On last night’s The Daily Show, Jon Stewart apologized to Chip Saltsman, former Tennessee Republican Party Chairman, one time Teddy Bart’s Round Table guest, and most recently, national campaign manager for the Governor Mike Huckabee presidential bid. OK, there was no apology. But Stewart did call him an “idiot” in a segment he likes to call, “Who the F**K is That Guy?”
On October 23, 2008,
in Uncategorized,
by Mary Mancini
On October 22, 2008,
in Liberate Your Radio from The Right,
by Mary Mancini
Anecdotal evidence is coming in fast and furious of early-voting incidences including voting machine malfunctions in Ohio, Putnam, and Jackson Counties in West Virginia and Davidson and Decatur Counties in Tennessee, as well as hidden problems with “straight ticket” voting (confirmed by Snopes) in Texas and West Virginia. A more complete list of the problems so far can be found at VotersUnite.org.
It CAN happen to you. If it does, here are a few suggestions on what to do:
1) Video Your Vote
If possible, plan ahead for any problems by bringing a video camera with you to Video the Vote. Then, spread it around (send it to us and we’ll help). Remember, the focus should be on gathering evidence and not telling stories. So, use video, audio, photographs to document what happened. Also, get names and phone numbers of witnesses, voting machine serial numbers, names of poll workers, and document the time of day.
2) At the First Sign of a Problem, Stop*
At the first sign of a problem with your machine (or if you experience any of the other problems listed below), stop what you are doing and ask to speak to the supervisor/officer of elections (skip the poll worker) at your polling location. Explain your problem. If they try and waive you off, call your main election commission number and ask to speak to the election commissioner who will satisfactorily address your problem. Keep in mind that many poll workers/supervisors will try and blame the voter aka “operator error.” Do not leave your polling place until your problem is well-documented and addressed to your complete satisfaction and, if the problem is with a machine, that machine is quarantined. Oh, and you get to vote. Never leave the polling place without voting.
3) File a Report. File Several Reports.
Your local polling place will have incident reports available to you. If they do not, call the main election commission for your county and ask for someone to bring one to you. Make sure that both you and the supervisor sign it. An example of a report is here (Hat tip: Wake Up and Save Your Country Voters Guide). The U.S. Election Assistance Commission also lists on their website where you can find out how to file a report in your state. Again, the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-Our-Vote can also help with any questions in this area.
4) Call the Election Protection Hotline
Report you incident to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-Our-Vote, especially if you feel you are being bullied or your incident is not being taken seriously. The ACLU has a hotline as well at 1-877-523-2792. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Greg Palast offer suggestions as well in their comic StealYourVoteBack.org.
5) Pledge to Stand Up to Stolen Elections
Go to NoMoreStolenElections.org and pledge to not concede until every vote is counted – and counted as cast.
*Problems can include: machine problems, polling place problems (machines not set up on time), switching or closing of polling place, voters forced to vote on a provisional ballot, long lines/waits, intimidation, unusual ID demands, poll workers asking inappropriate questions, etc.
UPDATE: One of TrueVote.Us’s members has a great suggestion to add to this list: “Voters who see their vote being flipped by the machines on election day, if they can’t get the machine taken out of service, they should immediately begin telling all the voters still waiting in line exactly which machine flipped their votes. (Third machine from the left, or whatever.) Try to get people…to refuse that machine. This could cause trouble, backups, and increase the pressure on the local officials to mothball that machine. No doubt people are already complaining both to the officials and to election activists and lawyers waiting outside – but the other voters waiting in line also need to know. [I took out a bit of this that was very partisan because we believe that fair and honest elections are no-partisan and non-ideological. - Ed.]
On October 22, 2008,
in Liberate Your Radio from The Right,
by Mary Mancini
Reports of vote flipping from McCain to Obama in Decatur County, Tennessee:
Several Decatur County voters are concerned about problems with the voting machines at the Election Commission Office. Voters claim they tried to vote for McCain for President but the machine checked Obama instead.
