Monday, May 4, 2009
Politics / Woods Lincoln Davis Makes Nice with Chip Forrester
Posted by Jeff Woods on Mon, May 4, 2009 at 8:15 PM
It's the feel-good moment in Monteagle that Democrats are buzzing about. At least for one weekend, they put aside their differences and talked about working together to win elections. Capping it off, Congressman Lincoln Davis put his arm around party chair Chip Forrester. "It's the grassroots organization that will win back the majority in Tennessee," Davis said. "Chip, thank you." But is Davis smiling or gritting his teeth?
Legislature / Woods In Voting to Eliminate Gun Curfew, Todd Does What He Insisted He'd Never Do
Posted by Jeff Woods on Mon, May 4, 2009 at 3:47 PM
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It's like saying the sun rises in the east. It's not exactly news, but here it is anyway: A state legislator has been caught lying to reporters. We're all sitting around here in the Legislative Plaza pressroom listening to the recording of Rep. Curry Todd saying he'd never do what he just did this afternoon.
Todd, R-Collierville, has been insisting all along he'd never vote for his guns-in-bars bill unless it included an 11 o'clock curfew. Innocently batting his eyes, he has claimed his only purpose is to make it legal to carry handguns into family restaurants that happen to serve alcohol. It's a matter of convenience for handgun permit holders, he says. But to eliminate the curfew would introduce guns into saloons and roadhouses, and that would be irresponsible, he says. Here's the Q&A from about a month ago:
Q: Would you vote for a measure that didn't have the time limits on it? Todd: I'm not going to vote for a measure now that doesn't have the time frame on it because that opens it back up to bars. You sell, you know, eggs and pickled sausage and have vending machines in there, pool tables and shuffleboards. I've been in them all my life. I know what they are, and I know what a legitimate restaurant is that actually has a bar in it.This afternoon, Todd voted with the majority on the House-Senate conference committee to accept the Senate version of the bill, which kills the curfew.
Crazy Crap / Hargrove Afghaniscrewed: Evangelicals Not Only Scary, But Potentially Undermining Hearts & Minds Battle
Posted by Brantley Hargrove on Mon, May 4, 2009 at 3:27 PM
What's the best way to insure the insurgency in Afghanistan is supplied with fresh, bright-eyed zealots? Have our own, similarly insidious zealots hand out Pashtu and Dari Bibles to the conservative, Islamic populace.
Imagine, if you will, a group of turbaned Afghanis going door to door in rural Tennessee and handing out copies of the Koran. Except worse. The unhappy recipients wielding AK-47s instead of shotguns.
Apparently Al-Jazeera reported on Sunday night that a gathering of Evangelical Christian soldiers were given the Bibles to hand out to the populace in crystal-clear contravention of military regulation. Thankfully, Al-Jazeera handed over a tape of its report to military officials, and a quick kibosh was put on the would-be proselytizers.
So what is it that makes these Evangelicals so blind to what would clearly be a disaster in a country like Afghanistan? My best guess is empathy. Or a lack of it. A complete inability to see from another's point of view. Democracy is already a serious stretch in that country. Christianity? Infidels!
Legislature / Woods Lawmakers Vote to Drop Curfew from Gun Bill
Posted by Jeff Woods on Mon, May 4, 2009 at 2:31 PM
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The wackiest gun freaks in the legislature met in one room this afternoon to settle differences between the House and Senate versions of the guns-in-bars bill. It's a statement about this year's session that they debated not whether to allow handgun permit holders to go armed in saloons but whether to let them do it after 11 o'clock at night. The House-Senate conference committee, bowing as usual to the wishes of the National Rifle Association, voted to drop the curfew. The committee's report now goes to the House and Senate floors for up-or-down votes.
The decision put the lie to one of the big arguments for the bill. Proponents claimed they only wanted to let handgun permit holders carry their weapons into restaurants, not saloons. That's why the House added the curfew. As Rep. Joe Armstrong, D-Knoxville, pointed out: "After 11 o'clock, no family restaurant is open." Rep. Joe McCord, R-Maryville, acknowledged the hypocrisy in deleting the curfew now.
"For years, we've been talking about this as a restaurant carry bill," said McCord, who voted against accepting the Senate version.
Sen. Doug Jackson, D-Dickson, claimed his legislation would prevent violence in bars, citing the story of a woman who told him her husband was killed in a restaurant that serves alcohol.
