Part 1 – Oh, Sean Penn…Really? – Oscar recap, Liberadio(!) dance party, to do List, a preview of Tuesday night’s State of the Union that isn’t a State of the Union, and take it from one commie, homo-lovin’, son-of-gun to another, Sean Penn’s acceptance speech will not move the dialogue on marriage equality in a good direction. [29.3 MB 18:16 download MP3]Download audio file (liberadio20090223part1.mp3)

Independence Day – Martina McBride
Cannonball – The Breeders
Jai Ho! – A.R. Rahman, Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah & Mahalaxmi Iyer (Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack)
Lovely Day – Bill Withers

Part 2 – Interview with Alan Coverstone – Alan represents District 9 on the Metro Nashville Public School Board of Education. Generally, we ask him why our public schools aren’t yet palaces. More specifically, we ask about school choice, expanded options, the most recent (and controversial) student assignment plan, the new Director of Schools, tension within the system and pressure from outside sources, and what we can do to engage in the process of constantly improving our public schools. [39.8 MB 24:48 download MP3]Download audio file (liberadio20090223part2alancoverstone.mp3)

Pure – Lightening Seeds
Step On – Happy Mondays

Part 3 – Don’t They Have Anything Better to Do? Do you mean to tell us that Tennessee’s General Assembly is completely in the hands of Republicans for the first time since Reconstruction and they have nothing better to do than introduce legislation that infringes on the reproductive health of women? Is that what Tennesseans voted for? Or did we want something to be done about our bottom-of-the-barrel health statistics? And if reducing the number of abortions is really a goal instead of political calculus, we all know there is a smarter way to go about it than their dog-and-pony show constitutional amendments. Let’s start by figuring out why we’re 20th in family planning public funding but 40th in births to teen mothers (ages 15-19). Seriously, do we need to have Sarah Palin come and talk to you people? [21 MB 13:05 download MP3]Download audio file (liberadio20090223part3.mp3)

Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook Original Radio Edit Remix) – Cornershop (Norman Cook Mix)

Part 4 – Interview with Heather Boushey – Dr. Boushey doesn’t have a beard but she is a high-profile economist, which can only mean one thing – she’s a good-looking woman with a keen sense of history! She’s also a senior economist for Center for American Progress and she joins us to assess what it would mean for a red state like Tennessee to reject the economic stimulus cash, what Americans can expect from this bill, President Obama’s policy package designed to address America’s mortgage and foreclosure crisis, what’s expected in the budget, the coming $1 trillion deficit, and what the average American should do in this time of economic woe. [23.4MB 14:35 download MP3]Download audio file (liberadio20090223part4heatherboushey.mp3)

Drivin’ Me Wild – Common w/ Lily Allen (Album: Finding Forever)

Part 5 – The Gang That Couldn’t Govern Straight – What does a U.S. Senator have in common with “The Rep” from Knoxville, Tennessee and Rep. Mike Turner’s BFF, Rep. Glen “Hollywood” Casada? Their ideas are so old and useless (Tax cuts? Really?) that all they have left is to demand that each one personally verify the authenticity of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate. And no, it doesn’t matter that it’s been verified and authenticated by several sources already – they’ll wait their turn. Plus, a delightfully cynical and myopic listener joins us to say that while she hates “both Democrats and Republicans” equally, we’re really pissing her off. [46MB 28:41 download MP3]Download audio file (liberadio20090223part5.mp3)

See a Little Light – Bob Mould (Album: Workbook)

As important as my own school board district is to me, though, I’m almost equally excited about what is shaping up in District 9, where my friend and former campaign manager Alan Coverstone is running. Of all the people I know personally in Nashville, many of whom care deeply about education, Alan is the one I think is the best qualified to be on our school board. I’ve been hopeful that he would someday become personally involved in our public arena at the policy level, and this is probably the best possible way. I know him and trust him, and his command of public policy is extraordinarily sound. He teaches government and economics at MBA, so he knows his way around the classroom, and he’s a public school parent, so he can identify best practices from both public and private school systems. He has a thorough understanding of the needs of parents, students, and the community as a whole. He is also a debate coach and has a rich understanding of almost every aspect of public policy.

Alan has two kids currently in public school, and he’s deeply committed to ensuring that he can fulfill their educational needs. He fought long and hard to ensure that funding for their Montessori program at Hull-Jackson Elementary was sustained. Sadly, there is no funding for Montessori in Metro beyond the elementary level. Trust Alan to work to ensure that our schools are adequately funded and that every Metro parent has the options necessary to satisfy his or her children’s educational needs. I do. Almost enough to want to move to his district.

I’ve met Lee Limbird (one of the contenders who will likely be competitive), and I’m interested in learning more about her motivations for getting into the race. I don’t know much about the other contenders, save one.

The biggest blow to Alan’s bid came today in the form not of Eric Crafton, who finally decided not to run (till next time), but rather of John Summers showing up among the qualifiers. As a former Metro Councilman with name recognition, he will probably change the play the Chamber of Commerce (a controversial force in a number of local policy areas, if for no other reason than its large and often hidden strength) makes in this race. But is this yet another attempt (after last year’s failed at-large bid) to pay down campaign debt? A more enterprising (and actual) investigative journalist than I could probably discover in short order whether he’s got any. (See Liz’s Campaign Footnotes.)

Disappointingly, my friend Jason Powell declined to reprise his role as primary challenger to Mary Pruitt, whose representation during my relatively brief time in her district has been underwhelming at best. There’s an independent challenger (Lisa Kleis), so I’ll be interested to see whether the challenge is credible.