Open Meetings Act
Revisions to the Tennessee Open Meetings Act should be done sparingly and
handled with great care:
It is true that the chief proposal, which comes out of Williamson County
and is being sponsored in the Tennessee House in the next session by
former House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada (R-Franklin). The
legislation was apparently brought to Casada by the Williamson County
Commission. The proposed change would allow closed-door discussions
among commissioners and other local officials so long as a quorum is not
present. The problem with this approach is that it could too easily be
used to circumvent public input simply by setting up two separate
non-quorum meetings, quietly coming to agreement behind closed doors,
and taking a vote at the public meeting without recourse to free, open,
or public debate. Such a maneuver-however well-intentioned-is a serious
danger to free government wherever it exists and should be discouraged
at all costs.
Labels: Blogging, Conservatism, Democrats, Elections, Local politics, Political correctness, Tennessee politics
NAACCCP
Watch it, if Tennessee doesn't repeal our voter ID law, our friends at the
NAACP are going to bring in the UN!:
Suppose that the United Nations Human Rights Commission decides that
Tennessee is violating the human rights of voters by requiring them to
identify themselves. How would the U.N. correct the problem? Would the
United Nations attempt to tell the U.S. Justice Department how to
interpret constitutional law? If the Justicew Department or the federal
government did not intervene in Tennessee, does the NAACP propose that
the U.N. send in multinational troops to enforce its will on the people
of the State of Tennessee?
Labels: Conservatism, Democrats, Duh, Elections, Federal politics, Local politics, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
Silence Here
The
Knoxville News Sentinel has apparently decided that there is
really no Silence here:
This is yet another example of the declining quality of the News Sentinel and of Scripps newspapers generally. One has to wonder if the News Sentinel will suffer the same fate eventually as the Rocky Mountain News and The Cincinnati Post-which had been the very flagship of the Scripps chain. The Rocky and the Post were good papers, but if the KNS wants
to join them in their fate, cutting your best people from the staff is
not the way to insure viability. In what is likely the last post on his
blog No Silence Here, Michael Silence confirmed via the paper's online staff that the rumors of his departure were true this morning.
Labels: Blogging, Conservatism, News Media, Tennessee politics
The Ballot Is Fixed
The ballot for Tennessee's
March 6th Presidential primary is fixed:
Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett announced the names
of the candidates who will appear on the ballot Tennessee's scheduled
March 6th, 2012 Republican Presidential Preference Primary yesterday.
The Republican candidates that Tennesseans will have to choose from in
March are Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson,
Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Charles “Buddy” Roemer, Mitt Romney and Rick
Santorum.
Labels: Elections, Presidential Election, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
Super Tuesday?
Tennessee's influence in the presidential race
may just have increased:
If Cain endorses Gingrich, he may throw more conservative support in Tennessee behind Newt, even as we know that Haslam family money and political push
are behind Mitt Romney. That kind of political pull may wield results
in Statewide races, but in 2008, we saw a clear backlash from social
conservatives against the prevailing establishment wisdom when they
chose Mike Huckabee in the Tennessee primary over John McCain or Mitt
Romney. If more conservative primary voters are in that kind of mood in
2012, and they see Gingrich as their only option against a former
Massachusetts Governor with a liberal record who can't even decide if he
is pro-life this week, they may choose Gingrich as well.
Just as the 2012 presidential campaign is very fluid at this point,
so is the primary race in Tennessee itself. Perhaps the biggest question
for interested Tennesseans may be what kind of role Tennessee will end
up playing in the nomination process. In 2008, Tennessee ended up having
a quasi-major role in keeping former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in
the campaign for as long as he was. According to the current schedule
of primaries and caucuses, Tennessee appears to be set to vote on March
6th, which-if there are no major changes in the primary calendar before
that date-will be Super Tuesday.
Labels: Conservatism, Elections, Local politics, Presidential Election, Tennessee politics
