GOP "Astonished" To See Someone Standing Up For Constitution

It seems the Republican Party, in their zeal to hate President Obama, have forgotten all amendments other than the 2nd and 10th.

After Reps. Mike Stewart and Mike Turner defended the rights of Americans of all political persuasions to protest at their capitol, TNGOP Chair Chris Devaney released a statement saying “It is astonishing that Tennessee Democrats are defending ‘Occupy Nashville.’ If the Democrats want to associate themselves with this bunch, more power to them; but I think it shows how out of touch they are with everyday Tennesseans."

Well, as the protestors say, "This is What Democracy Looks Like". Maybe Devaney thinks a little hippie bashing will rally the rest of the state around to his boss' constitutionally questionable abridgement of his citizen's first amendment rights, but so far it doesn't appear Tennesseans in any form or fashion are agreeing with this abuse of power.

Update: Time for Mr. Devaney to put back on his astonishment hat...it appears that Federal Judge Aleta Trauger is in agreement with the likes of Turner and Stewart who don't think the Governor has carte blanche authority to stifle speech they don't like.

Occupy Reason

Early Saturday morning the cops once again descended upon the angry mob peaceful protestors at Occupy Nashville to enforce new curfew rules designed to allow the Governor's office to decide which message and method of peaceable assembly in order to petition their government is valid.

This time, it appears that the THP was a bit crankier than the first night, as they decided to illegally arrest and detain a reporter on bogus charges. In a video released by the Scene last night, taken by reporter Jonathon Meador, you see him interviewing protestors, asking them their names, shortly before the THP gives the call that "Your Time Is Up" as they begin to swoop in to round up the American citizens standing peacefully on their Capitol.



As Meador walks backwards to be with his fellow press reporters, the cops move passed TV camera men to go after him. At first, Meador says he's "getting off" the Plaza, but no matter, the cops say he's under arrest. One officer is saying "you've had your time" as Meador says, "I'm a member of the media repeatedly". Then, as they take him to the ground, a patrolman says to another, "tell him when you get him up there to charge him with resisting arrest".

Apparently, in Nashville, not only are you not allowed to be at your capitol without the approval of Governor Haslam, you also are not allowed to protest your own illegal arrest. Now, the interesting thing here is, when Meador was released later that day, the THP made no mention of these "resisting arrest" charges, instead, they said he was arrested for "publix intoxication"...however, the video clearly shows someone with sound mind and body to know he was getting illegally arrested and detained, while other members of the media with fancier cameras with their station's logos emblazoned on them, were left alone.

However valid the original pretense for the curfew, which was to clean up a "deteriorating situation" of violence and filth, clearly the THP,acting under orders of the Governor's office, have overstepped their bounds. And, by the way, if the Tennessee Highway Patrol is really supposed to be protecting the people of Tennessee, shouldn't they maybe be doing what their department's description states? As in, patrolling the highway? I mean, its Halloween weekend, 3am in the morning, you think maybe there might be some drunk drivers cruising the roads who are a greater threat to the general public than a bunch of Americans exercising their rights under the 1st amendment? I dunno, maybe that's just me being crazy.

Update: Rep. Stewart released a statement yesterday in which he challenged the Governor's legal rationale:

Administration officials’ suggestion that the new policies are needed to prevent “deteriorating sanitary conditions” and “maintain security and safety” do not hold water. Tennessee has long had laws in place to deal with such issues; if individuals are acting in ways that endanger others, then state and local officials have the power to stop those particular people without at the same time infringing on the rights of other citizens.

Legislative Plaza Becomes GOP Plaza

It looks like the Republicans are tired of riff-raff out there opposing their policies designed to screw the poor to the benefit of the wealthy.  A new directive, in response to the Occupy Nashville peaceful protests, cuts off access to legislative plaza for those who don't have the blessing of the Governor's office:

Effective immediately and until further notice, all assemblies and gatherings of persons on the State of Tennessee Legislative Plaza, War Memorial Courtyard and Capitol grounds areas in Nashville, Tennessee shall require a use permit from the Tennessee Department of General Services. Use of any portion of the Capitol grounds also requires the approval of the Tennessee Capitol Commission.

