Tennessee Talking Points

The Coward Known As Jim Kyle

2012-01-13T19:11:00.000-08:00

I had planned to blog about new Senate districts today, but instead I'm going to bitch for a few minutes about the imperial cowardice of Senate Democratic Leader Jim Kyle.

I do not live in Nashville, so I have rely on info from my political contacts inside the 440-loop. Today, I was particularly disturbed by a call I got concerning a new redistricing deal struck by Senator Jim Kyle late last night.

For weeks, Senator Jim Kyle has been looking for a way to revive his electoral prospects after Republicans did away with his district. He's spent a great deal of time drawing alternatives, supposedly preparing for a court case after the bill passed.

This all changed last night.

My sources inside the capitol tell me that Senator Kyle, the Leader of the Senate Democrats, yesterday struck a deal with Republicans to save his own ass. The catch? It was at the expense of one of his own caucus members, Beverly Marrero. The main stream media seems to think Republicans hatched this plan--not so say those inside the capitol.

Apparently, Kyle presented a map to his caucus today as the "Democratic Plan." This plan took Kyle out of the district he was placed in with Sen. Brian Kelsey and instead pit him against one of his own. Let me repeat, this was done by the Republicans at KYLE's request. Meaning, the Senate Democratic Leader was more concerned with saving himself, than helping his fellow caucus members.

Politicos will know that the main job of party leadership is to protect the members of their caucus. This often means they have to take tough votes, like Mike Turner did in the House, to save some of their members. Here, Kyle instead chose to abuse his position to screw a fellow Democrat. What's worse? Not one Democrat stood up for Senator Marrero. Instead, they each went along with the Kyle/Ramsey plan and passed his amendment by a voice vote.

To add insult to injury, Kyle then proceeded to vote "present" on the final redistricting bill, after railing against it for hours. Once the session was over, he then asked the clerks to change his official vote to "Yes", presumably as part of some deal with Ron Ramsey for drawing him back into a district. Apparently, Kyle lacked the balls to cast the vote in front of his entire caucus.

This absolutely stinks. Beverly Marrero is one of the few liberals we have in the Tennessee General Assembly. She's an advocate for women, gays, the enviroment, the arts and many other issues dear to a progressive heart. I am so disappointed that Kyle chose to put his own electoral prospects over that of the members he was elected to lead. It just goes to show what a typical, raw politician this guy is. He thinks he's entitled to a seat because he married a Clement and has been in office for 30 years. He's everything that's wrong with the Tennessee Democratic Party and I for one intend to make sure he stays in Memphis after the next election.

Jim Kyle should resign as Senate Democratic Leader. He obviosuly doesn't have the testicular fortitude to lead and is more concerned with his electoral future, than the good of his caucus. Liberals and women around the state should be equally outraged at not only Kyle, but his fellow Senators who banded together to rid themselves of one of four women in their caucus. It's digusting and I'm truley sad for my party.

Redistricting: What This Means for the House

2012-01-05T17:23:00.000-08:00

After looking at the map, I've gone through each incumbent Democrat's district and spelled out what these new lines actually mean for their re-election chances. These opinions are my own, based on my knowledge of the state. I don't have any info other than what's on the GA's website. By my calculation, we have 4-net losses in the House. This, however, does not include possible pick-ups, which I will discuss in a future post. I will do the same for the Senate tomorrow.

From East to West:
(District numbers reflect the new numbering)

District 13: Harry Tindell
Rep. Tindell's district is still contained within Knox County, but he's lost a good portion of his people to fellow Democrat, Joe Armstrong. It looks like Tindell took in some of South Knox, which is not exactly D territory.
PREDICTION: Toss-Up (If Tindell runs)

District 15: Joe Armstrong
Rep. Armstrong's district is largely the same. He gets a boost from some of Rep. Tindell's Democrats, but they'd be hard pressed to screw the only AA rep in upper-east Tennessee.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

District 28: Tommie Brown & JoAnn Favors
Reps. Brown & Favors (both D's) are hitched together in the new district 28. This Hamilton County district is overwhelminly African American, but only one of these two ladies will make it out of the primary. With Republican districts surrounding them, it's unlikely that one could just move over into another district and still win.
PREDICTION: Solid-D (Favors) w/ 1 net dem loss.

