LIBERADIO(!)

Ever since we interviewed DJ Sprout last spring, the soundtrack of our show has been the forthcoming CD, “Can I Keep This Pen?,” from Long Island born, bread and inspired Northern State. It’s not only on our iPods but we’ve been using some of the G rated songs as bumper music for the show.

Today is the official release date and now you too can enjoy Liberadio(!)’s pick for the CD of the summer 2007. Buy it here or locally at Grimey’s and enjoy the block rockin’ beats and lyrics such as:

“We may not win a Grammy but it could be a Tony,
You might have seen us live on the isle of Coney
Take the long way home, because I like to roam
Enjoy a lemonade spritzer with Elliot Spitzer…”
(Mother May I)

and

“Now I’m broke as a joke in the month of May,
Tell me what the f has happened to the USA?
South Dakota lost their minds today,
and I’m feeling it down to the my DNA
There’s one more thing that I want to say,
What you think you covering with that toupee…?”
(Oooh Girl)

and

“Sucka m**therf**kers in automobiles,
Neon lights underneath your monster truck wheels,
With your chain-link light up vanity plate,
Need a spoiler so big just to get a date.
Got the kids in the back and your sippin’ on a Coors,
And a pro-life sticker like the choice is yours.
And if we want to know who you voted for
You got Bush on your bumper, and a baby on board.
You got a brand new car should have bought the hybrid.
‘Cause you could afford it and I wish that I did.
Change your mind and all that you stand for,
Put a llama in your Life and Bring Back Al Gore…”
(Suckmofo)

and

“But I saw him talkin’ out of the side of his mouth,
Someone’s feeding him the lines and I figured it out.
He’s a cowboy man, with his momma’s hands,
And the world tied up in his father’s plans…”
(Cowboy Man)

Summary: Mayoral candidate Karl Dean is our guest in this segment of today’s show. Dean survived the general election challenge, coming in first out of 7 candidates, and will square off against Bob Clement in the runoff on September 11th. Karl gives us an update on the post-general election, pre-run off race in general and fills us in on his particular vision for the future of Nashville (which, by the way, he already knows to be a great city). Sustainability, education, public safety, 287g, the property tax kerfuffle – this interview has it all!

Listen to: Interview with Mayoral Candidate, Karl Dean (21:53 20MB)

UPDATE: Alan Coverstone says, “If you listen to one interview this summer, listen to Liberadio(!)’s interview with Karl Dean!” (Or something like that).

Summary: In the first part of this morning’s show we run down the run off. Take it away, Grandmaster Flash!

We were standing on the corner ’round Freddie’s bike,
When we realized we were king and queen of the mic.
The election had passed and what did we see?
A runoff election – Nashville’s legacy!
Neither Gentry, Dozier, Eaton, or Briley,
Could keep pace with Dean and Clement, they were wiley.
But even those two came up short of the gold,
So there’s a run off election, the metro charter has foretold.
But that’s not all, we’ve got the at large race, too.
Eight vying for only four seats, what’s a candidate to do?
See before August 2nd, it was the same old same,
The yard signs and the robos,
A street-level game.
But now the stakes are even higher, let us make it clear.
It’s GOTV, baby, don’t even think of stepping out of here.
If you think you’re getting up, down, around or in (huh huh!)
9/11 is the day to cast your ballot again.
Because the voting booth is open and you gotta be down,
And the only place to go is to Barrett’s town.

Run, Run, Run, Run, Run off!

Listen to: Run, Run, Run, Run, Run off!* (42:00 38.63MB)

*Special thanks to FOL Andy Finley who has greatly improved the quality of our podcasts. Word up, Andy!

With apologies to Frank Capra, I was going to call this post about Saturday night’s mayoral debate, “Every time the Congressman Opens His Mouth, an Angel Changes Its Vote.” I altered it after hearing candidate Karl Dean ask candidate Bob Clement the question that’s been on my mind for weeks: “What is your pledge?”

He was referring, of course, to Clement’s promise not to raise property taxes. Channeling the oft-quoted George H.W. Bush (“Read my lips, no new taxes”) Saturday night, Clement said:

“Karl said he didn’t have any intention of raising property taxes. What I said and what he would not is that I would NOT raise property taxes in the next four years. No New Property taxes in the next four years.”

Dean, thankfully, shot back with a long-overdue response:

“I think a pledge is a gimmick. Voters are the only ones who can vote to increase property taxes. Does your pledge mean that you’ll veto what comes out of the Metro Council? What is your pledge?”

Last year taxpayers in Nashville passed a referendum that gave them control over any property tax increase. Regardless, Clement continues to accuse Dean, who as legal director wrote an opinion concerning the constitutionality of the referendum, to be for raising taxes. What he doesn’t divulge is that despite Dean’s opinion, the referendum is now part of the Metro Charter and the authority to raise property taxes rests solely with the people of Nashville. The mayor couldn’t raise property taxes even if our schools were crumbling and our bond rating was in the toilet.

So I’ll echo Dean’s question, what does Bob Clement’s pledge mean? Nothing. It’s hollow and meaningless. It’s also a frighteningly obvious attempt to manipulate the electorate. More frightening, though, is that voters may buy it. It’s as if all some people have to hear is “I pledge to not raise taxes,” and then they pop their fingers in their ears, close their eyes, and repeat, “La la la la, I’m not listening to anything else that might be relevant to the continued growth and health of our city, La la la la….”

