Swinging For The Fences

Maybe its just me, but I think the key to a good political ribbing or attack is subtlety...and the new press release from the TNDP is anything but subtle:

"Mr. Hargett's refusal to do the job he was sworn to do appears to be part of a nefarious Republican strategy to stand in the way of secure and verifiable elections in Tennessee.

"We deserve better. Mr. Hargett needs to go. That's why I'm calling on the General Assembly to remove him from office."

And...

"It's all beginning to look like an organized effort by the Republican Party to steal elections here in Tennessee."

And...

"It's obvious to me that Republicans are involved in a conspiracy to steal elections through intimidation, fraud, and denial of basic constitutional rights. This kind of behavior has to end. Hargett must go," Forrester concluded.

Look, I wasn't a big fan of Hargett being tapped to be the Secretary of State, but isn't this a bit overboard? I understand that a lot of people think paper ballots (you know, the things used in the Iranian election and Florida circa 2000) are the only thing standing in the way of the death of our Representative Democracy, but before making a lot of accusations, could we have a little bit of evidence first?

The main argument, not addressed in the press release, is that there isn't equipment available that meets the standards outlined in the new law. If there is that equipment available, wouldn't it be better to list a manufacturer's name, so that you could prove him wrong, rather than release a hyperbolic tirade with seemingly outlandish claims with very little to back them up?

Look, I'm sorry, I think the GOP is as evil as the next guy, but we are talking about the same equipment used in the last couple elections. The notion that the GOP (via the SOS) is involved in a massive conspiracy between 95 county election commissions to commit felonious election fraud is not backed up as of yet by any real evidence.

Feel Good Friday

Because we didn't get a chance to see him last night...

Eeeeasy Tiger

Harold Ford Jr. is urging the President and Congress to slow their roll on a new Health Care policy because we just haven't looked at the data carefully enough:

I don`t mean to suggest to the White House that health care`s not important, that it should not be pushed, but we now have to sit back, take stock of the data that we have, take an inventory, understand what direction we have to move and how much political capital that will take.

Yeah, some 60 odd years after President Truman called for a national health care policy, after decades of rapidly expanding health care costs far above the rate of inflation, its time to sit back and do some more research.

A new health care program, like the latest one proposed by the Senate and the President, is not only necessary from a policy point of view, but from a political point of view its critical towards any future success for the Democrats in Congress. If all we have to run on in 2010 is bailouts and a few road projects, we're fucked.

From a political point of view, the Cap and Trade bill has far more potential to be politically damaging with little in the way of political capital gained. But in terms of earning or keeping the faith of the American people, we have to get ourselves on the path to long term stability, and our current health insurance system is a severe tax and drain on our economy.

A Town Full of Mike Jamesons

A small town in Australia one ups Nashville by banning the outright sale of bottled water, whereas we just banned it in city government.

Yes, But At Least The South Has Good Manners

Time Magazine looks at the various possibilities for why Southern states tend to have the highest rates of obesity and concludes:

So there you have it. Southerners have little access to healthy food and limited means with which to purchase it. It's hard for them to exercise outdoors, and even when they do have the opportunity, it's so hot they don't want to.

Democratic Staffers

The TNDP has announced that Keith Talley, at the strong urging of Congressman Gordon's office, will be the new Communications Director for the Tennessee Democratic Party. Talley was formerly the Political Director for the House Democratic Caucus in the run up to the 2008 elections, though understandably the TNDP left that nugget off the resume when they put out the press release. From what I understand, part of the backroom deal to get the Congressional delegation and Governor on board with the TNDP was to allow them input into who the Communications Director would be.

Speaking of which, both the House and Senate Dem Caucuses have in recent weeks hired new Political Directors. I can't seem to find the name of the House PD, but on the Senate side, they have hired former Harold Ford Jr. assistant Claudia Weaver to run their campaign to staunch the losses incurred over the past couple cycles. During the 2006 Senate campaign, Weaver was in charge of operations in Chattanooga, where HFJ pulled off a surprising upset against Corker in the town he was formerly Mayor of. More recently, Claudia was elected to be the President of the Tennessee Young Democrats.

I'll update on the House side when I get more information.

Obama's Super-Secret Plan

Jeb Bush, the seemingly bright one of the Bush Brothers, is spouting off in interviews and seems to support the notion that President Obama is somehow sneaking up on the American people with his agenda:

Barack Obama would not have gotten elected if he'd let us in on his secret plan prior to the election. He would not have gotten elected if he'd said, "My idea is to create a $1.8 trillion deficit for the next fiscal year. My idea is to spend $750 billion [the president's budget estimate puts this figure at $630 billion] over the next ten years on a government-sponsored, government-subsidized health-care policy. My idea is to create a massive cap-and-trade system [based on the idea] that CO2 is [a] pollutant and we need to tax it in a massive way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions."