District 31: Jim Cobb & Bill Harmon
Reps. Jim Cobb & Bill Harmon are hitched together in the new district 31. Cobb, the Republican Chair of Government Operations, and Harmon, a Democrat & former Transportation Committee Chair with $156,000 in the bank, will both have plenty of money to fight out this contest. Harmon's former district had Grundy & Marion Counties, both traditionally Democratic, that are now gone. While the new district is Bledsoe (evenly split) and Rhea, which Cobb currently represents, plus Sequatchie (Harmon Country). My guess, Harmon is a tough SOB whose not afraid of a fight. This will be a tough race, but I'd rather be Harmon.
PREDICTION: Toss-Up

District 41: John Mark Windle
Colonel Windle, as he's known in most parts, got a pretty good deal. His district loses half of Fentress County, but gains all of Jackson County. Politicos may rember that Jackson County is one of very few to go for Barack Obama in 2008. That being said, Windle--who won re-election in 2010 while serving overseas--is a shoe-in for re-election this fall.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

District 43: Charlie Curtiss
Rep. Charlie Curtiss' district loses eastern Putnam & VanBuren Counties, but gains all of Grundy. Grundy is solid-D territory and this should be good new for Rep. Curtiss, who's also a tough SOB and a hell of a campaigner.
PREDICTION: Lean-D

District 44: Mike McDonald
Rep. McDonald is well-liked at home and in Nashville, but he got the screws put to him by fellow Sumner County represenative, Debra Maggart. The map apprears to draw McDonald out of the White House area (D's) and into some of Maggarts white-bread suburbia. This is not good for Rep. McDonald, who already reprsented a Lean-R district. He's a fighter, but this will be an up-hill battle.
PREDICTION: Lean-R

District 50: Gary Moore
Rep. Moore, the new AFL-CIO President, has a fight ahead. The new map takes aways his white Democrats in north Nashville and dumps a whole load of Bellvue Republicans in the south end to make up the difference. (How nice of Rep. Odom-a Harwell ally-to give those to him!) It's an up-hill fight, but Moore will have the money and manpower of every union in the state behind him. He's not a quitter and I predict he'll be back.
PREDICTION: Toss-up

District 51: Mike Turner
Rep. Mike Turner, Caucus Chairman and media darling, gets a sweet heart of a deal. He sheds his R's to the laughable Jim Gotto. In return, he gets East Nashville, downtown and Germantown. Absent a primary challenge, which would be ill advised against the liberal caucus chairman, he will be fine.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

District 54: Brenda Gilmore
Rep. Gilmore's district moves around, but remains solidly democratic and about 60% African American. She' won't have any problem this fall.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

District 55: Gary Odom
Rep. Gary Odom, the former House Democratic Leader, did very well in redistricting. He gave his Bellvue Republicans to fellow Democrat Gary Moore and picked up some liberal white folk around Hillsboro. Looks like his cozy relationship with Speaker Beth Harwell paid off for him, if not his fellow Nashville Democrats. Absent a primary challenge, he should be back.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

District 52: Sherry Jones & Mike Stewart
Reps. Jones & Stewart are hitched together in what I believe to be the new district 52. The district is solid-D, but only one can make it out of the primary. My prediction, these two liberals work things out where one moves over to the newly formed district 59, which is being called an "opportunity district" because it has a 55% minority population, including about 18% hispanics.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

District 53: Janis Sontany
Rep. Sontany gets really jossled around, but I still look for this to be a D district. It's got a lot of what looks like Nolensville, which should be good for her. She'll have to get aquainted with some new folks, but we'll hold the day.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

District 58: Mary Pruitt
Rep. Pruitt, who narrowly defeated the young Democrat Stephen Turner in 2010, has an even more AA district than before. She loses downtown and Germantown to fellow Democrat Mike Turner, so I doubt she sees a primary challenge this time. Either way, the district is ours.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

District 67: Joe Pitts
Rep. Joe Pitts, the Vice Chairman of the Democratic Caucus, is better off than he was before. Sharing Montgomery County with Ethics Committee Chairman Curtiss Johnson (R), means the two made a swap. Johnson gets Pitts' D's, while Pitts takes Johnson's R's. This should make 67 a solid-d, keeping the well-liked Pitts in his seat.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

District 69: David Shepard
Rep. Shepard has a very good district. He loses the Republican parts of Dickson County, gains all of Hickman, then takes in the city of Columbia in Maury. This should boost both his D and African American numbers. He's a good fundraiser, a solid campaigner and a local business owner. He should be fine.
PREDICTION: Lean-D

District 71: Eddie Bass & Vance Dennis
Rep. Bass (D) & Dennis (R) are hitched together in the new district 71. Rep. Bass is at a clear disadvantage here, having previouly represented Marshall & Giles Counties. This new district encompasses all of Hardin (Dennis' home) and Wayne Counties, while taking in the southern slivers of Lawrence & Giles (Bass' home) counties. My guess is that Eddie Bass, a former Giles County Sheriff, decides to go back to local politics. In the alternative, he could move to Marshall County and run in the newly opened district 92, which has no incumbent.
PREDICTION: Solid-R w/ 1 net-dem loss

