Gov. Bill Lee Says Memphis Occupation Will Go On 'Forever'

I’m pretty sure I’m the only person over the age of 40 who is on TikTok, but please, pretend you know what I’m talking about here: You know how TikTok has all these clearly AI-concocted stories that have the same overall shape, even if the details are different?

An example. A good person who has been paying a relative’s expenses overhears their whole family deciding to exclude them from some big event. The good person then cuts off the money spigot. The family goes mad with rage and starts harassing the good person. The story almost always will contain at least one of the following phrases: “Family helps family”; “It wasn’t about fairness, it was about control”; “They saw me as their ATM.” And for some reason, there’s a lawyer named James Morrison involved. And the person’s fiancée may have slept with the person's brother (or sister), but James Morrison will help make sure all the bad guys are punished.

I’m really starting to believe Gov. Bill Lee works the same way — that every news story about Bill Lee ultimately is the same story, just disguised in different details. Because I swear, they all go like this: Bill Lee has a problem. He makes a very half-hearted effort to address it. He stands by, nodding in agreement, while outsiders run down and insult Tennesseans, and then he insists we’ll have to leave things to the outsiders, because we can’t fix anything ourselves.

The American Crisis — Same as It Ever Was

Many times throughout American history, those in power have terrorized and destroyed parts of the country. It always affects us all.

COVID? Gun violence? Public schooling? All the same story with Bill Lee.

And now? Now, we get to see it play out with Memphis being the problem. Memphis has a high crime rate. Lee has done very little to address the causes — poverty and guns top among them — so a state and federal task force, including National Guard units, is occupying Memphis while President Trump insults the city. 

Will it help? Bill Lee says no! The task force will not help. According to Tennessee Lookout, he told reporters last week, “We do know this is going to last for months, and we have just begun. In fact, I will tell you that it will last forever.”

Forever? Seriously?!

Could you imagine if it worked this way with any other job? What if I told Scene editor D. Patrick Rodgers that I would need forever to write this column? I would not be getting paid for it, I tell you that. Imagine if your plumber was like, “Yep, the toilet is stopped up — we need to fix it.” “Great. How long will it take?” “Forever.” You’d at least call around and see if other plumbers also thought there was no end in sight to the toilet repairs.

But our governor gets up in front of everyone and says that the occupation of Memphis will go on forever, and not one single person says, “If you know upfront these people can’t do this job, why are you sending them?”

No, I take that back. The Lookout's Sam Stockard reports that Memphis' Democratic state Rep. Gabby Salinas has a clear understanding of Bill Lee and the task force. She’s out here saying: “They didn’t have a plan going in. They don’t have an exit strategy, and ... every operation should have a clear, concise plan and goals that need to be achieved.”  

I would add that you also need a clearly defined space in which to enact your plan, and I’m not sure they have that either. When they say “Memphis,” where do they mean? 

In September, Memphis police said crime in Memphis is at a historic low. The White House says it’s at an all-time high. Why? Because Memphis police count crime that occurs in the city of Memphis. The FBI counts crime across nine counties in three states as all Memphis crime. But are all nine counties being occupied? No, just the city of Memphis.

It took me about five seconds to find an article addressing this very thing — one that includes experts urging people to be careful about understanding how terms are defined before comparing them. I have to believe that Gov. Lee also knows this — that the Trump administration is using the sins of a whole region as an excuse to punish a city. But I’m also sure, just based on years of observation, that he doesn’t care.

Bill Lee is the governor for rich white conservatives who don’t know and love anyone at Covenant School. Everyone else? We are all Memphis.