The Department of General Services may issue permits upon proper application and satisfaction of use fees, security and liability insurance requirements for use of the Legislative Plaza, War Memorial Courtyard and Capitol grounds between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Special use permits for the Legislative Plaza, War Memorial Courtyard and Capitol grounds during hours outside of the 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. period may be approved at the discretion of the Department on a case by case basis.

Notwithstanding the above, the Legislative Plaza, War Memorial Courtyard and Capitol grounds areas are closed to the public from 10:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. daily and no person shall enter upon those premises during this curfew period without specific authorization by the State of Tennessee. In no event shall overnight occupancy of the Legislative Plaza, War Memorial Courtyard or Capitol grounds areas be permitted by any group or individual.

The foregoing policy is issued under the authority of T. C. A. § 4-8-101 and in the interest of protecting the health, safety and welfare of the public. Issued this 27th day of October, 2011 by the Tennessee Department of General Services.

The authorizing legislation referenced reads as such:

4-8-101. Care of buildings and fixtures -- Preservation of order.

(a) (1) Except as otherwise provided by subdivision (a)(2), it is the duty of the department of general services, through the commissioner, to take care of and preserve the state capitol and capitol annexes and all the furniture, fixtures and the capitol grounds, and to keep the same in good order.

(2) It is the duty of the department of general services, through the commissioner acting with approval of the speaker of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives, to take care of and preserve the second floor of the state capitol, including all chambers, galleries, offices, rooms, hallways, balconies, storage areas and other spaces therein, and all associated furniture and fixtures and to keep the same in good order.

(b) The department, through proper agencies, has the authority to preserve order among visitors who may be in and around the capitol and annexes, and to keep improper persons out of the different offices and rooms, in the absence of the regular occupants.

Jameson on Anonymity

Former Councilman Mike Jameson and now would-be Metro Sessions Judge Jameson has written a column for the Nashville Scene in which he weighs the issues of anonymous commenting on sites like Pith, and whether the ability to express one's self without recrimination trumps the need for having constructive, not libelous and insulting debate.

I'm not saying the solution necessarily requires disclosure of authors' identities. But if there's an interest in balance, we're losing it. My editor notes that any solution would require more resources. Disclosed identities, for example, would still need to be verified — presumably by someone. And that's a legitimate point. But on the other hand, now that I know my editor is an alcoholic bank robber, who cares?

Personally, I miss the good ol' days of Post Politics when political staffers, hacks and whores would descend upon the web to unleash a torrent of disparaging comments on anyone who remotely critiqued or challenged them or their political benefactors. It made things a bit interesting, and even if you didn't know who the person was making the comments, you had a general idea of where they were coming from and what that circle was thinking.

Btw, speaking of Jameson, in case you missed it yesterday, he has announced his intention to run for the Metro Sessions Judicial position next year, whether or not he gets the Council's nod to hold it until the election.  He's gathered the support of former Chancery Court Judge Robert Brandt to be his treasurer, and former Ronnie Steine and Brady Banks campaign manager Kathleen Murphy to help in his bid.

Using The Web To Increase Public Interaction

It seems that more and more, political candidates have come around to using the internet and social media to further their campaign goals by engaging supporters and potential supporters on issues.  But too often this outreach ends up dying off once the candidates get into office. 

One candidate, Fabian Bedne (District 31), is using Facebook to stay better informed about what his supporters and constituents think about issues.  The issue of the day happens to be that of urban chickens.  Bedne asked his followers to give him input, and put up a poll to gauge their opinions.  So far, by about a 4-1 margin those on FB support the idea of letting people raise their own chickens (though consensus in the comments is that roosters shouldn't be allowed).

While certainly FB polls are not scientific and shouldn't be used to make or break a decision, its good to see public officials using the web to interact and get feedback from constituents, not simply talk at them and promote themselves.

Republicans Remind Me Why I'm A Democrat

I have to admit, I've been rather derelict in my duties as a blogger during the past 20 or so GOP debates.  So far, I've consumed them through after-debate soundbites and transcripts.  Tonight was my first, full, 2-hour GOP extravaganza and damn if these aren't some of the craziest sons of bitches to ever brush up against the possibility of being President of the United States.