District 74: John Tidwell
Rep. Tidwell is a happy-go-lucky guy, well liked by his constituents. He's a reliable D and gets a pretty good district. Houston & Humphreys are both D-counties, while the part of Montgomery he gains is about an even split. Tidwell should do fine, but he hasn't had an opponent in years. Time to dust off the campaign boots.
PREDICTION: Lean-D

District 80: Johnny Shaw
Rep. Shaw is a real character and well liked at home. He survived a tough challenge in 2010 from a right-wing nut and should be safe in 2012. This district is federally protected under a 1990's court ruling that says you must have a majority-minority district outside the urban centers, so there wasn't much Republicans could do. If AA turn-out stays up, Shaw will be fine.
PREDICTION: Lean-D

District 82: Craig Fitzhugh
Rep. Craig Fitzhugh, the House Democratic Leader and former Finance Chairman, faired pretty well in this process. His district sheds Dyer County (lots of R's) and picks up Haywood (lots of D's). Fitzhugh's home, Lauderdale, is the largest population center and went overwhelmingly for him in the 2010 cycle. Crockett County, home of Congressman Stephen Fincher (R), is in this district, but has the smallest population. Fitzhugh is liked at home and in Nashville. He should have little problem this fall.
PREDICTION: Lean-D

District 81: Speaker Jimmy Naifeh
Speaker Emeritus Naifeh is the liberal lion of Tennessee. He's served for nearly 40 years, 18 of those as Speaker. On his way out, he managed to screw Jason Mumpower out of the Speakership in favor of the more moderate Kent Williams. In short, Naifeh is a legend that Republicans want to put to rest. By taking Haywood County from him and making Tipton County whole, they may do just that. The new district includes Atoka and Munford, two white-flight suburbs of Memphis, which gives the 81st a decidedly conservative bent. However, the County Mayor and Sheriff are Democrats, so nothing is impossible. Especially if Naifeh, a hard-nosed professional with money to burn, decides to stay in the race.
PREDICTION: Lean-R

District 84: Joe Towns
Rep. Joe Towns has little to no change. He should coast to re-election.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

District 85: Johnny Turner
Rep. Turner, widow of former Rep. Larry Turner and alleged cousin of Rep. Mike Turner, should be fine. Her south Memphis district is solid-d. She's already faced a primary challenge, so I don't foresee one in 2012.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

District 86: Barbara Cooper & G.A. Hardaway
Reps. Cooper & Hardaway are hitched together in the new district 86. The western Shelby County district is composed mostly of areas previously represented by Cooper, including downtown, with just a single sliver drawn east to take in Hardaway's home. This will be a huge fight between the outspoken Hardaway & the equally tough Cooper. Either way, Dems hold the seat, but lose a D seat in the process.
PREDICTION: Solid-D (Cooper) w/ 1 net-dem loss

District 87: Karen Camper
Rep. Camper is well-liked and works hard in her community. She's not paired with anyone else and should be fine, sans a serious primary challenge, which I find unlikely.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

District 88: Larry Miller
Rep. Miller, the former State & Local Government Chair, should be fine. He gets jossled around a little, but nothing major.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

District 90: John DeBerry
Rep. John DeBerry, a sponsor of legislation to ban gays from adopting in TN (sorry, that slipped out), did well in redistricting. He's not paired with anyone and gets some mid-town white D's. He should coast to re-election, unless the Shelby County Democrats wise up and find a primary challege for this DINO.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

Distirct 91: Lois DeBerry
Rep. Lois DeBerry, who just recently beat pancreatic cancer for the SECOND time, will be safe after redistricting. Sources inside the capitol tell me she actually got to draw her own district, before any other member in Shelby County. She's widely known to be a mentor to Speaker Beth Harwell, having supported her charter schools bill while Dems where still in charge, and enjoys respect from both parties. She's a great lady and I know we'll see her back in 2013.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

District 93: Mike Kernell
Rep. Mike Kernell still represents a majority African American district near the University of Memphis. He's the second most senior member of the House and I predict we'll see him in the General Assembly until they have to wheel him out.
PREDICTION: Solid-D

District 98: Antonio "2-shay" Parkinson & Jeanne Richardson
Reps. Antonio Parkinson, a promising young African American, and Jeanne Richardson, a liberal GLBT/enviromental/children's advocate, are hitched together in this district. It is overwhelmingly African American and surely favors Parkinson. With mid-town now split to the four winds, Richardson is literally a woman without a district. While the district is solid-d, it will ultimately mean one less Dem.
PREDICTION: Solid-D (Parkinson) 1 net-Dem loss

UPDATE: TNDP Chair Term

2012-01-05T06:24:00.000-08:00

I want to thank Sean over at Nashville for the 21st Century for his thoughtful response to my last post. I also want to say I agree with his sentiment that the two year term essentially allows us to give a progress report after every election. I think this is good and necessary if the Chair is to have any type of legitimacy.

