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
We Told You So
Remember I told you Tony Shipley and Dale Ford
would be exonerated:
Indeed, the evidence that the so-called investigation into Shipley and Ford was really a witch-hunt mounted as then-Health Commissioner Susan Cooper and former legislative aide to the Governor Dale Kelly were dismissed under rather mysterious circumstances. Both of those individuals had a hand in seeing to it that the nurses in question were given their licenses back. The Examiner was able to pose the hard questions to one of those nurses, Bob Reynolds, who put himself at some risk to bring us the truth of the case
and of the politicized nature of certain officialdom at the Tennessee
Bureau of Investigation to light. All along, this writer maintained that
Reps. Shipley (R-Kingsport) and Ford (R-Jonesborough) were victims of a hatchet job, and were being used as political fall guys for the failure of the Board of Nursing to do its job correctly.
Labels: Elections, Local politics, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
Would You Like Cheese With That Whine?
The Democrats are already
whining about redistricting:
This new district map essentially does the reverse, and insures that
cities, which are losing population, are not overrepresented in the next
General Assembly, hence the real source of the Democrats' concern.
There was very little in the way of complaint from Democrats about
under-representation of rural Tennessee and East Tennessee back when
they drew the districts and drew them to manufacture Democratic
majorities that were padded at best and an outright fabrication of
reality at worst. Now that it is time to administer the medication to
the patient-Tennessee's electoral system-that Democrats made sick with
years of neglect and taking their majorities for granted, Tennessee
Democrats do not want to take their medicine. As they know very well
from experience, the party that runs the General Assembly calls the tune
in Tennessee-see how we felt all those years?
Labels: Conservatism, Elections, Local politics, Tennessee politics
If Tennessee wants a say in the Republican nominating process, South Carolina
had better save the day:
Contrary to popular belief, the Republican nomination is far from
decided in reality. After South Carolina, the series of States which
vote on what this year will be Super Tuesday, March 6th, will all have
their delegate counts decided on a proportional basis, most by
congressional district. That means that if candidates were to campaign
well, they could still challenge Mitt Romney for the Republican
nomination. The practical reality is that if Tennesseans want a real say
in who will be the Republican nominee, it would appear that South
Carolina is going to have to be the contest where someone defeats Mitt
Romney, because at some point, money becomes a factor for those
candidates who would otherwise have a chance to be nominated.
Labels: Conservatism, Elections, Local politics, Presidential Election, 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
Redistricting Is Here
The Tennessee House and Senate redistricting
plans have arrived:
The real changes appear to be coming in the Tennessee House of
Representatives, especially for those of us in East Tennessee. What
amounts to three new districts will be created in Knox County, including
(if the map
is correct) an 89th District in West Knox County. We won't ask for
details on how 89 is consecutive with 13 through 19. Representative
Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains) won't represent any part of
Knox County anymore, but he will have around 2/3rds of Jefferson and
roughly the northern third of Sevier County as his new 17th District.
Labels: Congress, Conservatism, Elections, Federal politics, Local politics, Presidential Election, Radio show
Wow...
Sometimes that is the only word that comes to mind when the
impossible becomes political reality:
There are times when watching a political result that all you can say
is "wow." Last night's Iowa Caucuses were such a moment. This writer
prays his wife will forgive him for being up until after 4:00am awaiting
the final result. We've been up all night to await election outcomes
before, but I can't recall the last time I was up all night awaiting an
outcome during primary and caucus season.
When the final result came in, even though the numbers showed former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney at the top literally by just a few
votes, it is former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) who can be
the one to claim victory. Within a matter of a month, he came from
around 3% of the vote to effectively tie at the top of the caucus
margins.
Labels: Conservatism, Elections, Federal politics, Local politics, Presidential Election, Republican Party, 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
Drugs On the Dole?
If you're on the dole and you aren't on drugs,
why wouldn't you want to be tested?:
Senator Campfield's proposal, unlike the controversial Florida law
under federal injunction, would only test for illegal and/or illicit
substances, not for prescription drugs of any kind. Because of this,
Campfield's legislation should be relatively low-cost and well worth it
in order to keep the State of Tennessee from funding someone's illegal
choices as much as it is possible to do so. Since these are
taxpayer-funded benefits, there should be no debate about the need to
keep tax money from moving into the world of illegal drugs and-for more
importantly-the current criminal underworld which deals in them which
such tax money would be (and in some cases-however small the number-certainly is) helping to fund.