Forgetting substance for a moment, I've been wondering why the news media keeps calling Romney the front-runner when poll after poll shows someone else (Perry, Cain, whoever) is the leading the pack.  Watching tonight, I see why.  No rational person can watch this debate and say that anyone other than Mitt Romney is the best candidate to go against Barack Obama in 2012.  Not saying he's right about, well, anything really.  But he comes off (to me) as someone who has a few brain cells left to rub together, and that's saying a lot for this crowd, at least when it comes down to he or Cain/Perry.

Now, as for some of the substantive moments of the debate.  I was disappointed that it had to come down to Santorum to give the most cogent rebuke of Cain's "dropkick the poor in the teeth" 9-9-9 tax plan, when he pointed out that 80% of the country would pay more as a result of his plan.  Michelle Bachmann went off on some irrelevant tangent about a VAT (hint: states have figured out how to only tax final sales, so could the federal government) and Herman Cain's response to the ganging up was to prattle on about fruit and say that people should look at his campaign's analysis of his own plan...because you really wanna take the word of the mugger in this situation.

[Insert debate about Romneycare vs. "Obamacare" AKA the only reason Mittens hasn't run away with this thing]

On immigration, Rick Perry seemed to get quite a few boos for going after Mittens over his hiring of undocumented immigrants.  I don't know if its because of the more Mormon heavy audience or because many of the Republicans in the audience probably had their own undocumented immigrants cutting their lawn, but it didn't really seem to stick.  Perry also spouted out some facts (the most useless thing in a GOP debate) about the costs of building a fence, to which most on the stage seemed to scoff, meanwhile Romney thinks that Texas has high immigration rates because of some in-state college tuition rates for non-citizen residents of the state.

On Yucca Mountain, Newt Gingrich gave the closest thing to the right answer on the subject, but even he couldn't overcome the desire to pander.  Look, the Federal Government spent billions of dollars developing Yucca mountain, but their delegation waited until we'd spent our money there, creating jobs, before killing the program.  Mittens and Perry hid behind Ron Paul and his appeal towards state's rights in this situation, but I'm sorry, Yucca Mountain doesn't belong to Nevada...its federal land, it belongs to the US, that's why it was chosen.  Even if it was Nevada's, there's a thing called eminent domain, y'all should look it up. 

Perry, during the Yucca question, also referenced France and their reliance on nuclear energy (seemingly in a positive way) before going on some tangent about how we shouldn't subsidize it.  In reality, France's nuclear energy program is heavily subsidized and outright controlled by their national government, which has been second only to Japan in nuclear power subsidies and R&D research.  To positively cite France in one breath and then deride federal involvement in energy policy in the next is the height of stupidity.

Later, Herman Cain was asked about his comment about the poor having only themselves to blame for being poor (a comment which received some of the loudest applause of the evening), and he basically said it was all the fault of the Obama administration (because, you know, shit was really looking up for use before he took over).  Ron Paul gave a sympathetic response to #OWS protestors concerns about Wall Street, and Mittens talked about how Obama hasn't fixed this problem.

Let's see...TARP..blah...blah....blah...Faith...yadda...yadda..cutting military spending (surprise, Paul is the only one in favor)...cutting foreign aid (surprise, everyone is in favor of getting rid of that 1.5% of the budget, except for Israel, God knows they still need our help).

Eventually it devolved into a back and forth between Mittens, Cain and Perry about who was best to take on Obama (surprise, they all think they are the best).

Like I said before, Mittens seemed the closest thing I could envision a President being.  Perry seems to be the dickish embodiment of a Bush caricature.  Cain seems to have lots of quips without any real facts to back it up. Santorum could actually be something if he weren't such a dick who was singularly focused on the culture wars.  Ron Paul is the only consistent human being up there who doesn't seem to have the innate desire to pander, but that hasn't taken him anywhere yet.  Newt Gingrich is an insufferable know-it-all who amazingly seems to convey very little knowledge.  Bachmann is, well, you know.  And that brings us back to Mittens Romney.  He's a plasticized candidate to be sure, but at least he seems to have the beginnings of what looks like gravitas.  For Republicans, with this crop, that may be all they can hope for.