I do take one issue, however, with his comments about people outside the I-440 loop. Sean asserts that people outside this loop don't really know or care what's going on with TNDP bylaws. I suppose this would include the EC members from East TN and West TN that I spoke with who are unsure as well.

I take issue here because it's indicative of broader attitude in the Nashville area. I have lived in all three grand divisions, in all of Tennnessee's 4 major cities and I have been active with those Democratic Parties. They are strong, they are active and they are where the action is. The decisions made inside the 440 loop have just as much--if not MORE--effect on them as democrats than they do on the Nashville area. Those outside areas are where we lost seats, those outside areas are were the majority of Democrats reside and those outside areas care just as much about whose running our party and for how long as those in Davidson County do.

I think this is a bad idea. I think we need input from our party chairs and volunteers, those people on the ground who do the actual work.

4 More Years (For our next TNDP Chair that is)

2012-01-04T20:20:00.000-08:00

I’ve had a chance to review the redistricting maps and I’m going to spend some time going through them. Once I’ve done that, I’m going to put up a post about what this mean for our numbers in the House & Senate.

Until then I want to talk about a small, intraparty matter that is flying under the radar.

Sources tell me that this Saturday, the TNDP Executive Committee will vote on a resolution to amend the party bylaws. This proposed amendment would change the term of TNDP Chairman from the current 2-years to a new 4-year term.

I am not a fan.....at least not yet. While it seems innocuous on the surface, I can’t help but feel there's something else going on here. Why else is this being rushed & hushed through the EC (Executive Committee) meeting without any public input? I may be wrong, there may be no ulterior motives here, but no one I’ve spoken with on the EC can articulate for me why this change is needed.

Is it change for change sake? Is it financial? Is it to promote staff continuity? Is it part of the plan from “Big Change Strategies” that we shelled out tens of thousands of dollars for? Any of these could, in and of themselves, be a good reason for changing the term. However, sans an explanation from the TNDP, we just don't know.

And isn’t this just a little ironic? For weeks, the TNDP has railed about a lack of transparency in the General Assembly. Yet here we are three days from a vote that would restructure our party and no one outside the I-440 loop has any clue what the hell is happening. Serioulsy, we expect this from the GOP, but not our own party.

I encourage you to call your EC member and ask for an explanation. Find out why this is being rushed & hushed through without any input from the public. I'm not saying it's a bad proposal, but we need some sunlight to disinfect this process.

Side Note: I'm being told that the resolution would not be retroactive, so the next Chairman would be the first to serve the new 4-year term. In other words it would not extend the term of the current Chair, Chip Forrester.

Ron Paul & Our Apathy Problem

2012-01-03T19:45:00.000-08:00

I’m going to need the whiners to shut the hell up and get on the Obama/Democratic bandwagon.

Tonight, Ron Paul came within a hair of winning the Iowa Caucuses.

Do you hear that, RON PAUL ALMOST WON THE IOWA FREAKING CAUCUES!

This is a man who wants to return to the gold standard, completely abolish the department of education and get rid of the Civil Rights Act. Really? Is this where we are as a country in 2011?

The answer to that question is a resounding no. No, we are not a far right, pseudo-libertarian country. Neither are we a far left, statist county. In truth, we are somewhere smack dab in the middle--a little socially liberal and a little fiscally conservative. (It’s practically a Donnie & Marie song)

So how did our centrist nation get to a point where an extremist like Ron Paul is a serious candidate for President? The answer, Democrats have gotten whimpy.

Those of us who four years ago travelled to Iowa, contributed or made calls to support our President. We were excited then, we felt like we had a real chance to change things and Obama was our man. We were successful and that inauguration weekend is one of my fondest memories.

But four years later, too many of us are turning into whiney little cynics, upset because Obama wasn’t quite as liberal as we would have liked.

Never mind that he passed healthcare reform. (It wasn’t single payers, so therefore not good enough.)

Never mind that he reformed Wall Street. (He didn’t get Elizabeth Warren the Consumer Protection appointment, so that’s a mute point.)

Never mind that he ended the war in Iraq. (Gitmo is still open, so that doesn’t matter)

Never mind that gay men and women can now serve openly in the military (he’s not publically for gay marriage, so he’s still too conservative)

Never mind that he kept the economy from dipping into the 2^nd Great Depression. (He compromised on the Bush Tax Cuts, so he doesn’t really care.)

If I had a nickel for every whiney tweet, Facebook status or blog post I saw from a Democrat, criticizing the President/Democrats for not doing enough, I could quit my job and live off the interest. Seriously people, Obama is the most liberal President since FDR; he’s done more for progressive causes in 3 years than most Presidents could in two terms. Lay off the man, he still has to win those independents and he can’t kowtow to every cause you embrace.

