Catholics Unite!
Stacey Campfield should claim religious discrimination after he was thrown out of a Knoxville restaurant
because of his political and religious views:
Of course, since this writer believes that a business owner ought to
have the right to do business or not do business in the way they might
choose, we uphold Ms. Boggs' right to throw Campfield out of her
establishment, thereby also losing the business of the compatriots who
were with him. We are compelled to ask, however, what the reaction from
our friends on the Left would be were the tables turned. What if
Campfield were a prominent homosexual rights activist? Perhaps he might
an open advocate for so-called "gay marriage," while, in our reverse
scenario, Ms. Boggs were a Christian business owner who did not wish to
be seen associating with someone engaging in activity she viewed as
openly sinful and promoting political and social ideas related to the
open sin that were repulsive and contrary to everything she stood for.
As a result of this then, she asked Campfield to leave? The so-called
"gay community" would be in outrage, they would be filing complaints to
the State and federal government, shouting discrimination, and using the
made-up word "homophobe" on Ms. Boggs.
The reality is that the Left are the purveyors of the dictatorship of
relativism. You must believe as they do and embrace the moral relativism
which they have spent the past half-century or more watering down our
society with, or otherwise you are unworthy to be treated as a citizen.
Dignity then, to the Left, applies only to those who embrace the twisted
moral and social universe which the Left has created.
Labels: Conservatism, Democrats, Duh, Local politics, Miscellany, Political correctness, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
Just Make Sure You Do the Business
Talk of early adjournment of the Tennessee General Assembly
is a very good thing:
The Tennessee General Assembly convenes its second session today and gets underway in a matter of minutes as this column is being written. Indeed, by the time we go to press, session will almost certainly be underway in both Houses. Just as the General Assembly gets underway today, there is already talk of when the session will end, with the leadership of both Houses eager to get on with business and get out of Nashville as quickly as possible. Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey hinted during today's Senate session in an exchange with Senate Democratic Leader Jim Kyle (D-Memphis) as this column is being written that he was hoping for adjournment as soon as late April.
Labels: Conservatism, Democrats, Elections, Local politics, Political correctness, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
The New Congressional Order
East Tennessee will soon have a
new Congressional configuration:
With the Tennessee General Assembly set to open tomorrow, Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell and Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey releasing the likely Tennessee Congressional District map late last week, the the proposal set to become finalized early in the new session of the General Assembly. One thing that doesn't change is the compsition of the First Congressional District, in which this writer lives. Congressman Phil Roe's (R-Johnson City) will remain virtually the same, including taking in the 3rd civil district of Jefferson County (White Pine Precinct). The remaining 2/3rds of Jefferson County, however, won't be in the 3rd Congressional District represented by Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (R-Chattanooga) any longer, but will join Grainger, Claibourne, and part of Campbell Counties in a refomed 2nd Congressional District anchored in Knox County and represented by Tennessee's senior Member of Congress, John J. Duncan Jr. (R-Knoxville).
Labels: Congress, Conservatism, Democrats, Elections, Local politics, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
Occupy the Rose Parade?
Is nothing
sacred to these people?:
Another group of Occupy protesters are set to make utter fools of themselves
before a national and worldwide audience. The annual Tournament of
Roses Parade is scheduled to get underway this morning in Pasadena,
California. The annual spectacle features floats made of roses, a
beautiful Rose Queen, and ends the day with the oldest college football
bowl game in existence, the Rose Bowl. It isn't remotely a political
place or a political event, indeed many of the floats and attractions in
the parade are geared toward children. That doesn't seem to matter to
the publicity hounds of Occupy. Rather than organize their own event,
they are going to sponge off of the hard work of the Tournament of Roses
organizers in what they are calling "Occupy the Rose Parade," where the
intend to display a giant octopus at the end of the parade route.