Uh-huh, except, well, he sorta did say those things. Well, not in one paragraph, and he didn't plan on a "$1.8 trillion deficit," in large part because bailouts and stimulus plans weren't seen as a necessity until after his election.

But on Health Care, he articulated his plan on the website, and this archived page from February of 2008 shows that he would promote a national health care plan to augment the private health insurance market.

As for Co2 regulation, the President made clear in early 2008 that he supported a Cap and Trade system as well:

Cap and Trade: Obama supports implementation of a market-based cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions by the amount scientists say is necessary: 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Obama's cap-and-trade system will require all pollution credits to be auctioned. A 100 percent auction ensures that all polluters pay for every ton of emissions they release, rather than giving these emission rights away to coal and oil companies. Some of the revenue generated by auctioning allowances will be used to support the development of clean energy, to invest in energy efficiency improvements, and to address transition costs, including helping American workers affected by this economic transition.

So far, sans the stimulus package and bailouts, everything the President has done since taking office was part of his platform in the election. Now, some on the left are upset that he hasn't moved fast enough on parts of his agenda, and you can argue from the right that the President should readjust his agenda given the economic and budgetary constraints caused by the global recession, but he's still doing what he said he was going to do based on the platform that helped get him elected.

Republicans For Obama?

While it may not seem it given the high profile efforts to block the President's agenda, when you get to the votes of the matter, quite a few Republicans have lined up with the President on less publicized votes. Including our own Sen. Bob Corker who ranks in the top 10 of Senate Republicans in their voting with the President.

According to CQ Politics by way of DailyKos, Sen. Corker has supported the President's line 68% of the time, ranking him number nine among Republicans. Sens. Snowe and Collins were the most supportive, backing the President 92% of the time.

Sen. Alexander isn't far behind, with a record of supporting the President 65% of the time. Now, this isn't exactly an indication of liberalism on either of their parts. The vast majority of Republicans fall in the 50-70 range of agreeing with the President, and nearly all of those votes weren't very controversial.

But, all the same, given the President's large vote deficit in the 2008 election, its somewhat surprising to see that both Senators from Tennessee tend to steer clear of the crazy caucus within the GOP. Especially in Sen. Alexander's case given that he is in the bottom 10 of Republicans who stayed united with their caucus (81% party unity), even though he is Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference.

Hurray for Child Molesters!

Ned Williams seems pleased as punch that an adoptive father in North Carolina has been accused of raping his adopted son, as this one incident will likely be used over and over and over again by anti-gay activists to promote group homes for orphaned children:

This guy is the poster child for all the concerns that people have about endorsing adoption by folks who engage in homosexual activity...Thanks for the assist, Mr. Lombard!

Of course, you don't have to look too far to find plenty of examples of heterosexual men raping their foster children. Like James Spellman, a 57 year old man accused of raping his adopted daughter for upwards of 5 years before being caught by police.

Or how about Ernest and Windie Perry, some good ol' Christian folk from Tennessee who, along with one of their adopted daughter, were charged with aggravated child rape and abuse.

Or how about the DiMaria's, a Conservative Christian couple who adopted various girls with physical disabilities for the purpose of raping and exploiting.

Yeah, the Lombard case is tragic, and certainly evidence of the need for strict scrutiny by child protective services...but evidence of the follies of gay adoption? Hardly.

The Rise and Fall of Sarah Palin

Just when you thought things couldn't get weirder...Sarah Palin goes ahead and quits her job as Governor about a year and a half shy of the end of her first term.

Now, obviously the proper reaction for any sane person is, "what the fuck is she thinking?" But of course, when it comes to her supporters, reality and sanity are luxuries they simply cannot afford. So, you've got a host of commentators over at The Corner prattling on about the possibilities of her running for President in 2016 or 2020.

The real hard question they should probably ask themselves, is why? Why in God's name would you want this person to be your standard bearer? Seriously, what does she offer? She quite simply is not a stable person (and no, this isn't a statement of "sexism," Mark Sanford is just as unstable as she), she isn't extraordinarily intelligent, she hasn't offered much of anything in the way of policy or ideas that stray from the status quo of GOP conservative thought.

