LIBERADIO(!)

Democracy Now! and the BBC are reporting that the “US military investigated building a ‘gay bomb’, which would make enemy soldiers “sexually irresistible” to each other, government papers say.”

Not surprisingly, the proposal never saw the light of gay.

Summary: A few of weeks before she resigned her post as blog editor for WKRN’s revolutionary Nashville is Talking, we invited Brittney Gilbert and her co-worker (co-blogger?), Volunteer Voters’ A.C. “Adam” Kleinheider, to be on the show. During the interview we get a little history, a little commentary, a few giggles, a good sense of what WKRN is trying to do, and absolutely no insight into Brittney’s level of frustration. Girl has a poker face! For those about to blog, we salute you!

Listen to: To Brittney, With Love (25:45 24.5MB)

Summary: Liberadio(!), with guest co-host, Lonnie Atkinson, continues its candidate interview series with Nashville businessman, Metro Council-at-Large candidate, and U.S. citizen, Richard Exton. We discuss the importance of affordable housing, his MNEA endorsement, instant run-off voting, and Pelton-at-Large. Get the man a cape!

Listen to: The Hardest Working Candidate in the Election (20:33 18.83MB)

Summary: Author and activist, Lonnie Atkinson, fills in for the vacationing Freddie O’Connell and realizes that, dude, a lot happened in the 60’s. It’s the 40th anniversary of the both the Supreme’s Court’s Loving v. Virginia decision and the Arab-Israeli 6-Day War. It’s a little depressing, actually, as we realize that the more things change the more they stay the same. Plus, the Davidson County Republicans hold a straw poll with few surprises and the mainstream media’s coverage of Paris Hilton even disgusts Paris Hilton!

Listen to: Yes, Virginia, There’s Still Marriage Discrimination (26:36 24.37MB)

In general, liberals and Democrats are smart and fun to be around (see Drinking Liberally). But the liberals and Democrats in Williamson County are fun, smart, and brave.

Last night, Freddie and I drove to Franklin to meet with the fine folks of the Williamson County Democratic Party at their monthly pot luck dinner.

There was a lot of love in the room as we told them about Liberadio(!) and they shared their stories with us. Stories of life in the military, work experiences, tail-gating in front of or working at polling places on election day, sucking it up to attend the GOP Delegates dinner to do something nice for their spouse, being on the front lines of a minority political movement in Williamson County, and being in the cross-hairs of some of their less tolerant neighbors.

The meeting was diverse, dynamic, open, and absent of fear-mongering. There was no room for “them” or “those people.” As it says on their website, Democrats in Williamson County believe in equal opportunity for all, affordable health care, quality education, quality child care, building a strong economy, fiscal responsibility, protecting social security, protecting the environment, improved energy policies, opportunities for minorities, real national security, improved homeland security, honoring our veterans, and supporting our troops.

If you or someone you know lives or works in Franklin, Brentwood, Fairview, Nolensville, Thompson’s Station, Spring Hill, Greenbriar, Leiper’s Fork, Burwood, Peytonsville, Bethesda, College Grove Kirkland, Arrington, Triune, Grassland, or Southall, please join these fine folks at their first Thursday of every month Pot Luck Dinner or their weekly Saturday Morning Coffee Klatch. I guarantee your life will be richer if you do so.

If the people we met last night have anything to do with, Williamson will once again be a blue county one day.

WE REALLY WANT TO MEET YOU, OUR LISTENERS. We get to talk to you on the phone but we really want to match your sweet and melodious voices with your faces, so stop by BONGO JAVA, from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. this morning, June 8, after the show and join us for some coffee and a nun bun (or a reasonable facsimile thereof), and Liberadio(!) bumper stickers free to the first 5 people.

We’ll be on the BONGO JAVA porch, 2007 Belmont Blvd, Nashville, TN., this and every Friday morning. Join us, won’t you?

Rick Perlstein of TomPaine.com writes today about right-wing christian talk radio’s campaign to misrepresent the new hate crimes legislation that adds sexual orientation to the list of protective categories.

Dobson, Land, Ankerberg, et. al. say this legislation will make it a crime to preach against homosexuality in the pulpit. Uh, no it won’t, gentleman, so stop lying about it.

Perlstein writes, “How badly are they lying?…They’re specifically contradicting the precise text of the bill. Which adds language, to avoid misunderstanding, to the effect that ‘Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to prohibit any expressive conduct protected from legal prohibition by, or any activities protected by the free speech or free exercise clauses of, the First Amendment to the Constitution.’

Commandment Amendment: Thou shalt not bear false witness unless it serves to further your narrow-minded, homophobic, reactionary agenda.

I’m not sure how long Steve Gill has been involved in politics but he certainly sounds like a neophyte when talking spreading lies the immigration bill being debated by the US Senate today.

Oh, right, I always forget. The spread of misinformation is a key element of his show.

If Screaming Tightie Rightie Gill wanted to tell the truth, he’d tell you that the reason why Senate Republicans are introducing ridiculous amendment after ridiculous amendment to this bill is so that the issue will never be resolved. The “immigration problem” is too good a divisive campaign issue and Senate Republicans like John Cornyn don’t want it to go away. If it does, then how will they be able to use it to manipulate the electorate?

And instead of just telling you that the Senators who voted against the Cornyn amendment want to “allow those convicted of sexual offenses, felony crimes and drunken driving convictions to get amnesty,” he’s add the nuance (a staple of thoughtful public policy) and tell you that Cornyn’s amendment would also bar those in violation of immigration laws from gaining residency or citizenship, which would, you know, defeat the purpose of the bill.

He also left out that Cornyn’s amendment, if passed, would have prevented immigrants who have fought in Iraq for us, but who don’t have proper documentation, from taking advantage of the new laws. You know, the service men and women that President Bush had in mind when on July 3, 2002 he reauthorized a quick path to citizenship for legal immigrants serving in the armed forces in time of war. Gill really supports the troops with his, “Hey, thanks for your service, now get out!” approach to immigration reform.

Brittney Gilbert, blog editor for WKRN’s Nashville is Talking, submitted her resignation today, writing that she’s “just not cut out for this gig.”

I understand your decision, but like the rest of Nashville’s blogging community, I will miss your wit, wisdom, fairness, snark, and exceptional writing style.

I’m sorry the bastards got to you and look forward to your more frequent posts on Sparkwood & 21.

Metro Council at Large candidate, Dave Pelton, is apparently done with non-partisanship, unity, and explaining to us why he’s different from other wing-nuts. By writing in an email that he is “the only candidate that stands between the residents of Nashville and total domination of the Metro Council by left-wing candidates,” Pelton just lost my vote.

Jerry Maynard, another At-large candidate, followed quickly with an email of his own, “A few weeks ago Mr. Pelton stood before the Davidson County Democratic Party and told us why he thought we should vote for him…and not surprisingly this sort of name-calling wasn’t used that night…You don’t have to be a Democrat to support vocational education, or a Republican to support a Gang Free initiative.”

That’s right, Reverend Maynard. But you do have to have had your brain poisoned by the likes of Gill and Limbaugh to imply, as Pelton does in his email, that Republican-leaning candidates like him are the only ones who believe “in fiscal responsibility, open and ethical government, strong economic development and excellence in education.”

I’d really like to know how Dave went from thoughtful and environmentally friendly At-large candidate who leaned right to divisive and inflammatory At-large candidate with nary a mention of environmental issues on his website.