"Her husband was killed in front of her at arm's length," Jackson said. "She is a handgun carry permit holder. She was required by law to leave her gun in her car. She is very, very upset with the legislature that a law existed that required her to be disarmed. She said, 'But for that law I believe my husband today would be alive.' Unfortunately these tragedies do occur."Update: SayUncle, an anonymous tough guy, takes a potshot at your correspondent: "As an added bonus, Jeff Woods poos his pretty bloomers, invokes wild west imagery."
Hargrove / Law and Order Scumbags of the Week: Father Kills Own Son, Mother Coked Up During Birth
Posted by Brantley Hargrove on Mon, May 4, 2009 at 11:48 AM
This is in no way intended to be a Mother's Day Pith preliminary. Simply file among "Worst Parents in the History of Parenting and Parents."
Exhibit One: Lateshia Coleman, a 34-year-old woman whose son died 16 days after his birth in
So here they are, Pith readers, your scumbags of the week--scary, mean-looking, wholly scummy and generally bad felons.
Exhibit One: Lateshia Coleman, a 34-year-old woman whose son died 16 days after his birth in
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June. He wasn't here very long because when he was born, police say his mother tested positive for cocaine, marijuana and opiates at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. After the Department of Child Services handed the case over to Metro Nashville Police, an investigation led to a recent indictment. Coleman is now in jail, which may not be entirely unfamiliar to her. She's been booked on suspicion of prostitution, shoplifting and possession of paraphernalia in the past. Now she's charged with reckless homicide and aggravated assault.
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Exhibit Two: Marcellous Lindsley, 27, brought his fatally injured 18-month-old son to Southern Hills Medical Center in 2006, claiming he'd fallen out of bed. The boy died from internal injuries. Detectives have determined Coleman's story is, in fact, complete bullshit. He's now charged with 2nd-degree murder and aggravated child neglect.
So here they are, Pith readers, your scumbags of the week--scary, mean-looking, wholly scummy and generally bad felons.
Crazy Crap / Hannan Pirate Phil Valentine Says: Arr-len Specter Be Nothin' More Than a Traitorous Scallywag
Posted by Caleb Hannan on Mon, May 4, 2009 at 10:50 AM
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For approximately four paragraphs in this week's editorial, Phil Valentine made Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter's recent jump to the Democratic party sound like a thrilling high seas defection. Then he dropped the metaphor in favor of his usual steaming hot paella of contrived analogies and tone-deaf similes. It was sad. Thus the following parody is short, both in homage to Phil's own commitment and the knowledge that fake pirate accents aren't funny in the least.
Pirate Phil: Ahoy matey! And welcome to the S.S. Supply Side, the greatest, grandest vessel e'er to navigate the swift waters of the Cumberland! Isn't that right, Squawk?
Squawk: SQUAWWWWWWK!
Pirate Phil: A mighty ship, she be. Full o' broad masts, thick sails and enough good and villainous privateers to get me full on to Fiddlers Green. But trouble, aye, she lurks. For deep in the dusty bowels of this beautiful lass there be a traitor...
The Democrats and their many accomplices in the mainstream media are salivating over the recent news that Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter has jumped ship to the Democrats. The problem is he -- and they -- may have misjudged just which ship is sinking.
Pirate Phil: That's right, Arr-len Specter! Scallywag! Scurvy dog! Son of a biscuit eater! Me thinks he ne'er may recover from this mutiny. To the planks!
Specter didn't jump from the GOP ship. He was shoved overboard.
Pirate Phil: Yarrr! I be havin' ya read more of me thoughts on the matter, but ya know how I always be mixin' me metaphors.
SHIVER ME TIMBERS! THAT WAS AWFUL!
Hannan / Media / Politics Lowly Citizen Tells Tennessean New Convention Center Would Be Swell
Posted by Caleb Hannan on Mon, May 4, 2009 at 9:45 AM
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The Tennessean has given its fair share of ink to convention center cheerleaders. But even by their generous standards, this weekend's papers were full-on pep rallies.
Before smirking at opponents of the billion-dollar Music City Center, the Tennessean published a letter to the editor from concerned citizen Ron Samuels. The important message Mr. Samuels wished to relay: Denver totally brushed off people who said the post-9/11 economy was a bad time to build, and they're doing super. So forget all these naysayers, let's get a drillin'!