To Damn or Praise

Yesterday, the re-empowered Jeff Woods at Pith went after Dem Caucus Chair Mike Turner for being the only person in the legislature willing to go on record with praise for Republican Rep. Curry Todd:

“I think he’s one of the best chairmen we have up there,” Turner said. “I’m not going to beat somebody up for making a mistake. I don’t think you’ll ever see him get in this situation again."...

...Whatever his motivation, Turner now has handed Republicans all the political cover they need to try to sweep this little matter under the rug. Harwell has been, um, out of pocket since Todd's arrest. She went to Montana to take her daughter to visit a college, and no one seems to be able to communicate with her. In Montana, apparently, phones don't work. But if we ever get the chance to ask Harwell what she's going to do about Todd, you can bet the first thing she'll point out is that Turner wants him to stay.

In response, the anonymous legislative staffer at Tennessee Talking Points defends Turner:

What would it have profited Mike Turner to call for Curry Todd’s resignation? What would it have done for the democrats or the public sphere for our electeds to put in their two cents? NOTHING. The only thing it would have done is pissed off the Republicans, who hold the redistricting pen.

Noting this reality is not cowardice, but a real assessment of the situation. Our party is in disarray and our number one priority should be to defend what we have. Saying something snotty about Curry Todd would have done nothing but make this more difficult to do just that.

Its sort of a double-edged sword here, and quite frankly I'm fine with the disconnect between the party and the caucus chairman on this. The TNDP's job is to be the bomb-thrower for Democrats. Chip Forrester doesn't have to work with the Republicans on anything, its his sole focus of his job to see as many of them defeated as possible. Turner's job is a little more complicated.

Yes, Turner's ultimate goal is to see as many Democrats elected as possible, but its also to legislate and accomplish some of their policy goals, and this can only be done by working with some Republicans. Turner is no lightweight when it comes to throwing a few bombs at the GOP, but in this instance, being nice to a Republican who is down on his luck can't do much but help his position in trying to get the most out of the GOP for his members than he can.

And, on another note, while it might be fun to bash Rep. Todd, what Democrat really wants him gone from that seat early just to see it handed over to another right-wing Republican?   I'd much prefer our chances electorally going up against a damaged incumbent than a clean incumbent.

Paging Dr. Taitz

It appears that shenanigans are afoot in Indiana!  Well, by "afoot" I mean shenanigans happened four years ago when evidently some staffer or volunteer was too lazy to do their job and wound up copying a bunch of signatures that were required to get Barack Obama's name on the ballot.

The Tribune reported Wednesday that it has talked with more than 40 people who say they didn't sign ballot petitions submitted in St. Joseph County for Obama or Clinton, despite their names appearing on the documents...

...Indiana law requires candidates for president, senator and governor to submit ballot petitions signed by at least 500 registered voters in each of the state's nine congressional districts to qualify for the statewide primary ballot. The Tribune reported the investigation had only found questionable signatures among the St. Joseph County petitions.

Predictably, the state Republicans are having a conniption and calling for a federal investigation:

"How deep does this problem go?" Holcomb said. "Is it isolated to St. Joseph County, or was it a broader, coordinated effort across the state? ... Who forged the signatures and why?"..."The integrity of every election is of the utmost importance," Holcomb said in a news release.

Two scenarios present themselves to us:

There was a massive conspiracy coordinated by the Obama for America campaign so that he could sneak onto the ballot and eventually come within tenths of a percent of winning the state.  OR...

Some staffer or volunteer got lazy and just filled in some names on a petition.

I go with option two. As for the "integrity of every election" bit, its hard to see how a leading Presidential contender getting onto a state primary ballot calls into question the integrity of the election. Stringent ballot access laws aren't there to help the voter, they are there to help the two major parties and their candidates. At best this calls for admonishment of the person responsible for collecting signatures in this particular county for not doing their job properly. A federal investigation into a state election matter? Hardly.

No More Free Meals

Councilman Charlie Tygard, perhaps in response to continuing press coverage of Davidson County Clerk John Arriola's office, is seeking to update a Metro law banning employees from being wined, dined or entertained as a result of their job. The current law would be amended from this:

If related in any way, directly or indirectly, to being an employee:

(1) Shall not accept promotional or hand-produced items of a value in excess of twenty-five dollars received from a single source in any calendar year; and

(2) Shall not accept meals, beverages, food, free or discounted admissions, tickets, access to events or travel expenses from any single source of an aggregate value in any calendar year in excess of one hundred dollars, provided that an employee may accept from the sponsoring organization, on behalf of himself and a guest, free or discounted admissions, tickets or access of a face value in excess of one hundred dollars if the event is generally recognized as an annual fund raising benefit sponsored by a non-profit organization.