In poker there’s something called a “tell.” It’s a visual clue given by a player that inadvertently tips off the other players to that player’s opinion of their hand. The Clement campaign has a tell and it’s most evident during a debate. When the Congressman’s remarks devolve into a discussion about non-existent tax issues, it tips us off that he’s hard-pressed to come up with relevant and concise answers. And even if he does have relevant answers, or even thoughtful ideas, it’s hard to see them through the smoke and mirrors of his “no new taxes” pledge campaign ploy.

Rev. Victor M. Singletary and the “New Wine Ministers” are holding a press conference next Wednesday to discuss the responses they received from Karl Dean about his intentions, if elected mayor, “to redress longstanding substantive issues of the African-American community.” At the news conference, they’ll also address “Bob Clement’s failure to respond to issues of interest to the African-American community” as well as how will his “indifference be evident in his administration were he elected” and “What can African-Americans really expect in a Clement Mayoral Administration?”

Oh, snap. That Clement campaign office on Jefferson Street appears to be all flash and no substance. That said, the Congressman still has between now and next Wednesday to get his answers in the hands of the ministers.

The African-American Clergy Press Conference will be held next Wednesday, 29 August 2007, at 10am at the Fifteenth Avenue Baptist Church, 1203 9th Avenue North, Nashville TN 37203.

Not knowing the “New Wine Ministers,” I spoke to Reverend Singletary who explained that they are a progressive-minded group who take their name from the biblical passage, “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.” Their issues of concern are social justice issues – food security, diversity, affordable housing, income disparity, etc. – and they describe what they are doing as a ministerial paradigm shift.

We’ll see you there!

Today, American intelligence officials issued a report stating that “The government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki will become ‘more precarious’ over the next six months to a year, and while its security forces have improved they are not strong enough to operate without outside help.” Does anyone else get the feeling that the delicate balance between the security of Iraq and its people and the health of the country’s government will continue to teeter back and forth for the next, oh I don’t know, one thousand years as it has for the last one thousand?

I noticed this morning that the blurb at the bottom Steve Gill’s guest commentary in this morning City Paper describes him as “a statewide radio talk host and television political analyst for WKRN in Nashville.” Maybe I’m not watching at the right times but I haven’t seen Steve Gill on a newscast in quite a while. Not to mention that he’s no longer labeled as a “WKRN Political Analyst” on Muellerpoulos’ Sunday morning show.

I called Matthew Zelkind. WKRN’S Station Manager and News Director, for a little more info. He refused to comment on what he called personnel (or maybe he said “personal”) issues “even if the president called.” Funny guy.

UPDATE: I stand corrected. During this week’s Muellerpoulos, Gill was introduced by Mueller as News 2’s political analyst.

According to a press release from The Nashville Homeless Power Project, both Bob Clement and Karl Dean were invited to attend this morning’s Mayoral Candidates Debate. When originally invited by The Project on August 6, “both campaign offices indicated that their candidate had nothing scheduled” August 20 at 11 am and said they “would confirm as soon as possible.” Dean’s office called the next day to confirm. Clement’s office called on August 14 to decline.

So this morning, at 11:00 am, at the Holy Name Church (enter at Main Street parking lot between 5th & 6th in East Nashville) this very important forum will go forward with only one candidate publicly available to respond to the questions regarding Metro Police’s handling of the downtown homeless issue, low-cost housing, health care, and food security.

According to the calendar on his website, this month Bob Clement spoke to the Girl Scouts, the retired teamsters, the unions, the Masons, and the born again Christians, to name just a few. He’s a busy man. Except for today. Today there is a glaringly empty box on his calendar.

I’m the proud new owner of a Brill Luxus 38 push reel mower (thanks to Clean Air Gardening). I assembled it last night, mowed my back yard (which is, thankfully in this heat, small), and marveled at the impact of quality engineering. Based on the insubstantial difference I notice between a push reel mower and a traditional gas-powered motor, I would call the latter an exercise in over-engineering. It’s amazing how much energy we’ll put into making something insubstantially easier. (In fact, the idea of cars as a form of individual personal transport strikes me, generally, as overkill.) The only place I had to exert myself physically were the few parts of the yard that had somehow managed to grow long and thick in the drought. Otherwise, the mower was quiet and effective.

As usual, I’m interested in doing my patriotic part to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. But with the number of Air Quality Alerts I’ve seen on local interstates, recently, I’m also interested in not deepening my environmental footprint in the area. I guess I shouldn’t've been terribly surprised to read up on the impact of gas-powered lawn maintenance. Mowing with a gas-powered mower for 1 hour is equivalent to driving a car 100 miles!

When I mentioned considering getting a push reel mower to a friend, he told me that Black & Decker has a line of battery-powered lawn care devices, including electric grass trimmers. So if I need to trim around the edges, I might look into one of those.

In the meantime, I’m actually looking forward to lawn care for the rest of the summer!

Stephen Hayes, senior writer at The Weekly Standard and author of the new book, Cheney: The Untold Story of America’s Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President, went on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night giving Stewart the chance to ask him questions about the King of All Fear Mongerers that give us a headache but that we’re still dying to ask. For instance, “please explain the difference between 1994 Dick Cheney who believed invading Iraq would create a ‘quagmire’ and 2002/2003 Dick Cheney who said we’d be greeted as ‘liberators,’” and “why does he impugn our patriotism? Aren’t we Americans too?”

Considering sacrificial lamb Hayes believes the “world needs more Dick Cheney,” he was politely pummeled by Stewart (ThankYouJonStewart.com?) and sent on his way. The theory that Jon Stewart is the only real journalist left in America was proven again last night. Is the sun shining a little brighter today? Are the birds singing a little sweeter?