At least three voters encountered the problem when casting their early ballot on Saturday morning. Franklin Boroughs says he intended to vote for Republican but rather the computer had checked the Democratic candidate instead.
Wanda and Barney Blasingim similarly said they tried to vote for McCain but the machine switched the vote.
“I noticed the problem immediately,†Wanda said Monday. She says she touched the “button†for McCain a second time and the problem was corrected. Her husband said he asked for assistance from election workers and was told the error sometimes occurs when a person’s finger touches close to the line of the box the candidate’s name is in.
While Blasingim maintains that his finger was not on the line, Election Commissioner Rick Box said the trouble may be that when a person is standing in front of the machine, it may appear their finger is poised over one button but it is actually closer to the button above.
“The way the machine is set up, when you are standing in front of it and seeing it at a certain angle, it looks like you are touching the middle (of the button) when you are actually touching the line above it,†Box said.
Box and fellow Election Commissioner Grafton Dodd tested the machines on Monday. Dodd could not be reached for comment but Box said he found the area of the screen where the buttons for President are located are extremely close together. He blames the problem in part on poor design by software programmers, and adds that there may be sensitivity issues with the screen itself.
Election Registrar Irene Campbell disagrees. She said there was no problem with the machines, though at the urging of state officials machine technicians were called in late Monday afternoon to investigate the problem.
Decatur County, NOT coincidentally, uses the same machines, the ES&S iVotronic, that are used in Davidson County as well as three counties in West Virginia (Ohio, Putnam, and Jackson) where vote flipping is also being reported. A map of voting machines in Tennessee county by county is at Tennessee.gov.
This is real. It’s happening. And it’s wrong. No matter what your party affiliation or ideology.
What’s even more annoying is that in case after case, election officials would rather blame the voter or deny the problem than fix it, fix it, FIX IT! Whether they do so out of insecurity or laziness doesn’t matter. We, the voters, entrust them to run our elections and we should be treated as most precious customers.
On October 22, 2008,
in Uncategorized,
by Mary Mancini
On October 21, 2008,
in Uncategorized,
by Mary Mancini
This is a tough election. It’s hard not to be overwhelmed by feelings of sadness (let’s face it, some of us really suck) and futility (2004 election, anyone?). Sometimes you need a little pick me up and drowning your sorrows in baked goods doesn’t quite cut it. Puppies work sometimes. As does this:
And the Puppies.
But what might really help is a little coming together. Would it be bad to crash the “Women for America” rally at Centennial Park on Thursday? I’m just sayin’…barbecue, a beautiful fall day, some reaching across the aisle to my GOP-sisters…Of course, one rousing verse of Regan Dougall’s “Thank you, From the Real America” and it could be right back to the puppies, pictures, and pound cake…
On October 21, 2008,
in Liberate Your Radio from The Right,
by Mary Mancini
As an addendum to this morning’s post about the Robert Kennedy, Jr. / Greg Palast article in Rolling Stone, “Block the Vote (Will the GOP’s campaign to deter new voters and discard Democratic ballots determine the next president?),” I wanted to give you the seven ways Kennedy and Palast suggest you Steal Back Your Vote (full color downloadable comic also available):
STEP 1: DON’T DON’T DON’T mail in your ballot!! Absentee ballots are often not counted for the weakest of reasons. Furthermore, there are new rules in many states that you must photocopy your ID and send it with the ballot. However, they often don’t even tell you that. So hundreds of thousands of absentee votes will not be counted for this reason.
STEP 2: VOTE EARLY …VERY EARLY! Many states are already allowing you to vote. Do it NOW. That way if you’re not listed on the voter roles, you have plenty of time to get your complaint heard.
STEP 3: REGISTER AND THEN REGISTER AND THEN REGISTER! There is a TON of purging of voter rolls going on. It’s not enough to think you’re registered. Double check twelve times. You can check online at www.votersunite.org. Once you’re done with that, go register. …Then go register. [For the majority of us, this is probably not possible now since registration deadlines have passes. So if you find out you are no longer on the rolls, you'll have to go down to your election commission and sort it out in person.]