To this:

(1) shall not accept meals, beverages, food, promotional items, or hand-produced items of a Value in excess of Twenty Five Dollars ($25.00) received from a single Source in any calendar year; and

(2) shall not accept free or discounted admissions, tickets, access to events or travel expenses from any single source of an aggregate Value in any calendar year in excess of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), provided that an employee may accept from the sponsoring organization, on behalf of himself and a guest, free or discounted admissions, tickets or access of a face value in excess of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) if the event is generally recognized as an annual fund raising benefit sponsored by a non-profit organization.”

So, from what I can tell, it basically takes the current law and changes the meal/drinks portion from an aggregate of $100 in a year to $25 in a year.  Because I guess the gateway to corruption is that extra $75 dollars.

Update:

Checked in with Jon Cooper, apparently I missed a provision of the current law that this new ordinance would eliminate.  It would remove another subsection related to those lobbying the government or with business before it:

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions to the contrary, employees shall not accept gratuitous food or beverages furnished by an individual, entity or organization that (1) is currently performing services or has performed services in the past for the metropolitan government for compensation; (2) is seeking to enter into a contractual relationship with the metropolitan government to perform services for compensation; (3) currently has a matter pending with the metropolitan council or other metropolitan board or commission; (4) has had a matter pending with the metropolitan council or other board or commission in the past; or (5) is likely to have a matter pending with the metropolitan council or other board or commission in the future.

So while it reduces the meal provision from $100 to $25, it also allows for those potentially lobbying the council to accept a meal at all.

(h/t Joey Garrison)

Republicans Drunk With Power...Literally

It appears for one Republican legislator, celebrating the impending shellacking of Democrats in upcoming redistricting battles proved too much.  Rep. Curry Todd was apparently in Nashville last night to work on redistricting, soon thereafter he got pulled over at 21st and Blair.  According to the Fox 17 report:

Officers detected a strong odor of alcohol on Todd, say he was unsteady on his feet, had slurred speech, and watery and bloodshot eyes. He told officers that he had two drinks and agreed to a field sobriety test.

Officers also found a loaded Smith and Wesson 38 hand gun in the SUV. Rep. Todd is in jail on $3,000 bond.

(h/t Out of the Blue)

Update:

Oh, yeah, who was the House sponsor of that Guns in Bars bill?  Why, thank you for asking, it was in fact Rep. Curry Todd.

Now, we don't know yet where Todd was drinking, and whether or not he was packing heat whilst drinking or if it was just in his car, but, regardless, I think its worth pointing out the connection.  Looking back at some debate over the bill, I thought this exchange between Naifeh and Todd was apropos:

Todd: You know you're not supposed to drink, and if you drink and you get caught then you're gonna be subject to a Class A Misdemeanor and could look at [11 months 29 days] and a $500 fine.

Naifeh: You know that you're not supposed to kill people too, but people do.

Todd: We also know that you shouldn't be driving and drinking but [bartenders] don't give them a breathalyzer test when they're leaving either.

In addition to clearing up language from a previous guns in bars bill overturned in the courts, the bill passed out of the legislature added an automatic 3 year suspension to guns permits should someone be caught consuming while carrying. In a previous committee exchange, Rep. Todd said that he favored permanent revocation of permits for people caught violating the rules.

Judge Jameson?

Joey Garrison breaks news that Fmr Councilman Mike Jameson is vying for the General Sessions judicial seat left open after the death of Judge Leon Rueben.

Jameson was well liked on the Council and would be an obvious favorite to win a majority of support, though with the field still open, its perhaps a bit premature for measuring his robes. 

Quite frankly I think Jameson would be a superb choice, and would have been a great choice for Governor Bredesen who chose Judge Binkley over Jameson in 2008.  From my dealings with him he seems to generally be fair-minded and has a good sense of humor that a judge like that would need when dealing with some of the clowns that might come before his court.