Labels: Conservatism, Local politics, Miscellany, Republican Party, 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
Boehner's the Deal-Breaker
Apparently, the Chattanooga Tea Party won't endorse Chuck Fleischmann because House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)
showed up at his fundraiser:
When we have said in the past that many local Tennessee Tea Party
leaders strike us as not knowing the first thing about the game of
politics, this is an example of how this writer and others have come to
that conclusion. Political parties in any political system anywhere in
the world are coalitions which exist in part to gain power over
government bodies. Once they have that power, their first and primary
goal is to do what it takes to keep that power, and in our political
system, that means raising money. A Speaker of the U.S. House of
Representatives normally wants to raise money for all of his
candidates to help them stay in office, and he or she will appear at as
many fundraisers as they possibly can for them. Appearance at such a
fundraiser is not necessarily indicative that candidate X always sees
eye-to-eye with the Speaker, it just means that the Speaker is doing
what he has to do politicaly to make sure that a seat stays in
his party's hands. If Weston Wamp or Jean Howard-Hill were to win the
Republican nomination instead of Fleischmann, it would not be the least
bit surprising to see John Boehner at a fundraiser for either of them in
the future.
Labels: Congress, Conservatism, Elections, Federal politics, Local politics, Republican Party, 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
Get A Purpose of Go Home
Occupy Nashville had better come up with a
good reason for being at the Plaza:
Protestors reacted by using power supplied by a battery powered
generator for the day, and Occupy Nashville says they are going to pay
to have the outlet in question rewired so that the wiring is not exposed
any longer. That is well and fine, of course, but at this point it is
fair to ask: What purpose is Occupy Nashville serving by remaining on
the Plaza? Readers will recall that we have consistently supported the
right of the protesters to be on the Plaza, but we have also said that
they need to develop a purpose and a strategy or end their sit-in. The sit-in is now posing a risk to the health and safety of the very people who came to participate in it, and whose rights we have consistently defended in this space (despite the reality that this writer does not agree with the apparent politics of the Occupiers).
Labels: Local politics, News Media, Tennessee politics
We Don't Deliver For You
In order to survive, the Post Office must have a
business model that is relevant:
Everyone knows that the real problem for the Post Office is the reality
that the institution-one of the few government offices whose creation
was authorized in the Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Paragraph 7)
has failed to adapt to the realities of the 21st Century. From colonial
times right up to the late 1990's, the majority of long-distance
communication in America was done by means of letters sent in the post.
Not only has the widespread availability of internet access allowed
people to send letters via e-mail, but long distance communication has
become cheaper and easier in general. Most wireless telephone providers
offer free long distance, and to compete, many land-line phone carriers
offer unlimited long distance plans. You don't even have to have
internet access at home to send an e-mail-You can do that from your
local library for nothing.
Labels: Conservatism, Federal politics, Local politics, News Media, Political correctness, Tennessee politics
Ring That Bell
Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey has chosen a conservative stalwart with a strong work ethic to lead the
Senate Government Operations Committee:
Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey has announced that State
Senator Mike Bell (R-Riceville) will replace Senator Bo Watson
(R-Hixson) as Chairman of the Senate Government Operations Committee.
Watson has been elevated to the position of Speaker Pro Tempore of the
Senate, replacing former Senator Jamie Woodson (R-Knoxville) who
resigned her Senate seat this last summer. Bell is a committed fiscal
and social conservative with the voting record to prove it.
Labels: Conservatism, Local politics, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
Moving Ahead With It
Speaker Beth Harwell and Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey are pressing ahead with plans to
reduce or eliminate the death tax and the Hall Income Tax:
Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) and Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey (R-Blountville) both say that they are going to press ahead
with respective House and Senate plans to cut and/or eliminate the
death tax and the Hall income tax on dividends. Speaker Harwell told the
Associated Press's Erik Schelzig that " House Republicans have wanted
to address this issue [the inheritance tax] for a long time." Indeed,
many House Republicans campaigned and were elected throughout Tennessee
on platforms that included abolishing the death tax, and Republicans in
both Houses of the General Assembly have the numbers to do it is they
but stand together. As with any other Governor in Tennessee, a Haslam
veto is a worthless one if a simple majority in both Houses chooses to
override it.
Labels: Conservatism, Economy, Local politics, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
If Not Now, When?
If Tennessee taxes will not be cut now,
when will they be cut?:
Despite Haslam's admission that these taxes do not represent long-term
good or a pro-growth economic policy for Tennessee, the Governor claims
that we can't afford to cut or eliminate them, or for that matter to
abolish Tennessee's tax on groceries, which hurts the poorest citizens
of our State. Haslam says we are still in an economic pinch and need to
conserve every penny, and if these taxes were reduced or eliminated,
that neither he nor the General Assembly has a strategy to replace the
lost revenue that would result. Perhaps the Governor and the General
Assembly need to come up with such a strategy so that these taxes can be cut for the benefit of all Tennesseans. Governments always come up with some excuse why they can't really
cut taxes or reduce their size, and at some point when economic times
are a bit better, it still isn't likely that either Haslam or a future
Governor of either party will be beating the doors to the House and
Senate Chambers down to demand passage of a major tax reduction. As is
currently the case, a group of legislators will have to take the
initiative, and we will again hear excuses from all quarters about why
it can't be done or shouldn't be done now.
Labels: Conservatism, Economy, 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