I feel passionately about this because some of the worst offenders are 18-25 year old college students, who went for the President last time, but have by some miracle of Satan turned to Ron Paul in 2011. (My guess is they are seduced by his promise of pot and no more war, but I could be wrong.)

So I need everyone to put on their big girl panties, realize that politics is a full contact sport, that perfect should never be the enemy of good and get behind the President/Democrats. This same logic—just BTW—could apply to supporting our Democrats here in Tennessee, who face this criticism from the same group of people with even more fervor. We’re never going to have perfect, ideologically pure leaders. Get over it, get on board and work for the best option we have; that’s democracy. If you don’t, we’ll end up with Ron Paul and a world you REALLY won’t like.

Tennessee Tea Party Swings....and Misses

2011-11-28T19:58:00.000-08:00

My mother always told me that using profanity in an argument just means you aren't smart enough to make a relevant point. I'm not sure if THIS qualifies as profanity, but the point is the same.

Long story short, the Tennessee Tea Party (which I can't abbreviate because it would have the same initials as my blog) took a parting shot at Rep. Barney Frank today when they bid "good riddance" to the "perverted sodomite POS" from Massachusetts.

Really, tea baggers? Sodomite? I mean, as a long-time supporter of GLBT issues, I've heared a number of slurs tossed around-with more than a few references to incest and bestiality thrown in for kicks. But I'm not sure I've seen this word since I sat in the back row of the Baptist church. I don't mean to make light of the situation, but this shows just how out of touch these people really are. They can't articulate a policy difference with Rep. Frank, so they resort to name calling--really, really, hilariously bad name calling.

It was also my understanding that the Tea Party was focused on economics, not divisive social issues. So obviously their detest for Rep. Frank must have something to do with the economy....right? It couldn't be that the Tea Party are just a bunch of bigots using "economic issues" as a Trojan horse to get right wing nut-fuckers (sorry Mom) elected....could it? <Insert sarcasm here>

My point is this, these people are irrelevant. They are a Century behind to be hurling insults like "sodomite" at a well-respected, openly gay Congressman. That might fly in some sectors, but thanks to the efforts of groups like the HRC and TEP, it's no longer the mainstream. The very fact that this is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO laughable is a testament to how far we've come as a country. I know this tweet should make me mad or upset, but I am encouraged knowing this is just the last vestige of a dying issue. These people can't make a coherent point, so they've resurrected a King James Version of Insults for Dummies. They took a swing. They missed. And while GLBT rights are expanding across this country, the Tea Party will become more and more irrelevant.

Praise be to my “sodomite” loving God.

Statesmen, Not Politicians

2011-11-21T21:15:00.000-08:00

Houston, we have a problem. It’s a ballooning national debt and the last, best hope—our illustrious supercommittee—has failed.

I am a member of the debt generation (now Betsy at TCP can speculate about my age, as well as my race andgender). Everything this current crop of leaders does will affect my tax rate, retirement plans, health care and overall financial stability for the rest of my life. Today, Senators from both parties showed complete disregard for this responsibility when they folded their tents and went home. Only the President, who promised toveto any legislation off-setting the automatic across the board cuts, showed concern for our plight today.

I am a Democrat, but I am as mad as I have ever been today. I don’t believe anyone in Congress wanted this committee to work; they just wanted talking points for 2012. Republicans wanted to cheer about how they kept Democrats from raising taxes and Democrats want to pontificate about how they protected Medicare from the evil Republicans. In reality, they all screwed my generation and my children’s generation when they couldn’t find a tangible solution for a very real problem.

If we’re going to solve his problem, each party and their respective bases are going to have to sacrifice. Below are some facts that each group needs to accept and act upon.

Republicans

-Taxes are going to have to be raised.

Compared to other nations, we have a relatively low tax burden. Given that the general public is unwilling to give up things like public education, roads, armed forces, social security and Medicare, they need to realize they’re going to have to pay. We can’t keep taxes at the same rate and expect more services. This is a fact, accept it and move on.

-Defense spending has to be cut.

We live in a post 9/11 world where suicide bombers and airplanes are the new nukes. In this world, we can’t out arm our enemies; we have to out innovate them. This means shifting funding from the large military industrial complex to areas like technology & education. We don’t need all the old hardware—the outdated bombers, airplanes and weapons that politicians support just to keep jobs in their district. It’s a new world, we’re broke and this is throwing money down a drain.

-You’re going to have to piss off your base.

The Republican base believes that we can cut our way out of this problem, that the Bush Tax Cuts should be made permanent and that getting rid of corporate loopholes is tantamount to raising taxes and they are prepared to primary anyone who disagrees. If Republicans in Congress really want to solve the nation’s problems, they have to realize they’re going to piss off their base. In other words, they’ve got to put it all on the line and become statesmen, not simply politicians.

