did he come from?
Some of you are saying "Oatney, I am shocked-the Vols get no love." Tennessee can be thankful that Air Force didn't take that game to overtime, which they could have done. As impressive as the Erik Ainge and the Vol offense have been, the defense leaves a lot to be desired at this point and I am inclined to think Cal was simply over-rated (beating Minnesota as they did this week is not a difficult task in a normal year). So what gets the Vols back in my Top 10? A convincing victory over Florida next week would do the job very easily.
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