STEP 4: DO NOT FILL OUT A PROVISIONAL BALLOT if your vote is challenged!! In 2004 the Republicans challenged a ridiculous number of voters. The voters were then told by a sweet little lady at a table that their “provisional ballot” would be counted, BUT IT WON’T. Don’t listen to the little old lady!! DEMAND that poll judges make the judgment ON THE SPOT. Demand a call to the supervisor of elections. If you have to, go home and come back with a better form of ID. If you need help, call ELECTION PROTECTION at 1-866-OUR-VOTE. And help those around you when you’re at the polling place. Look for people having trouble. Call the number for them. Tell them not to fill out a provisional ballot!
STEP 5: STEP AWAY FROM YOUR COMPUTER! Walk out your front door and get active!! Volunteer to help with the campaign. Or ignore the campaign and do something on your own. It’s as simple as printing out these ELECTION PROTECTION steps and leaving them at people’s doors. Hell, you could hand them out outside the polling places. Don’t sit still or this election will be stolen. And go to a swing state if at all possible.
STEP 6: FRIENDS DON’T LET FRIENDS VOTE WITHOUT FRIENDS! Don’t go to vote alone. Bring friends!! Lots of them or only one of them. Make it a date. Arrange to have lunch with everyone after you vote. Whatever it takes. And have your election protection phone number WITH YOU (1-866-OUR-VOTE).
STEP 7: IT AIN’T OVER ‘TILL IT’S OVER! If the election is indeed stolen, don’t throw in the towel! The day after is CRUCIAL! Three words need to be chanted over and over again: COUNT EVERY VOTE. For example, in 2000 Al Gore lost because of a Supreme Court decision that was 5-4 against him. Imagine if he had won that court decision. But if half of America had not chanted COUNT EVERY VOTE after election day, we would never have gotten to the Supreme Court. Half of America could’ve thrown in the towel on election night, but thanks to people in the streets, it was fought to the end.
On October 21, 2008,
in Uncategorized,
by Mary Mancini
Maintenance workers at Western Carolina University (Cullowhee, NC) found a 75-pound bear cub shot through the head and dumped at the entrance to campus. According to the chief of university police, “A couple of Obama campaign signs had been stapled together and stuck over its head.”
File Under: Really? Couldn’t you have just canvassed instead?
UPDATE: You know, I think I was a little too flip in my response to this. What I really wanted to say was, I sit here sadly amazed that I live in a nation where someone would do something like this to make a political statement. This is a direct result of the hateful tone and fearmongering of this campaign and I am so very disgusted.
On October 21, 2008,
in Uncategorized,
by Mary Mancini
Jon Stewart apologizes to Sarah Palin:
Here’s why he felt the need:
Take this quiz to see if he should apologize to you, too:
On October 21, 2008,
in Uncategorized,
by Mary Mancini
In June 2006, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., wrote “Was the 2004 Election Stolen?” for Rolling Stone. He followed it up in September 2006 with, “Will The Next Election Be Hacked?.” He’s back, this time with investigative journalist Greg Palast (author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy), with another chapter in his bid to save our democracy, “Block the Vote (Will the GOP’s campaign to deter new voters and discard Democratic ballots determine the next president?). Here are the highlights:
“On Super Tuesday [2008], one in nine Democrats who tried to cast ballots in New Mexico found their names missing from the registration lists…[In] Las Vegas…nearly 20 percent of the county’s voters were absent from the rolls…In state after state, Republican operatives…are wielding new federal legislation to systematically disenfranchise Democrats….”All these new rules and games are turning voting into an obstacle course that could flip the vote to the GOP in half a dozen states.”…Paul Weyrich: “I don’t want everybody to vote. . . . As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”…Republican election officials at the local and state level have used the rules to give GOP candidates an edge on Election Day by creating new barriers to registration, purging legitimate names from voter rolls, challenging voters at the polls and discarding valid ballots….To justify this battery of new voting impediments, Republicans cite an alleged upsurge in voting fraud….federal courts found only 24 voters guilty of fraud from 2002 to 2005, out of hundreds of millions of votes cast…The recently enacted barriers thrown up to deter voters include: 1. Obstructing Voter-Registration Drives… 2. Demanding “Perfect Matches”…3. Purging Legitimate Voters From the Rolls…4. Requiring Unnecessary Voter ID’s…5. Rejecting “Spoiled” Ballots…6. Challenging “Provisional” Ballots…Add up all the modern-day barriers to voting erected since the 2004 election…and what you have is millions of voters, more than enough to swing the presidential election, quietly being detached from the electorate by subterfuge….If Democrats are to win the 2008 election, they must not simply beat John McCain at the polls — they must beat him by a margin that exceeds the level of GOP vote tampering.”