What were her strengths? She got knocked up and carried her down-syndrome baby to term...and...ummm....she's folksy? What else? Whatever shred of credibility she had just got blown out of the water and she tacitly admitted she couldn't handle the pressures of the job of being the Governor of one of the least populated states in the nation...how the hell could she handle being President?

Here is what I think happened. Gov. Palin came into office at a good time in Alaska. She oversaw the rewriting of oil and gas tax code which saw enormous profits for her state in the first year or so of office. Essentially her job was to find unique ways to dole out this windfall in Government revenues to the people, and she basically did it by writing checks to its citizens. Then the spicket started drying up, and some more difficult choices would have to be made...and who the hell wants to do that? Its so much more fun to be Robin Hood than it is to be the Sheriff of Nottingham. So, she bailed. Its time the GOP establishment does the same with her.

And Then There Were...Ummm...5?

Well, its now official, Senate Majority Leader Jim Kyle is going to be running for the Democratic Nomination for Governor, according to the Nashville Post.

Kyle is probably one of the more liberal of the candidates out there, representing a strongly Democratic district in Memphis/Shelby County. His biggest strength in the primary will be his name recognition in the Memphis/Shelby area. With what I predict to be low voter interest in the Gubernatorial primary, he stands to benefit greatly by the heated contest between Congressman Steve Cohen and King Willie Herenton.

Prepare To Be Informed

Whether you like it or not, it looks as if we are one step closer in Nashville to being able to see just how unhealthy our food is:

Gov. Phil Bredesen vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have overturned a Metro health board decision to require calorie counts on restaurant menus.

The bill said that only elected bodies could require nutritional information to be posted on restaurant menus. The Metro Board of Health, composed of mayoral appointees, voted in March to require restaurant chains with 15 or more outlets nationwide to put calorie counts next to menu items.

While I'm not entirely convinced about the efficacy of putting caloric information on fast food drive-thru menus, I do think a city has -in the interest of public health- the right to require their restaurants to comply with the rules.

The House Race To End All House Races

In what could be a game changer for the State next year, Rep. Curt Cobb (D - Bedford Co.) is resigning to take a position with the County Government, thus resulting in a special election for the 62nd House Seat.

In 2008, Rep. Cobb won re-election by a 55-45 margin against the Republican Barbara Blanton. Also that year Barack Obama got creamed by John McCain in that district, losing all but 2 of the 33 precincts represented by Cobb, and losing Bedford County by a 2-1 margin.

All this indicates a tough uphill climb for the Democrats to retain the seat in an environment where Republicans in the South are getting increasingly agitated by the direction our country is going (ie, away from them). The Democratic caucus is going to have to find a really popular figure in Bedford if they hope to keep this seat, and thus keep the shaky 50-50 split (when one includes Speaker Williams with the Dems) that we currently have.

Unclear (to me at least) is whether or not Republicans would be able to challenge Williams' speakership should they manage to win the seat. (UPDATE: I'm told it would take a 2/3rds vote to suspend the rules in order to boot Williams, which is not going to happen.)

Billy Mays The Embodiment of Free Enterprise?

RedState.com has an interesting take on the death of Billy Mays, the late-night infomercial guru best known for OxyClean:

Billy Mays started out hawking a washer-in-a-bucket on the Atlantic City boardwalk. He was a shameless pitchman, became an entrepreneur and a capitalist, and died a multimillionaire… all on the back of his skill as a salesman. Is there anything more quintessentially capitalist than that? Does anyone’s life better represent the promise of free enterprise? Does Billy Mays not belong in the American Dream Hall of Fame?

That's all well and good, but Billy Mays is not any different than any of the hundreds or thousands of other successful celebrities. He was an actor. He had an ability to connect with his audience and get them to buy the story he was selling. Same as when Billy Bob Thorton gets on screen to try and sell his character. Perhaps Mays picked some good scripts (products) to try and sell, but that doesn't really change what he did.

So, for Conservatives who complain about the adulation given to "Hollywood" celebrities, just realize, that Mays' story is not really any different. The vast majority of actors and musicians started with little or nothing and struggled to make it big, for every one of them that made it there are 1,000 more who did not.

State Sovereignty!

OK, so it appears that the Minnesota State Courts have ruled unanimously up and down the board that Al Franken is the lawful winner of the US Senate elections. Will all this talk by Conservatives about the States reasserting their roles as sovereign bodies stay true? Or will they abandon their neo-confederate rhetoric and push for Pawlenty to hold off on signing Franken's election certificate in the hopes that Coleman can drag this election out in the Federal courts?'

Update:

Coleman concedes, Franken to be seated.