Democrats

-Raising taxes on the top 2% isn’t going to solve the problem.

The problem is bigger than this group. To be sure, they need to pay their fair share, but so do the 46% of Americans who pay no federal income tax at all. Just like the TennCare reforms, we all have to put a little skin in the game. From raising taxes on the rich to doing away with education and child tax credits, we have to have a shared sacrifice to address a problem this large.

-Medicare and Social Security are getting reformed. Period.

I have paid into the system since I was 16, but I have no illusions I will receive the benefit of either because the baby boomers are going to suck it dry. (To be honest, it irks me that politicians think this group ought not have to share in the sacrifice, simply because they can out vote my generation at the ballot box.) The facts are these: both programs are headed towards insolvency. We have to raise the age to account for longer life expectancy, we have to means test it for benefits and we have to raise the taxable income cap.

-You’re going to have to piss off your base.

The Democratic base believes that taxing the rich is the main solution to the deficit problem, that Medicare and Social Security cuts are off-limits and that massive public spending projects will pull us out of this recession—groups like Moveon.org, labor unions and AARP stand ready to primary and Democrat who disagrees (a la Blanch Lincoln.) If Democrats in Congress really want to solve the nation’s problems, they’re going to have to ignore these interest groups and do what is best for the next generation, not the next election.

I am a Progressive Democrat, which means I believe in always moving forward. Sometimes moving forward means making hard choices, not putting them off for the next generation to solve. Tonight, the members of the super committee showed themselves to be regressive and worse—cowardly. This isn’t a political fight, it’s a very real discussion about how America will be handed off to the next generation—my generation. I hope and pray that someone in DC finds the guts to flip the bird to all special interest groups and do what’s right for the country, not just their party.

Of Abrahamic Faiths & Ignorant Politicians

2011-11-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

This past week, Rep. Rick Womick (R-Murfreesboro) decided to give a pseudo lecture on the Islamic faith. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m always a little skeptical when politicians start talking religion. I find that more often than not, it follows a scandal or precedes an ignorant statement. In this case it is the latter.

I’ll post the video HERE so you can see for yourself what Rep. Womick had to say about the Muslim faith, but here’s a brief summary of Womick’s Islam for Dummies:

-Not “a single Muslim” in the US Army is to be trusted, even those translators who save the lives of US soldiers every day.

-The Koran requires Muslims to kill anyone who refuses to convert to Islam.

-There is no middle ground in the Muslim faith. You either have to take it all literally, or you’re out.

-Islam is not a religion; rather it is a “rope” consisting of religion, political ideology, financial rules & legal regulations.

I want to take just a few moments and rebut these comments from a Christian perspective. I am a lifelong Christian—a United Methodist to be precise. I am actively involved in my congregation, I regularly attend a study group and I spend personal time in prayer each day. I say this not for my own gain, but to rebut any comment from those who might agree with Rep. Womick and charge that I am not sufficiently Christian.

As a Christian, I am appalled by the comment that we can’t trust any Muslims in our military. Each Sunday during the Prayers of the People, my congregation prays for all the men and women serving the country at home and abroad. During the prayer, we don’t delineate between Christian & Jew, Muslim & Buddhist, Agnostic & Unitarian—we pray for all those who make our religious freedom possible. Our men and women in uniform are from a variety of religious backgrounds and they are all fighting for the same cause—freedom. This freedom includes the freedom of religion. A great many of our Islamic brothers and sisters have fought and died for this country. Rep. Womick, himself an Air Force veteran, should understand this better than anyone. That he doesn’t is a sad commentary on my own faith.

I am not a scholar on the Koran, so I have no idea what it says about conversion. As a Christian, however, I know that before we start pointing fingers at the Koran, we better look at our own holy book. I have recently been in a Discipleship class at my church. In the class, you take a year and make your way through the Bible. We have just gotten to the book of First Samuel and, let me tell you, it’s been a rough ride so far. Up unto First Samuel, the Christian God looks like a real bastard. He wiped out the entire planet with a flood, reigned fire on a city because its inhabitants were rude to visitors, killed every first born child in Egypt, arbitrarily chose a small race of people to call his own, directed the slaughter of foreign women & children after battles, caused famine to reign over entire countries and held numerous generations accountable for the sins of their fathers.

Now, as a Christian, the preceding description is not my understanding of God. Why? Because I know that you have to read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, in context. You have to understand when it was written, where and by whom. What was the perspective, what was going on at that point in history? I realize that God didn’t hand this down from on high. It was written by man, with all his biases and prejudices built into the text. Because I understand this, I am free to see the grey area between scripture and personal experience. While I am not an expert on the Koran, my suspicion is that Muslims have a similar relationship with their holy book. This means they don’t have to take every word literally, anymore than we do.