Labels: Democrats, Duh, Federal politics, News Media, Political correctness, Tennessee politics
Occupy Somewhere Else
Occupy Nashville may ruin it for the rest of us:
As readers recall, we have defended without reservation the constitutional right of those sitting in at the Tennessee Capitol to be there, and we were critical of the Governor and Public Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons for attempting to evict them. Rights come with responsibilities, however, chief of which is that those exercising a right should conduct themselves with good sense so as not to ruin that same exercise for others who may wish to engage in similar activities in future for other reasons. Governor Bill Haslam's apparent move to modify the use policy of the Capitol grounds, which have traditionally always been open to the public at all times and all hours of the day and night, has its roots not with the Governor's office, but with the frustration of the legislative staff who work at the Capitol every day.
Labels: Blogging, Democrats, Federal politics, Local politics, News Media, Political correctness, Tennessee politics
DeBerry Is Free
Former Tennessee House Speaker Pro Tempore says that
she is free of cancer:
State Representative Lois DeBerry (D-Memphis) has said that after over
three years of fighting cancer of the pancreas that she is free of the
disease. Doubtless she is thankful, as The Tennessean put it
today, just to be alive this Christmas. The veteran Shelby County
Democratic legislator has been a fixture in the Tennessee House of
Representatives for four decades, and she served as the first woman
Speaker pro Tempore of the House. She has battled cancer since 2009, and
now she says she feels as though she has a new lease on life.
Labels: Democrats, Local politics, Tennessee politics
Haslam and Voter ID
Does he just
walk the way the wind blows?:
We understand that in Tennessee, a Governor's veto is essentially
worthless, since a veto can be over-ridden by a simple majority in both
Houses of the General Assembly. However, Governors have used vetos
before in order to make a public statement about their objection to some
particular piece of legislation that came to them from the General
Assembly. If Haslam has such an objection to the provisions of the Voter
ID law, wouldn't the appropriate time to voice those issues be when the
bill comes to his desk for his required signature, and he has a public
news conference and says "I just can't abide this and I am going to veto
it, you all worry about it if you decide to over-ride me?" Haslam
didn't do that, in fact he didn't even veto the legislation without
public fanfare. What did Governor Haslam do to voice his supposed
objections to the Voter ID Law? He signed the bill, and with little public comment.
Labels: Conservatism, Democrats, Elections, Local politics, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
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
The Grand Design
The supercommittee that was designed to fail
did what it was designed to do:
No Democrat on that committee was going to agree to cut entitlements to the degree needed to restore the full faith and credit of the United States because it will undermine the Democrats' core constituency groups. No Republican would agree to tax increases without significant cuts and reform to entitlement spending, nor should they. The even numbers on the committee in light of those realities insured that the process would fail before it even began. The President likely wanted it that way, because now he can cut national defenses so deeply that he will make this country a weakling and a by-word in the earth, but he'll find ways to increase entitlement spending if Obama should, God forbid, remain in office. Failure is what the President wanted all along, since failure is what his administration is all about.
.
Labels: Congress, Conservatism, Democrats, Duh, Economy, Elections, Federal politics, Local politics, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
Occupy the Ash Heap?
Is Occupy Nashville
slowly dying?:
Belief that the constitutional rights of the people who are sitting in on Legislative Plaza are sacrosanct, and agreement with the ideas that many of the protesters are promoting are two different things, however, and this writer has been clear that his sympathies lie with the Constitution, not with this political movement. One of the problems with the so-called Occupy Movement is that-especially in Nashville-even its supporters do not know what its clear goals are, and no one from Occupy Nashville has laid out a clear program for the Tennessee General Assembly in the next session that focuses on their agenda. This may be because they have no real agenda and no leader-Occupy Nashville has given us some idea of what they are against, but they cannot tell us what they are in favor of it change the things that they believe are dysfunctional. Even people who are otherwise inclined to support the Occupiers admit this is a problem.