For those of you who think this an unfair attack on one political party, I ask you to read the article and think of the news you’ve been hearing the last couple of weeks. News about ACORN (1. Obstructing Voter-Registration Drives?), the use of contested voter registration lists (2. Demanding “Perfect Matches), and voter roll purges (3. Purging Legitimate Voters From the Rolls). What makes you believe that stories about 4. Requiring Unnecessary Voter ID’s, 5. Rejecting “Spoiled” Ballots, and 6. Challenging “Provisional” Ballots aren’t just around the corner? As Kennedy and Palast remind us, we’ve already seen instances of these in 2004, 2006 and this year’s primaries.
It’s simple really – one of the few things that’s black and white in this very nuanced world. Voter registration and encouraging participation in the our country’s greatest tradition is good. Fighting hard to suppress this participation is very, very bad. If you’re still not buying it, then replace “Republican” with “Democrat” and vice versa, and reevaluate.
So this is why, when Bill Hobbs of the Tennessee GOP alludes to Yogi Berra’s most famous saying, “It ain’t over till it’s over,” in the context of this election, I take him at his word (h/t: Kleinheider!):
Four years and 3 days ago, on Oct. 17, 2004, the Washington Post released results of a poll that showed John Kerry had a lead of 53 percent to 43 percent over George W. Bush in 13 “swing states” that would decide the outcome of the election.
This thing is not over.
On October 20, 2008,
in Liberate Your Radio from The Right,
by Mary Mancini
This political season, more than any other in recent memory, is irony-filled. So why this incident involving my friend and the wife of UNCOUNTED filmmaker, David Earnhardt, surprises me, I can’t tell you.
My wife, Patricia Earnhardt, had an early voting experience here in Nashville, Tennessee, where she saw her vote momentarily flip from Barack Obama to Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney. She voted on a touch-screen paperless machine. Here is her story:
“A poll worker directed me to a touch screen voting machine & instructed me how to use it. I touched “Obama” for president & nothing lit up. I touched 2 or 3 more times & still nothing lit up. I called the poll worker back over to tell him I was having a problem. He said I just needed to touch it more lightly. I tried it 2 or 3 more times more lightly with the poll worker watching & still nothing lit up. The poll worker then touched it for me twice — nothing lit up. The third time he touched the Obama button, the Cynthia McKinney space lit up! The McKinney button was located five rows below the Obama button. The poll worker just kind of laughed and cancelled the vote. He hit the Obama button again & it finally lit up. I continued on to cast the rest of my votes. After completing the process & reviewing my votes, I went to the VOTE page, hit the VOTE button & nothing happened. Again after several tries, I called the poll worker over & he finally got the machine to register my votes.” Patricia Earnhardt – Friday, Oct. 17 – Howard School Building – Nashville, Tennessee
I also had similar problems with the machine I was voting on that same day, although no vote flipping. I would touch the screen numerous times before I could get my various candidate choices to light up. It was strange and very frustrating. When I finally got through my slate of candidate choices, I could not get the VOTE button to light up when I touched it. I finally called over a poll worker and he told me that I needed to touch lightly. I touched the VOTE button more lightly, but was only able to get it to work after several more failed attempts.
