Flavor of the month
I have nothing against Mike Leach, but it's obvious he is the flavor of the month in coaching circles because he's on SportsCenter all the time ("Why Vols Should Hire Mike Leach," pithinthewind.com). If Tennessee would have made the move last year, everyone would have been clamoring for Rich Rodriguez. If Leach loses a couple of games next year, somebody else will be hot. No one would have even thought of bringing up Leach until Saturday's win over Texas.
Ryan

Leach needs a beach
I don't think Leach would leave for UT unless it moved to a destination near a beach. He's a renowned left coaster, and he just flat-out has it too good at Texas Tech. He makes $2 million a year in a job with only moderate expectations, the administration at Tech lets him run his own show, and at that school he's already gone through the hard part of building a program.

At UT he'd have to start from scratch and rebuild a program while playing SEC competition, and at the same time he would be dealing with impatient alums who want immediate results. Not to say he absolutely won't come here, but I think it would be very difficult for us to entice him to leave what he's got at Tech.
Bill

Joe's going pro
Remember, these are the people who have taken, like, 20 different anti-Hillary books and turned them all into best sellers ("Predictions for Joe the Plumber's Newfound Celebrity," pithinthewind.com). Post-election, he will: 1) Show that "he's poorly informed, inarticulate and has nothing to add to the discussion." 2) In addition, he'll throw McCain and his campaign under the bus, ensuring his future popularity. 3) Get some ghostwritten book out quickly, which will become a best seller. 4) Go out and get paid for speaking in conservativeland.

Joe's smart enough to realize giving Fox News viewers what they want is far easier and more lucrative than actually buying and running a plumbing business.
JT

Joe will get screwed
Conservative publishers like Regenery, home to Jerome Corsi among others, sell in bulk to sister groups and organizations like the Conservative Book Club at pennies on the dollar. Then these books are sold to the public at steep discount rates. Often they are given away as a premium for things like magazine subscriptions. So no one buys Jerome Corsi's books at the $20 hardcover price. They get it for 99 cents from the Conservative Book Club or get it free when they become a member of the Heritage Foundation.

I'm sure Joe The Plumber will be declared a "best seller" through the same scam tactic. Instead of selling 100,000 books, he really just sold to a few buyers, but those folks bought thousands. This little scam is what prompted Corsi and others to sue Regenery for fraud. Richard Miniter, who wrote "Shadow War: The Untold Story of How Bush Is Winning the War on Terror," was one of the plaintiffs. He said of Eagle Publishing: "They've structured their business essentially as a scam and are defrauding their writers, causing a tremendous rift inside the conservative community."
Southern Beale

Mercy saved me
I am outraged by these articles ("Mercy Ministries Update: The PR Battle Moves to YouTube," pithinthewind.com). If it weren't for Mercy Ministries, I would have blown my brains out 10 years ago.

I really would like to know what kind of person Caleb Hannan is and wonder how much attention he got from these articles. I sure hope he is satisfied. These girls (like me) already have suicidal tendencies. That's why they are reaching out for help. The fact that anyone would state that Mercy was the cause of this death is ludicrous and they know absolutely nothing about depression—or problems in general. They are simply living in complete deception and calloused from the world.
Liz Logan

The exorcists
Before you throw another tantrum, Liz, you should know that not all girls who go to Mercy Ministries are suicidal. They go there for a range of different issues, from pregnancy to eating disorders, oftentimes leaving very good treatment because Mercy says it can offer better.

What Mercy fails to mention is that its staff is not qualified to be treating the conditions they advertise they can treat. That is one of the reasons why people have stopped supporting them. This program withholds psychiatric or medical treatment, and then performs exorcisms and the like on individuals with personal problems, medical conditions or mental illness. For you to suggest that this kind of "treatment" would not affect them in a negative way is absolutely ridiculous.
Tim

Nationalville
If there is a broader-based national health plan, with more people insured, the medical management business will have to go somewhere ("Health Care Reform May Not Be Good for Nashville's Insurers," pithinthewind.com). And it might as well be Nashville. If, in some alternate reality, the U.S. were to adopt a single-payer health system, management of the system would also have to happen somewhere. Nashville, with its experienced professionals, would be a perfect place. Those scenarios might depend, however, on how the local industry reacts. If they decide to obstruct the plan, and it was to pass, then yeah, it might have a negative effect. If, however, they were to see reform as an opportunity, then they could benefit greatly. I don't think it cuts as easily as is implied.
DG

Weird MIA
I fully expect the Nashville Scene, in its role as evil liberal corporate media, to keep on reporting on Ms. Blackburn and the Williamson County GOP leadership, to keep an eye on those America-loving selfless patriots, and to provide comic (and cosmic) relief, since you can't seem to find any place to fit News of the Weird and the crossword puzzle ("It's Official: Media to Blame for Everything," pithinthewind.com). As a regular Scene reader, I am convinced I am liberally entitled to the dirt on these weirdos. If I fail to see follow-up on Blackburn and/or Grindstaff, there will be an investigation.
Porzitsku

John, thou shalt not win
If John McCain loses the election it won't be because he cheated on his first wife —though I decided not to vote for him for that reason alone ("High Infidelity," Oct. 29). National media and the public at large are very accepting of McCain's trophy wife.Adultery is still frowned upon in state and local political circles. But the bar has already been lowered, so it won't be long before what has traditionally been considered the ultimate betrayal will become accepted and the phrase itself deemed archaic and otherwise meaningless.If you don't believe me, consider the supposedly conservative country-music industry: Music Row spoke loud and clear on this issue years ago via its traditional silence toward former first adulterer Bill Clinton.
Stacy Harris
Nashville