Summary: Featuring guests Betsy Phillips, producer of Tiny Cat Pants blog and contributor to the Nashville Scene’s Pith in the Wind blog and Karl Frisch of Media Matters for America.

This is Tennessee Jumping Up and Down and Yelling “Yoohoo!”, Part 1. News, to do, and why all the good people down in Tennessee need to start paying attention to state politics. [24.56MB download mp3]
Download audio file (liberadio20091207part1.mp3)

This is Tennessee Jumping Up and Down and Yelling “Yoohoo!”, Part 2 Why health care reform matters (we’re talking to you Limbaugh), we get on a motherf**king boat with Betsy Phillips, also known as Aunt B. of Tiny Cat Pants and Pith in the Wind (two blogs that most definitely DO pay attention to state politics), and the Media Matters for America Smackdown with Karl Frisch. [23.89MB download mp3]
Download audio file (liberadio20091207part2.mp3)

State House Republicans are desperately trying to piss on the evil Planned Parenthood’s leg this session, but they’re missing the mark with a bill that just passed the House Health and Human Resources Committee. Aimed only at Nashville and Memphis, where too many poor women are getting pregnant to suit the Republicans, the legislation by Rep. Joey Hensley directs the administration to give priority to the county health departments in distributing federal family planning money. Unfortunately for the wingnuts, those departments don’t want the money and have never applied for it. Their staffs aren’t large enough to provide the services. Therefore, it’ll keep going to Planned Parenthood.

The committee voted 13-8 for the bill over the protests of Democrats. Rep. Joanne Favors, D-Chattanooga, turned her ire on Hensley, who is a physician. “I don’t know what your agenda is,” she scolded him, “but it’s certainly not because you’re concerned about patients.”

Afterward, the ACLU’s Hedy Weinberg said, “They claiming they’re trying to stop abortions, but Planned Parenthood actually prevents unwanted pregnancies through quality family planning services.”

But it doesn’t matter. The 287(g) program, designed as it is to remove illegal immigrants from our fair city, is racist. And it has to be in order for Nashvillians to know that it’s working. People in town feel anxious because there are all these new folks here, who don’t look like “us” and who don’t sound like “us” and who we suspect sneaked into the country. The person we imagine when we imagine an illegal immigrant is some Hispanic dude. So, in order for us to feel like Hall is doing his job, there needs to be fewer Hispanic dudes. Which means singling out Hispanic dudes because of their race and then subjecting them to different rules than everyone else.

That’s pretty much the textbook definition of racism–singling someone out because of his race and treating him differently than you treat everyone else.

B. was nervous, apparently, about accepting the invitation to write for the “mainstream media” but her final conclusion was that she wants to be heard.

Now, I don’t agree with everything she writes, but major kudos to the powers at Pith for recognizing an independent and unique voice that not only wants to be heard, but needs to be heard.

And the nominees for most witless and uninformed assertion about the environment and climate change in a Sunday Tennessean op-ed this week are…

Bob Corker for his performance in “Return Cap-and-Trade Proceeds to People,” featuring this nugget: “No one can quantify how much of global warming is caused by natural cycles vs. man-made greenhouse emissions.”

Phil Valentine for his performance in “Earth Day Extremists were Wrong in the ’70s, and Still Are” featuring this gem: “There is absolutely no evidence that carbon dioxide causes any kind of climate change.”

Bonus! They both win! (And the Tennessean gets an honorable mention for “for outstanding editorial oversight in the pursuit of scientific integrity.”) Read the truth about these assertions here and here.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm…I love the smell of intellectual dishonesty between 4 and 8 pm in the afternoon…

What amazes me about these talk show ideologues like Gill and Valentine is that they continue to cling hopelessly to their tired-old schtick when public opinion on everything from the war to global climate change is clearly evolving. I guess that’s what happens when you base your livelihood on narrowly-focused ideology rather than truth, civil dialogue, and the desire for smart public policy that works for everyone.

UPDATE: Liz Garrigan wants us to be fair to Corker.

Yes, Brainstem, we were jonesin‘….

But NOT ANYMORE!

FOL* A.C. “Adam” Kleinfelter Kleinhalter Kleinheiffer Kleinheider is back and better than ever with Nashville Post Politics. Once left lost and wandering without a smart and sassy hot spot of local commentary and blog postings, we are once again, saved. BOOYAH, WKRN!

*Friend of Liberadio(!)

UPDATE: I almost forgot! Don’t you LOVE what they’ve done with Pith in the Wind over at the Nashville Scene?!? I certainly do….now we have TWO smart and sassy hot spots of local commentary and blog postings!