David Earnhardt
Producer/director/writer, “Uncounted”
www.UncountedTheMovie.com
Need more sad irony? The machines David and Patricia voted on in Davidson County, TN – ES&S iVotronic – are the same machines used in the West Virginia counties (Putnam & Jackson) where vote flipping is also being reported. Go to the election info page on the state of Tennessee and click on Davidson County. Or download this PDF.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Please, if you experience anything unusual, stay at your polling place, ask to speak with the supervisor, call the election commission (they will have the number), and insist that the machine be quarantined until it can be examined.
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Apologies for the lack of posts in the past few weeks, I should've updated sooner, but I recently started working with the Tennessee Democratic Party doing New Media. While it doesn't preclude me from blogging here, chances are most of my attention will be on the TNDP blog I'll now be operating. So if you want to see my flackery in full effect, redirect your bookmarks and feed readers to http://tndp.org/blog. ... - The End of an Era8 March 2012, 7:03 pm
The son of a Lebanese immigrant, Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, the "Lebanese Lion" as Mike Turner calls him, was perhaps the most influential and important political figure in modern Tennessee history who was not the governor. While controversial at times, Naifeh never feared speaking his mind and doing what he felt was right, despite an increasingly conservative and Republican leaning district. That meant sometimes using the power of the committee to ensure the legislature focused on issues that... - Democrats "unenthusiastic" just like in 19968 March 2012, 6:23 pm
The Tennessee Republican party is trying to spin away the great dissatisfaction with their nominee to be, Mitt Romney, by projecting some feelings on the Democratic base in Tennessee that just do not exist. In a press release, the Republicans are claiming that “The only enthusiasm gap that exists in this Presidential election is with Democrat voters. The fact that more than 1 out of 10 Democrats took the time to go to the polls to reject having President Obama as their nominee, should be... - Jason Powell Announces in District 537 March 2012, 9:26 pm
Civic leader Jason Powell has announced he will be running to replace Rep. Janis Sontany at the State House in District 53. Powell, 34, had previously run for State House in 2006 against Rep. Mary Pruitt and is starting off the race with some major endorsements from Councilman Jerry Maynard, Sheriff Daron Hall, and former US Senate candidate Bob Tuke. In his release, Powell stated that he has "always been looking for opportunities to give back" and this was another way for him to do so, alon... - Mayor Berke?28 February 2012, 3:07 pm
You won't have Chattanooga's Sen. Andy Berke to kick around at the legislature for much longer: State Senator Andy Berke announced Tuesday that he will not seek re-election to the State Senate District 10 seat he has held since 2007... ...“Although I am not running for re-election, I am dedicated to growing jobs in our area and working on issues that affect my neighbors,” Berke said. “I am excited to continue to serve Southeast Tennessee, and I look forward to new challenges and opportun...
- O Captain! My Captain!15 May 2012, 6:35 pm
When Walt Whitman wrote O Captain! My Captain! his thought processes where about a nation that was battered and nearly broken. A war split apart brothers, the death of Abraham Lincoln and an uncertain direction after so much loss. Whitman’s … Continue reading →... - An Open Letter To Bill Boner14 May 2012, 6:11 pm
Not the mayor Bill Boner, the other one. Sir, I’ve seen some wrong-headed things in politics before, but you have literally taken the cake. Let’s review the big old case of you being rather douchetacular. After having had their claims … Continue reading →... - The Last Mother’s Day13 May 2012, 6:26 pm
I do not remember the last mother’s day my mom had. I’ve thought about it quite a bit the last few days. I remember the chemo. I remember the terminal diagnosis but the actual day is something I can’t recall. … Continue reading →... - Ideas On Banning Gateway Sexual Activity12 May 2012, 3:01 pm
I’ve been thinking about things that lead to gateway sexual activity. I think there are some things the Governor, who signed the bill yesterday and made national news again, hasn’t considered which will lead kids into a life of sexual … Continue reading →... - Where Bad Poetry Meets A Songwriter12 May 2012, 2:13 am
A songwriter asked me to write about him. I did. His name is Jim Hampton. Impressions he asked for: A voice like molasses in the heat of summer, shirt torn, sweat on the brim of your cap, stains from a … Continue reading →...