This brings me to my second point, as a Christian I don’t take every word of the Bible literally. I don’t believe the earth was created in seven literal days. I don’t believe that Jonah lived in a whale. I doubt that Job existed. I find historical inaccuracies throughout the Exodus experience. Bel & the Dragon never happened. St. Paul was a bigot who wrote letters he never thought would become scripture and Revelation is a classic example of the literature of the oppressed. In short, a lot of my holy book is allegory, parable and even fable. While, again, I don’t know anything about the Koran, my guess is that the children of Mohammed are smart enough to know fact from fiction. This means they can, in fact, divorce themselves from a literal understanding of their holy books. Those who can’t separate the literal from the allegorical are called fundamentalist. In either faith, this is a group of misguided individuals whose represent a minority of their faith.

Finally, Rep. Womick should read the Levitical Codes before he goes on about Islam being a way of life, not just a religion. If he were to read the beginning of his own holy book—which has parts shared by all three Abrahamic faiths—he would know that we too have a set of rules concerning religion, politics, finances and law. In fact the Levitical Codes cover pretty much every aspect of life. From who you can sleep with to what fabric you can wear to what kind of bath to take after your period (gross!) Now, as a Christian, I don’t follow these codes because they are part of the old law. At some point, they probably served a purpose but, again, my intellect and reason allows me to see these rules from a different perspective. I know that they are not practical to today, nor were they meant to be. They were given to a small group of people, at a certain point in history for a specific reason. While again I am no expert on the Koran, I certainly believe that my Muslim friends are intelligent enough to apply this same logic to their own rules from their own scriptures.

This Wednesday, West End United Methodist Church, a very progressive congregation in Nashville, will host Family of Abraham-Toward a CommonVision. This event is an interfaith dialogue between Jews, Muslims & Christians. It will be a discussion on the very things Rep. Womick brought up and that I have discussed above. A close friend of mine has invited Rep. Womick to attend, but has yet to get an RSVP. I hope he will attend and I hope my Nashville friends will attend as well. As human beings, God has allowed us all to share this tiny planet for a fraction of a second. We owe it to him—and to each other—to make the best of the small time we have together. When politicians make ignorant comments like these, we set up artificial dividers. These dividers have caused war, holocaust and genocide throughout our history.

I pray every night for the people who lead this country and this state. Tonight, with tears in my eyes, I will say a special prayer for Rep. Womick. That God might soften his heart and show him that whether Muslim, Jew, Christian, Buddhist or Agnostic, we are all children of the same God and citizens of this great country.

Not Scared, SMART

2011-10-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

I had really hoped not to have to blog about this. In fact, given the reception my last posts generated, I would have preferred not to blog again. However, if you have to swallow enough manure, you feel the need to speak up.

Let me start by saying this, I am no fan of Rep. Curry Todd. He is a mean-spirited, ineffective, wrong-headed, hot tempered, and ornery. I do not agree with him on many, if any, issues. He is not my representative and if he left the legislature—much like if Jim Cooper left congress—I would not have any feeling one way or the other.

He also did something illegal and incredibly stupid. He is a hypocrite—color me shocked that someone in Legislative Plaza would be guilty of such a sin. For what he has done, he should be punished just as you or I would be in the same situation. By all indications, this is how things are proceeding at this point.

The news media has done their job. They have reported the incident. They have pointed out the Republican hypocrisy of people like Glenn Casada calling for Rep. Briley to step down in the wake of his incident, but remaining silent on Rep. Todd. The issue has gotten national coverage. A simple Google search for Rep. Todd returns numerous results. The man is down, he is out for the count and his career is at an end.

Yet there are some who believe that more needs to be done. For some people, anything short of a public lynching will not satisfy their thirst for retribution. Tonight, that attack has turned on Rep. Turner and the legislative democratic caucuses. It seems that many on the left are dissatisfied with the way our electeds have chosen to deal with the Todd situation.

Let me say this, I think that Chairman Turner went too far. Had it been me, I would have expressed my condolences to Todd’s family and said let the law work itself out. That, in my mind, would have been more appropriate. That being said, Rep., Turner is entitled to his opinion.

What I take exception to in all of this is the idea that our legislative democrats are scared. These 13 men and women in the Senate and 34 men and women in the House are our bread and butter and they aren’t scared of shit. After getting a solid ass whooping last year, these members could have lie down and let the Democratic Party die. Or they could have taken the TNDP route and focused so much on national issues and personal gain that they make themselves irrelevant. They did neither. Instead, these members put forward serious pieces of legislation, fought valiantly against the bevy of republican nonsense coming through the General Assembly and went statewide to address our jobs crisis. They held a presser last week talking about their aggressive plans for next session, despite their small number. These are not the actions of cowards.

Yet, today these members are being called ‘scared’ because they stayed out of a situation that was already being handled and to which their comments added nothing to the discussion. 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.