Labels: Conservatism, Democrats, Duh, Elections, Local politics, Miscellany, Tennessee politics
Occupy About-face
Governor Bill Haslam has done a complete 180
on Occupy Nashville:
By dropping the charges, the administration will begin to deflect
positive attention from the sit-in at the Capitol, and once again force
the question: What purpose does this sit-in serve, and what do the
protestors want the Tennessee General Assembly to do? What demands do
the protestors wish to put on the Speakers of the House and the Senate,
or the Governor? What good will being there do when the General Assembly
does not convene again for over two months?
Labels: Conservatism, Democrats, Federal politics, Local politics, Tennessee politics
Apathy Day in Knoxville
An important election where very few people vote:
Voting has reportedly increased somewhat since this morning, but turnout has still been very low (it
is being reported on "the Twitter"-to borrow a phrase from Senator Doug
Henry-that some Knoxville precincts haven't even seen 80 voters today),
and that is somewhat depressing. Local elections like those taking
place in Knoxville and part of Knox County today are the ones that do
more to impact people's daily lives than national elections do, or
probably ever will. Presidents and Congresses do not pave streets, cover
bridges, lay sidewalk concrete, decide property or sales tax rates, or
enforce building and zoning codes. City and county officials and State
legislators decide when and how much of that kind of work-the daily
grunt work of government to provide the services we need to live
our daily lives-gets done. Knowing that, you would think that a whole
lot more people would want to make their voice heard.
Labels: Conservatism, Democrats, Elections, Local politics, Tennessee politics
Hard Knox for Padgett
There are two choices for Mayor of Knoxville, but one has a much better chance than the other of
not driving the city straight into the ground:
Mark Padgett is far from a perfect candidate, and it is true that the odds of a victory for Mr. Padgett tomorrow are very long indeed. He is, however, by far the best of the two remaining candidates. We might not agree with his family politics at our house, but it can't be argued that the Padgett fasmily has a love and a passion for Knoxville and Knox County that can scarcely be equalled. People in Knoxville have two choices in for Mayor tomorrow-one of those choices might not make the city into a total wreck, but the other one almost certainly will not, and that person would be Mark Padgett.
Labels: Democrats, Elections, Local politics, Tennessee politics
Duncanfest 2011
That's what it promises to be in the
6th District State Senate race:
Even the News Sentinel doesn't seem to believe that pipe dream,
with writer Jim Balloch interviewing former Senator Ben Atchley (who
was, last time this writer looked, still a Republican precinct chairman
in Knox County), who pointed out that the district lines favor a
Republican, and that is true-but that community generally favors
Republicans and the only way that Democrats win in Knox County-and much
of Knoxville-aside from gerrymandered districts (Joe Armstrong) is
because of split votes (paging Ivan Harmon). Lots of whiners are
complaining that the only reason that Becky Duncan Massey is likely to
win is because she is a Duncan, but that is not true. The reality is
that Ms. Johnson could change her last name to Duncan, switch campaign
accounts with the Massey camp so that she would have the clear monetary
advantage, and be able to hire a more professional campaign staff-and
she would still lose in the 6th Senate District because there is a D
next to her name.
Labels: Conservatism, Democrats, Elections, Local politics, Tennessee politics
Sinking Ship
Tennessee Democrats
are in deep trouble:
As can be expected, Tennessee Democratic Chairman Chip Forrester tried to put a brave face on those very negative numbers in a statement which said that no Republican got a majority. Obama's negatives are so high, however, that the State's Democrats must be concerned about how a large-scale defeat for the President within Tennessee would impact the down-ticket, especially in races for the Tennessee House of Representatives. In the wake of the 2010 General Election, Republicans won 64 seats in the House. Under the standing rules of the body, it takes 66 votes to cut off all debate, and redistricting will come into play for the 2012 election cycle. Since the GOP only needs two more seats in order to reach the 66 they need in order to pass whatever they please with no credible opposition, it might be that 66 comes as part of redrawing districts. Anger with Democrats over that party's perceived support of the man who may be the single most unpopular President in Tennessee history could push the Republican majority in the Tennessee House to 68 seats or higher.