Now there's nothing wrong with publishing Mr. Samuels' letter. The problem is, if all you had to go on was the information the Tennessean provided (his zip code), you'd think Samuels was just an average Joe. Rather than the CEO of Avenue Bank, current chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and former finance committee head for the commission that recommended building the center two years ago.
Throw in the fact that he spearheaded campaigns to recruit the Oilers and keep the Predators and you could've probably written Mr. Samuels' letter for him. Assuming someone told you all of that up front.*
*We take all of this back if it turns out that there's another Ron Samuels in Nashville who flew out to Denver and came back so impressed he decided to put pen to paper.
It's possible Mr. Samuels didn't provide any of that information himself. Maybe some overworked night editor didn't recognize his name and just let it run. It's understandable. But the paper still has a duty to say who he is and who he works for. If you insist on giving your readers a convention center cheerleader's "rah-rah" speech, at least tell them he has a rooting interest in the game.
Legislature / Politics / Woods Hedy Weinberg Predicts SJR127 Will Pass House This Session
Posted by Jeff Woods on Mon, May 4, 2009 at 8:36 AM
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The ACLU's Hedy Weinberg predicts SJR127 will pass the House this session. On Liberadio(!) this morning, Weinberg said:
"The agenda of the legislature this year is to take away women's reproductive rights. ... It's taken them about six years, but I'm afraid this year they will pass in both chambers SJR127. ... I have to admit that this is unfortunately getting bipartisan support. Republicans are not the only ones who are anti-choice in Tennessee."Roe v. Wade is safe, especially now with President Obama appointing Supreme Court justices, but Weinberg called SJR127 "quite dangerous. In and of itself, it says that women in Tennessee have no right to control their reproductive health care." SJR127, which would strip abortion rights from the state constitution, already has passed the Senate. If the House passes it this session, it'll need super-majorities in both chambers next year to go on the 2014 ballot. Weinberg castigated pro-lifers for opposing "quality sex education in the middle schools."
"We need to make contraceptives available. We need to explain the risk of being involved in unprotected sex. The same folks who are anti-choice are the same folks who don't want to provide quality sex education in the schools, but in fact just yell abstinence only, abstinence only."
Breaking News / Woods Morning Roundup II: Kyle Talks Campaign Strategy in Monteagle
Posted by Jeff Woods on Mon, May 4, 2009 at 7:56 AM
At Monteagle where Democrats gathered this weekend to talk about what went wrong in '08, Sen. Jim Kyle looked ahead to his own candidacy for governor. He says he won't make an announcement until after the legislative session, but he tipped his hand with this comment on campaign strategy to the Memphis Flyer's Jackson Baker:
"I'm going to build a wall around Memphis. I'm going to build a wall around Memphis and then work hard on the rest of the state."Another report from Monteagle. ... The lottery scholarship fund needs a bailout. ... Legislature balks at anti-immigration bills. ... Ramsey pushes a bill to let Tennessee recognize American Indian tribes. ... The House votes today on keeping gun records secret. The Commercial Appeal is against it, and so is Rep. Tommie Brown:
"If we're going to be big enough and bad enough to give everybody and their brother and their little babies permission to carry guns, then the unsuspecting public ought to have some ideas on who they are."
Barry / Politics More Convention Center Propaganda in Sunday's Tennessean
Posted by Bruce Barry on Mon, May 4, 2009 at 7:11 AM
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A Tennessean editorial Sunday joins the propaganda war for a new convention center:
"It's difficult to see how the mere purchase of property would drum up opposition....It's not likely the price of downtown property will decrease. The city should be optimistic about a land buy now."Let's see now, we have a buyer -- the city -- that must have the entire footprint of land all at once, right away, so the balance of negotiation power favors sellers. Later, if the project is shelved, the city will be motivated to sell land for which it has little use, especially if it turns out that the plain language of state law means what it sure seems to mean: that the tourism taxes put in place for a new convention center (hotel/motel taxes, rental car taxes, and the airport taxi and shuttle departure tax) can only be used to develop, operate, or promote a new convention center, not to pay the note on land that will not be used for a convention center. So then the balance of negotiating power will favor buyers. Put this together and it isn't all that clear why the city should be all that "optimistic" about buying land.