- A Note On The First Amendment18 August 2010, 5:06 am
(Yes, yes, I realize that I haven't written anything in over two weeks. I promise that I will get back into a regular schedule of posting once I get myself back on a regular schedule. There will also likely be some content changes around here come the fall, stay tuned for that.)This seems like an obvious point to me, but I guess it's not to Dr." Laura and her defenders:Dr. Laura Schlessinger announced Tuesday night that she would end her radio show following her N-word rant last week."My contr... - Shame On The Anti-Defamation League30 July 2010, 8:36 pm
The Anti-Defamation League was founded in 1913 to "fight anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defend democratic ideals and protect civil rights for all.” Unless, apparently, if its the democratic and civil rights of people they don't like:We regard freedom of religion as a cornerstone of the American democracy, and that freedom must include the right of all Americans – Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other faiths – to build community centers and houses of worship.We categorically reject... - The Tennessee Goobernatorial Race29 July 2010, 4:22 pm
(Note: I'm starting a movement to make #goobernatorial the official hashtag of the Tennessee governor's race. Please consider using it whenever you tweet about the campaign, REGARDLESS of which candidate you're talking about)Tennessee tends to not make national headlines unless something bad has happened, and I guess it was only a matter of time before the Colbert Report picked up on our goobernatorial race, a campaign tailor-made for late-night comedy shows:The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30p... - The Question Of Legitimacy, Deferred23 July 2010, 10:02 pm
Last week, I wrote about the proposed Israeli conversion bill that amounted to delegitimizing Reform and Conservative Judaism. Last night, it was announced that Prime Minister Netanyahu struck a deal to delay the bill for six months until an alternative plan can be worked out.Acting on instructions from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser reached an agreement with Israel Reform and Masorti (traditional) Jewish movements, persuading them to drop a petition to the High... - A Question Of Legitimacy16 July 2010, 12:21 am
Several months ago, Peter Beinart wrote a profound article in the New York Review of Books on the failures of the American Jewish establishment. The main "failure" he recognized is the failure to recognize how many rifts there are among Jews right now--between Israelis and the Diaspora, between secular Jews and the Orthodox, and between younger liberal American Jews and the more conservative establishment.The article set off a furious debate and discussion here in the U.S., although anyone who ...
- I've Moved20 May 2011, 1:59 am
Visit me at my new home at WordPress .... southernbeale.wordpress.com.Thanks!... - I Already Hate WordPress19 May 2011, 7:03 pm
Blogger got buggered again yesterday and I'm so over it. Had to do a bunch of crap to my cookies to be able to access my dashboard. So I've started setting up a new home at WordPress but I can tell you all, I already hate it. Despise it. It's completely illogical, totally not Mac friendly. This was created by people who use PCs, I can already tell with their instructions to "right click" this and that. I hate it. I can't get my freaking blogroll set up, and frankly at this point it may never hap... - Americans Live Within Their Means & Other Wingnut Fantasies18 May 2011, 4:13 pm
Of all the tired, old bromides which have worked their way into our discourse, the old “American families have to live within a budget, and so should the federal government” meme is one of the most annoying. It's annoying because it's so easily debunked; the very people spouting this bullshit are the ones riding mountains of credit card debt, for crying out loud!I’ve written about this before but my first response is always: No! No we don’t! Since when? American consumer debt, which does... - How Dare Those Uppity Plebes Forget Their Place18 May 2011, 12:13 pm
When I first read Felix Salmon’s “Ben Stein's Top 10 Lines About DSK” I thought these were humorous “summaries” of Steins’ column defending Dominique Strauss-Kahn.They were not. They were direct quotes. And oh my God. Without further ado:Was Riker's Island really the place to put him on the allegations of one human being? Hadn't he earned slightly better treatment than that? No, he has not. Justice wears a blindfold.If he is such a womanizer and violent guy with women, why didn't he ... - I’ll Take Things It Shouldn’t Take 30 Years To Do, Alex17 May 2011, 4:18 pm
Waaaaay back in 1990 a law was passed that required the Dept. of Defense to get its books in order so we can do a full financial audit, and yet even though their deadline isn’t until 2017 it seems they won’t be making that deadline. That would be 27 years to do a financial audit of the Pentagon.And they can’t do it.Whew. Okie dokie, well thank goodness we have a bipartisan group of Senators who have a little problem with that :“Based on the findings of today’s FIAR Plan, it appears unl...
