The Foul in Fowler

On July 17, 2009, in Liberate Your Radio from The Right, by Mary Mancini

There was a fight this past legislative session which David “I Make Stuff Up Because the Means Justifies the Ends” Fowler of Tennessee Right to Life purports to have won:

Pro-life Tennesseans ended the state Legislative session with an impressive win on a long sought priority: removal of preferential treatment for Planned Parenthood, the state’s largest promoter and provider of abortion services.

By strong majorities of 25-7 in the state Senate and 69-22 in the state House, pro-life legislators in both parties took action to remove language first placed into Tennessee law during the early 1970’s which specifically named abortion provider Planned Parenthood as an officially recognized adjunct to state family planning services.

In addition to removing the clause, pro-life legislators enacted language which mandates that the Tennessee Department of Health give priority and preference to local public health departments in the awarding of family planning funds rather than private, non-profit organizations.

If Fowler and his ilk continue to ignore the good work that Planned Parenthood does to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies in Tennessee which thereby reducing the number of total abortions, then it’s only a matter of time before they will come after your contraceptives for the same purpose – to further their own myopic agenda.

Oh wait, they already are. Fowler knows that the Title X funds represented in this legislation cannot be used to end pregnancies and he also know that for nearly 40 years, Planned Parenthood in Tennessee has received Title X family planning dollars and have used the money to provide reproductive and sexual health care – including contraception – to over 11,500 men and women in Tennessee who could otherwise not afford it.

Better start stocking up on your prophylactics while you still can.

Watch the heroics of some of Tennessee’s Democratic legislators who tried to stop this “compromise bill” from passing.

Rep. JoAnne Favors (D-Chattanooga):

Rep. Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville):

Chairman Mike Turner (D-Old Hickory):

Rep. Sherry Jones (D-Nashville):

Rep. Jeanne Richardson (D-Memphis):

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Speaker Williams, Chairman Turner: Graves Has been Fired

On June 17, 2009, in Liberate Your Radio from The Right, by Mary Mancini

Blue Collar Muse, well, muses about the latest email controversy coming out of the Tennessee General Assembly:

Will Lefty bloggers condemn this Democrat and call for his firing? Will the Media cover this on the news like they did the story of the GOP staffer? Will the Left police their own? Will this be written up and front paged at Daily Kos, Wonkette, and Think Progress? And what will the TNDP do? Will Chip Forrester lead the way and not merely call for the firing of this staffer but fire first and comment later?

Not necessary to muse any longer. In what has been described by House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner as a decision by Speaker Kent Williams, Blake P. Graves has been fired.

Between this latest kerfuffle and the disaster in Senator Dian Black’s office, it seems more than ever that we need to push to change the tone on Capitol Hill.

Perhaps the much-needed end-of-session seminar will cover not only the mechanics of policy (is that one warning or two?) but also empathy training. I’m envisioning a lot of “Walk a mile in a man’s shoes” type of stuff.

Update from Nashville21.com: “The “democrat” [pdf] in question appears to be an intern, Blake Graves, who was recently honored by a house resolution citing him as being the “best dressed intern” and recognizing his numerous accomplishments, including “dedicat[ing] his singular skills to several student and civic organizations, including the Student Activities Council, the College Republicans, and volunteering for Hands on Memphis and Volunteer Memphis”.”

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Liberadio(!) Podcast: June 15, 2009 with Rep. Mike Turner & Peter Cunningham

On June 16, 2009, in Liberate Your Radio from The Right, Podcasts, by Liberadio(!)

Summary: Our guests include Tennessee District 51 Representative Mike Turner and Assistant Secretary of the Office of Communications and Outreach at the US. Department of Education Peter Cunningham.

Part 1 – Welcome Back! Intro, news items, and announcing the Bill Maher ticket listener giveaway. Updates on the Iranian presidential election and Ahmadinejad, as well as a quick opening discussion about voting and the paper ballot issue. [23.25MB download MP3]

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Part 2 – Interview with Rep. Mike Turner We are joined by Tennessee House Democratic Caucus chair, Mike Turner (D-Old Hickory, the Fightin’ 51st!). Hear the interview that has the whole town talking about *gasp* public education reform! Just what did Chairman Turner mean when he said, “We do have a problem with public schools. They were not performing adequately. The problem that we created was because of the political correctness we did in the Sixties. We started busing and closing neighborhood schools.” And did he really “accuse Senate Republicans of killing babies with their budget cuts?” [38MB download MP3]

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Part 3- Interview with Peter Cunningham Cunningham talks about President Obama’s education goals for the country as well as the ways in which they plan to accomplish them. He addresses the pro’s and con’s of No Child Left Behind and the case for charter schools. [40.26MB download MP3]