Self-Parody in Atlanta

This video from the Occupy Atlanta protests, in which Congressman John Lewis (after ten minutes of "debate") was denied the opportunity to speak to the assembly because it was out of the order of the agenda, encapsulates why I could never get involved in such a thing. 



I kinda sorta get what they are trying to do with all this consensus based stuff, but it just seems incredibly pointless. Not to mention that whole "mic check" thing seems both tedious and kinda creepy.  Just invest in a few more bullhorns and pass them around when someone needs to speak.

Dem Caucus Announce Pro-Jobs Bills

The House and Senate Democratic Leadership in Tennessee came together today at the Rolling Hills Mill condo development site to talk about plans to encourage jobs growth in the state.

The plan is rather robust amalgamation of different ideas focused on different aspects of job creation.  Probably one of the more important is the proposal to inject $15 million in the 27 Tennessee technology centers across the state:

“The thousands of manufacturing jobs that have come back to Tennessee need a highly skilled workforce. We have the structure to provide that workforce, but we must provide the resources to meet the capacity needs,” said House Speaker Emeritus Jimmy Naifeh. Now is the time to make this investment, because it will pay dividends for our workers and our state for a generation.”

In addition, Caucus Chairman Mike Turner spoke about the need a database of commercial properties for businesses outside the state to access for the purposes of relocation.

Turner also later answered a question about the involvement of government in job creation, he responded by pointing out that many of the properties in the background, including the one they were standing on, were either public-private partnerships or wholly controlled public investments which led to thousands of jobs being created in Nashville.

While Leader Fitzhugh acknowledged that the plan wouldn't go anywhere unless the Republicans were willing to work with the Democrats to pass them, Turner said he had spoken with Gov. Haslam and that he was open and supportive of many of the goals of the legislation they are proposing.

Mixed Messaging, Unified Feelings Dominate Occupy Nashville Protest

Roughly 250 to 300 people showed up at Legislative Plaza to join in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protests which have resulted in hundreds of arrests and global press coverage.  Its hard to pin down the motivations of the protesters, some were your typical anti-globalist G-8/WTO protestors, some were just plain old liberal Democrats, and others were Ron Paulians who are fed up with the fed.

But not all protests are, or have to be, about a specific agenda.  Sometimes it comes down to expressing feelings and sentiment, and this was certainly it.  There were a core group of the most passionate protesters who chanted along with the (or at least the closest to) leaders, who marched around the block after an hour of standing in a circle at the plaza, there was even a bit of performance art, with the mock arrest of a Wall Street executive, or Bankster as some would say.

The LiUNA union was there, presenting petitions to promote the hiring of local workers in government projects, and there were a handful of legislators such as Rep. Turner, Stewart and Moore standing at the periphery and observing, talking to reporters, speaking with some of the activists.

I wish I had a narrative to present here, but I didn't really see one.  Like I said, its a protest about sentiment more than specific action, and as such, it seemed a bit disjointed...from what I've been told the movement is based largely on consensus based decision making, which was somewhat evident by the roundtable-esque nature of the gathering. 

Conservatives will, and have, point out the smaller turnout compared to some of the early Tea Party rallies...but keep in mind, this is entirely an organic movement without national or even really local leaders.  They don't have access to the type of conservative media that the Tea Party did, but through word of mouth and disciplined organizing it could very easily expand to thousands in  a well coordinated protest, occupation, or whatever you want to call it.

Bullies Don't Always Stop When They Graduate

A 17 year old student in Madisonville, TN is having to educate his school administrator on the constitution and how to be a man. Chris Sigler, a student straight student who's sister is bisexual, was reportedly bullied and harassed by his principle after exercising his rights to wear a shirt expressing support for a Gay-Straight Alliance in his school. 

According to the ABC report, the principle "grabbed Sigler's arm, shoved him and chest-bumped him repeatedly while asking 'who's the big man now?'" when he refused to stop wearing the shirt and fall in line. In addition, it appears the principle may have intimidated teachers out of sponsoring a GSA when asked by the students.

Its hard enough for kids who are gay to deal with the social pressures of immature classmates...they shouldn't have to also worry about dealing with the bigotry and intolerance of teachers and school administrators.