- About That Motion to Intervene…15 May 2012, 6:15 pm
Yesterday, the Commercial Appeal published an article about my decision to wade into the County redistricting issue. The decision wasn’t a difficult one. Ultimately, this comes down to the way we are represented in our County government, and the inability of that County government to do something that is, at best, an administrative task. To [...]... - Whose Rights Are Being Violated? #TNLeg #GunsInParkingLots17 April 2012, 4:19 pm
Being Lt. Gov. of Tennessee must be a pretty confusing gig. On the one hand, you’re the second in command, even though you have been elected by a tiny minority of Tennesseans, which would seem to call your “mandate” into question. But thanks to the easy compliance of a Governor who just won’t stand up [...]... - Spineless Cop-out on “Monkey” Bill #TNLeg #TNGov11 April 2012, 11:49 am
Its been widely reported, to the dismay of Science instructors statewide that yesterday TN Gov. Bill Haslam allowed HB 368 to become law without his signature. The bill, which pushes a “Teach the Controversy” agenda, preferred by groups like the Discovery Institute and the folks at the Creationism Museum seeks to push the notion that [...]... - Primum non nocere (First, do no harm)21 March 2012, 5:18 pm
There are few maxims in the western tradition that are more misunderstood than this one: “First, do no harm” I say misunderstood because it is often difficult for people, in their haste or excitement, to see the impact of their actions beyond the immediate thrill. It is, of course, most prevalent in the “gotcha” politics [...]... - Sen. Kyle Defends The “UnDo Can’t Do” Bill – #SB276213 March 2012, 9:40 pm
One of the more onerous bills that passed out of last year’s session was HB0600 dubbed the “Equal Access to Intrastate Commerce Act”. Sponsored by Glen Casada (R) of Franklin, the bill sought to remove the ability of a local government to set certain ground rules in contracts. That’s shorthand for enacting non-discrimination ordinances. Here’s [...]...
- Mad Libs18 June 2010, 2:15 pm
Dear TNDP, I’m not alone in saying it, but this is a problem. (That’s seven months, and many “Chip Forrester is Outraged on a Friday” pressers ago.) We know you know better. How about acting on it? Is…... - He’s So Excited! He’s So Scared!28 May 2010, 4:43 pm
I didn’t watch the Tea Party-hosted Republican gubernatorial debate, not only because I had other plans but because I figure such a thing would be as substantive as a pageant. While nobody emerged wearing a sash and tiara, ... - Just the Facts, Ma’am25 May 2010, 6:20 am
Last night the state House voted to commend Arizona on its upcoming centennial (in 2012) as well as for passing controversial legislation which many argue encourages racial profiling. Here’s the breakdown of how your state Democrats voted. …... - Liberal Blogger Afternoon on the Hill12 May 2010, 4:55 am
Everyone’s favorite Aunt B. did a great job summing up the Liberal Blogger Afternoon on the Hill at Tiny Cat Pants and at Pith. She fails to mention, however, the great restraint both she and I exercised in…... - Sandbagging the MetroCenter Levee4 May 2010, 5:30 am
Approximately 200 Nashvillians sandbagged the levee at MetroCenter today – despite MNPD officers explicitly saying we were entering the neighborhood “at our own risk,” and that if the levee went out we’d likely go out with it – with some…...
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