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Part 4- The Hate that Hate Produced We give away two tickets to the Bill Maher show at The Ryman Auditorium June 27th. Then a discussion with our listeners about the extent of the influence of the Mass Media – if Rush can turn out people to the polls, why can’t he motivate the haters? [51.48MB download MP3]

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Turner v. Maggart: Tuesday Night Smackdown on Newschannel5+

On March 3, 2009, in Liberate Your Radio from The Right, by Mary Mancini

Tonight at 7:00 PM Open Line (Newchannel 5+) hosts Democratic House Caucus chair Rep. Mike Turner (D-Old Hickory, the Fightin’ 51st!) and Republican Caucus Whip Rep. Debra Maggart (R-Hendersonville, the Fightin’ 45th!).

Viewers can call 737-PLUS (7587) from 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm and ask questions.

Isis: You wanna make it right? Then when you go to Nationals…bring it. Don’t slack off because you feel sorry for us. That way, when we beat you, we’ll know it’s because we’re better.

Torrance Shipman: Oh, I’ll bring it. Don’t worry.

Isis: I never do.

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Liberadio(!) Podcast: February 23, 2009 with Alan Coverstone and Heather Boushey

On February 23, 2009, in Podcasts, by Mary Mancini

Summary: Guests include Alan Coverstone, Metro Nashville School Board Representative, District 9, and Dr. Heather Boushey, senior economist for the Center for American Progress.

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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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

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Stories from TNEP’s Advancing Equality Day on the Hill Starring Black, Stanley, Mumpower, DeBerry, Hawk, and Nicely

On February 17, 2009, in Liberate Your Radio from The Right, by Mary Mancini

Members of the Tennessee Equality Project and their supporters tried to advance equality on the Hill today by meeting with their elected representatives: Senator Diane Black (R-18, Robertson and part of Sumner Counties), Senator Paul Stanley (R-31, Part of Shelby County), Rep. Jason Mumpower (R-3, Johnson and part of Sullivan Counties), Rep. John DeBerry (D-90, Part of Shelby County), Rep. David Hawk (R-5, Unicoi and part of Greene Counties), Rep. Frank Nicely (R-17, Part of Jefferson and Knox Counties), and Rep. Stacey Campfield (R-18, Part of Knox County)

Most of the legislators actively listened. Some tried a little artful dodging. Below is audio from conversations I had with some of the participants.

Rep. John DeBerry and Senator Paul Stanley (Memphis)

Four men from Memphis met with Rep. John DeBerry and Senator Paul Stanley, and received two very different receptions. Two of the four are a committed couple who are currently trying to adopt in Tennessee. They describe the process. Link to the mp3 (2:30)

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Republican House Leader Rep. Jason Mumpower (Bristol)

Joseph Rymer, from Bristol, is the Tri-Cities committee chair of the TNEP. He met with Jason Mumpower who told him he was interested in finding “middle-ground” and “working towards inclusion of all people.” Link to mp3 (2:00)

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Rep. David Hawk (Greeneville)

Mr. Rymer, who had an ambitious agenda of meeting with a total of 9 legislators in one day, also spoke with Rep. Hawk – a man seemingly torn between his personally beliefs and political expediency. He also let me know what it’s like to live as an openly gay man in a very conservative area. Hint: It’s exhausting to live in fear until you make it to one of your safety zones. Link to mp3 (1:40)

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Senator Diane Black (Gallatin)

Part 1 – One of the more dramatic series of events was the cancellation of the Sumner County delegation’s meeting with Senator Diane Black. The day before, Senator Black made a personal phone call to Anne Miller, who had set up the meeting, to explain why meeting would be a waste of time. Link to mp3 (1:25)

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Part 2 – Senator Black then confirmed to another of her constituents, Susan Brown of Springfield, that if she disagrees with you, she sees no value in meeting. Interestingly, however, during their short conversation, Senator Black indicated that she would support the bill to allow gender changes on birth certificates. Link to mp3 (1:07)

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Part 3 – The meeting with Senator Black was set for 2:00 PM, and even though it had been canceled the night before, Anne, Tara, Susan, and Maria Brewer decided to go to her office at the appointed time to see if they could get in to see her. Senator Black – luckily or unluckily depending on your perspective – came out of her office just as the women arrived and, caught by surprise, agreed to give the group five minutes. Maria recaps. Link to mp3 (1:53)

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Rep. Frank Nicely (Knoxville)

Brad Coulter and his family drove from Knoxville to meet with their representative and were stood up. So they decided to wait outside a committee room to see if they could grab a few minutes of Rep. Nicely’s time. For Brad, the TNEP’s Advancing Equality Day on the Hill was very personal – his sister is gay and had to move with her partner and baby son to another state so her partner could become a legal parent to the child. As Brad puts it, it’s a shame that Tennessee had to lose two valuable members of the community because they didn’t feel welcome. Link to mp3 (1:51)

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Brad later called to tell me – excitedly – that he and his family had met with Rep. Nicely and he was receptive and cordial.