Labels: Conservatism, Democrats, Duh, Federal politics, Local politics, Presidential Election, Tennessee politics
Now They Show Up
Alas, the mainstream media is finally catching on to a
story we've followed for months:
Your
Examiner has been covering this story for months when it seemed no one else would listen. We were
among the first to report the other side of the story while the Nashville-area media rushed to judgment and all but pronounced Shipley and Ford as guilty of wrongdoing for doing nothing more than their jobs as legislators. Indeed, it was pointed out in this space that what was happening to Ford and Shipley appeared to be a case of the Governor and his executive minions
attempting to throw Shipley and Ford under the bus. As far as this writer has been able to find, he was among the first media in the State to report that the nurses' licenses were initially suspended after a hearing in which only one member of the Board of Nursing was physically present in the room, and the nurses
weren't allowed to present evidence in their own defense. Meanwhile,
The Tennessean all but declared Ford and Shipley to be guilty in the historically Democratic paper's rush to hang leaders of the new Republican majority out to dry. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, an agency crawling with Democratic cronyism within Davidson County from the old days of Democrat control, has
conducted a faux-investigation in a cheap attempt to set both legislators, but especially Tony Shipley, up for the political kill.
Labels: Conservatism, Democrats, Local politics, News Media, Tennessee politics
All That Money
Tennessee House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner doesn't know
where Republicans got "all that money.":
Mike Turner knows exactly where "that money," which was apparently was around $550,000, came from. When the Democrats were the majority party in Nashville-which was not long ago, recall-House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh (D-Covington) and the late former Lt. Governor John Wilder (D-Somerville) held sway over the General Assembly, and any Tennessean who had an understanding of State politics knew who ran the show. That number included lobbying organizations and various interest groups, who collectively understood that no matter what the politics of their organization might be, if they wanted to get something done at the Capitol, they had better kowtow to the Democratic Leadership and give their candidates some cash, as it might yield some ears later on down the line.
Now that Republicans are firmly in control of the General Assembly with no sign of being dislodged in the near future, it behooves many of those same kinds people to give to Republicans, lobbyists and major Statewide donors cannot afford to be out of the good graces of the people who run the show.
Labels: Democrats, Elections, Local politics, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
Not Rocket Science
The way Democrats are reacting to Tennessee's new voter ID law, you would think we passed a law
banning Democrats from voting altogether:
It would be one thing if the State of Tennessee enacted a law which said you had to have an identification card to vote and you have to pay to get one. Yes, under the new law your driver's license counts as an acceptable form of identification, and you do have to pay for those-but that is for the privilege to drive, not to vote. If you don't drive, you can get an ID card free of charge to you. That's right boys and girls, you do not have to pay under our law in Tennessee to receive an identification card that will verify you as a Tennessee resident who is legally entitled to vote. If, because you don't drive, you can't make it to your local County Clerk's office of your own accord, get in touch with the Tennessee Secretary of State's office or the Tennessee Department of Safety, and those people will give you directions on how you can get an ID card that will allow you to vote in all of next year's elections.
Labels: Conservatism, Democrats, Duh, Federal politics, Local politics, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
Is Kyle On the Outs?
Is Senator Jim Kyle (D-Memphis) about to ride (or be prodded off)
into the political sunset?:
Of significant interest, however, to those who follow State politics is the fact that Tennessee Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle (D-Memphis) was among those people who were being considered for appointments to the Shelby County School Board Monday, and Kyle was not chosen by the Shelby County Commission. The fact that Kyle was being considered for a seat on the newly-revamped Shelby County School Board might be seen to lend some credence to the rumor floating around in some circles that the long-time Senator may retire from the General Assembly at the end of his current term, perhaps because his seat is being redistricted as a result of reapportionment and he would find himself in a primary with another sitting Democratic State Senator.
Labels: Democrats, Elections, Local politics, Tennessee politics