Beer and Ballots

Rep. Debra Maggart, sponsor of the Voter ID bill, lays out some unimpeachable logic in an interview captured by TNReport and relayed by Pith.

Tell me how people are buying beer and cigarettes? They have to have an ID to do that, a photo ID to do that. I have a hard time believing that all these people don’t have an ID. … You have to have a photo ID to get public housing. You have to have a birth certificate to get public housing. … I think there’s more people with a photo ID than they want to admit.

Look, we all know poor people that cherish their right to vote also universally smoke a lot of cigarettes and drink a lot of beer, so her logic in unimpeachable there.  And, I'll just go ahead and take her word for it that you have to have a photo ID to get public housing.

The fault in her logic is two-fold.  One, like hell you have to have an ID to buy cigarettes or booze.  Yes, that may be the way the law is written, but how a law is applied and enforced and how it is written is two different things.

Two, just because you have a photo ID at one time, doesn't mean you have a "valid" photo ID when you go to vote.  Keep in mind, its not just that you have to have a card with your picture on it, in order for it to be "valid" it also has to be current.  While the little old lady that Maggart wants to block from voting may have a card with her name and picture on it, she may not have had it renewed on time because that little old lady also doesn't have a car.

Yes, if this law were loosely enforced and common sense were the determining factor, perhaps it wouldn't be all that big a deal.  The problem is, who is enforcing it?  Will it be universally enforced among white and black voters?  Known Democrats and Republicans?  If the poll worker hates Obama and thinks a black person is more likely to vote for him and other Democrats, will that worker be more likely to closely scrutinize the ID of a black voter than a white voter?

This is just one of the many problems with the law.  Its another tool for dishonest people in power to  disenfranchise legitimate voters.

The Durham District

While the rest of us plebs have to wait until at least next year before we know what the GOP legislators are cooking up for our state legislative map, it appears one young Republican candidate has already gotten the inside scoop on what his new district will look like.

Jeremy Durham, former President of the Tennessee Young Republicans, launched his campaign for state legislature as a resident of Franklin, TN.  On his site, Durham notes that "[w]ith Franklin, Fairview and Spring Hill all located within the new state legislative district, we must elect a legislator who understands that businesses coming to Tennessee often translates into jobs for our area."

How Durham, who as head of TYR doled out about $25,000 to various GOP candidates running for the state legislature, got the inside scoop on a district that is supposedly not drawn yet or decided on, remains to be seen.  In an email Durham said that he hadn't seen a whole map, just one of the new Williamson county district.  And when asked if it was from the caucus or one floating on the net, he said he hadn't seen anything on the internet.

Mayor Mike Turner?

Is Nashville ready for a Nashville born Mayor?  Nearly 25 years since the last Nashville born mayor served in that office, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner hopes the answer is yes if he is to live out his plan to win re-election in 2012, 2014, and run for Mayor in 2015.

Over the weekend at the Tennessee Democratic Executive Committee Meeting, Turner got up to speak as head of the House Dem Caucus and sought to rebut rumors that he may not be running for re-election next year.  So, just like that, 4 years before a vote will be cast, Turner laid out his desire to be Nashville's next mayor. 

Of course, a lot would have to happen before we even got to that point.  Winning re-election to the House is no sure thing, especially as we don't yet know how the legislative districts will be drawn. Not to mention, we have no idea what the issues are going to be facing Nashville four years from now.

But as I talked to folks at Jackson Day, there seemed to be a lot of enthusiasm, or at least interest, in a potential candidacy, especially among some of the labor folks I talked to.  Turner, who was Political Director for the Firefighters before becoming a State Representative, has maintained solid relationships with the labor establishment in Nashville and would likely be viewed as the de facto candidate to support among many of the strongest groups. 

Of course, that isn't to say he doesn't have his negatives.  For one, he's not exactly known to be the most disciplined candidate (as evidenced by the rather nonchalant quasi-announcement).  Also, he will have some work to do in courting many in the black community after his less than positive portrayal over the school rezoning issue. Not to mention the fact that he lives in Old Hickory, which may make limit his appeal in the wealthier (and higher voting) western part of the city.

All those aside, if Turner's plan does come to fruition and he throws his hat in the ring for Mayor, it will undoubtedly make the race more interesting and spirited that it would be without him.