Rep. Stacey Campfield (Knoxville)
Rep. Campfield was a no-show for his appointment. Then he rescheduled and missed that meeting too.

The most disturbing part of the day – other than not being able to hear the stories of each of today’s civil rights citizen lobbyists (I heard there were productive meetings with Senator Joe Haynes, Rep. Gary Odom, Rep. Mike Turner, and others) – was Senator Black’s insistence that there was no need to meet with her constituents because she didn’t agree with them. I guess just like George W. Bush in 2004, she has one accountability moment every 6 years.

UPDATE: Chris Sanders, president of the Tennessee Equality Project recaps the day on his blog, Grand Divisions, and Jeff Woods at the Scene weighs in.

UPDATE II: Jeff Woods at the Nashville Scene’s Pith in the Wind does some seriously good editorializing on why Senator Black’s actions were inexcusable: “With a series of audio reports on the Liberadio(!) website, Mary Mancini paints a picture of democracy in action–Tennessee style. Any oily lobbyist with a checkbook can waltz into any legislative office at any time of the day or night and receive a full hearing. But when gays and lesbians and their supporters tried to lobby the legislature yesterday like any other citizens of this great land, their elected representatives often were less than alert and receptive listeners.”

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Post Politics, Where the Internet People Bring the Crazy

On January 26, 2009, in Liberate Your Radio from The Right, by Mary Mancini

Kleinheider got “the internet people” going crazy over at Post Politics this weekend with just a simple non-red meat post about the election of the new chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party, Chip Forrester. Last time we looked there were over 230 comments. One of our guests on this morning’s show, Rep. Mike Turner (D-the Fightin’ 51st!), said that even he made a brief appearance last night before being mercilessly attacked by the muumuu-wearing parliament smokers for some *gasp* typos.

Kleinheider suggests in a recent Tweet:

If you are into TN politics, you probably need to carve out some time to read all the comments on this thread.

You can do that – if you have the time and the stomach. Or you can just watch this classic bit of art imitating life from The West Wing. Enjoy!

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Voter Confidence Act Passes House 88 to 6

On May 13, 2008, in Uncategorized, by Mary Mancini

Thanks to your emails and phone calls, Representative Gary Moore’s HB 1256, the Voter Confidence Act, passed on the floor of the Tennessee State House today 88 to 6. Thanks also to all the bill’s co-sponsors – Rep. Janis Sontany, Rep. Mike Turner, Rep. Sherry Jones, Rep. Brenda Gilmore, Rep. Ben West, Rep. Mary Pruitt, Rep. Jim Coley, Rep. Hardaway, and Rep. Joanne Favors. Props also to Bernie Ellis, Deborah Narrigan, Martha Wetteman, Dick Williams, Thelma Kidd, and Alma Sanford, and all at Gathering to Save our Democracy*. They’ve been working since 2006 for this and even though there is one more hurdle to jump – it has to pass in the Tennessee State Senate this week as well – they should be given a standing ovation.

Again, it still has to pass in the Senate so it’s time to get on the phone one more time. You can find your State Senator here. Once again, the message is: “I am counting on you to vote in favor of SB 1363, the Voter Confidence Act, when it comes to the floor for a vote.”

Dear Senator ______________,

I am a constituent of yours, and I would like to ask you to vote in favor of SB 1363, the Voter Confidence Act. It is expected to be ready for a floor vote in the next few days. If passed, this bill will ensure that we vote on durable paper ballots that are tallied by an optical scanner, and retained in a locked ballot box. These paper ballots also become the ballot of record in case a recount is necessary.

This new system will replace the touchscreen electronic voting machines, offering us verifiable ballots, no long lines at the polls, and a system that is less expensive for counties to use.

The cost of changing our voting equipment will be met with federal funds already held by our state.

I look forward to your voting YES to SB 1363. Thank you for your attention to my views on this critical issue.

Sincerely,
Name
Address
Phone Number

Go Senate!

It also might be nice to drop a quick note to your representative thanking them for their vote!

*Not to mention Jim Jones out in Williamson County, Jane Hardy, Lynn Williams, Shannon Williford, Linden Williford, Ann Williford, Holly Quick, Joe Irrera, Phil Scoggins, Elizabeth Barker, Chick Westover, Barbara Jones, Joyce Kisner, Mary Louise Linn, and Dave Thomas.

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