So yes, the legislative caucuses could have made a big to-do like the overly dramatic Chip Forrester, but instead they took the high road, noted that we weren’t adding anything to the public discourse by pounding on Todd and lived to fight another day. We have real issues in this state and very few dems to fight those issues. This is nothing but a damn sideshow. So let’s buck up, move on and lay the fuck off the only people fighting for us in this state.

Republican Extortion/Fundraiser at the Governor's Tax-Payer Provided Home

2011-09-07T17:17:00.000-07:00

Let's have a conversation about extortion and using your public housing for political purposes.

Apparently, Republicans have gotten over their problem with the so-call "bunker" built by Governor Bredesen. I say "apparently" because they are using it to extort an ungodly amount of money from Nashville lobbyist.

You'll note in the story linked above that Rep. Maggart and Speaker Harwell are both included in the Gang of 5 legislators who asked for the bunker construction to stop. Now, it appears the shoe is on the other foot and they are more than happy to use this tax-payer owned space to ask for unheard of amounts of money for their campaigns.

For those not familiar with legislative fundraising, $50,000 is an unheard of amount to request at a fundraiser. In the past $20,000 has been a HIGH end ask, with most contibutions ranging from $1,000-$10,000. This clearly shows the unfathomable hubris of the Tennessee Republican Party.

This is the kind of thing that can unite us as Democrats. While Tennessee Republicans are focused on pimping out their offices for campaign cash, Tennessee Democrats announced a statewide tour focused on creating jobs. Enjoy the actual e-mail from Rep. Maggart below. And feel free to RSVP should you feel so inclinded, I've already got my $50,000 space reserved.

______________________________________________________________________________

From: Rep. Debra Maggart [mailto:votedebramaggart@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, September 02, 2011 12:55 PM
To: Debra Maggart
Subject: Tennessee Republican Caucus Event

Thanks for your continued support for the Tennessee Republican Caucus. We wanted you to be among the first to know the details for the October 3 fundraiser. Invitations will go out within the week. Maintaining our Majority will take a lot of work, and your support is critical to our efforts. Thank you to those of you have already committed to the sponsorship levels.

The Inaugural Tennessee

Republican Legislative Ball

To Celebrate Tennessee

Honoring Betty & Governor Winfield Dunn,

The Senate Republican Caucus

and the House Republican Caucus

With Special Musical Guests

Monday, October 3, 2011

The Executive Residence

Nashville, Tennessee

Parking, check-in and shuttle service will be available from Judson Baptist Church

Cocktail Attire

To RSVP please contact Rachel Barrett or Cari Johns at 615-564-2642 or TennesseeRepublicanCaucus@gmail.com

Schedule

3:00 pm Check-in Opens at Judson Baptist Church

4:00-5:00 pm Sponsor Reception

5:00-7:00 pm General Reception, or the “Taste of Tennessee Ball”

7:00-9:00 pm Chair Dinner which will be upstairs in the Executive Residence dining room hosted by the First Lady, Governor Haslam and Caucus Leadership

Our Sponsorship Opportunities:

Suggested Levels of Support/SponsorshipsBenefits

$50,000: Event Chair

-5 tickets to Event Chair Dinner, 10 tickets to Sponsor Reception, 10 tickets to Taste of Tennessee, recognition at event

$25,000: Event Sponsor

-5 tickets to Sponsor Reception, 10 tickets to Taste of Tennessee, recognition at event

$10,000: Event Host

-2 tickets to Sponsor Reception, 5 tickets to Taste of Tennessee

$2,500: Attendee or couple

-Ticket(s) to Taste of Tennessee

Thank you for helping us celebrate Tennessee and our new Majority.

Sincerely,
Bill Ketron                                         Debra Maggart
CaucusChairman                               Caucus Chairman
Tennessee State Senate                      Tennessee State House

Staying Focused, Making an Impact

2011-09-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

Let’s have a conversation today about staying focused.

In a former position, I worked for someone fond of saying that we basically have two choices in life. We can focus on a lot of things and do them with mediocre results or we can focus on a few things and do them really well. I have always been a proponent of the latter.

As progressives, we can’t get distracted by what I like to call shiny issues. Shiny issues are a lot like shiny objects in that both serve as distractions from the real goal. Take for instance the Wisconsin recall elections. No Democrat would disagree that what Governor Walker did in Wisconsin is a tragedy of the first degree. And no one would disagree that these Senators need to be sent into retirement. However, how much time, effort and money did this take from Democrats across the country-including in Tennessee-that could have been better spent advocating progressive causes in their own state? How much time did we spend as Tennessee Democrats discussing this, when we could have been talking about a strategy for the next legislative session?

My point is this: we had a myriad of horrible, terrible, no-good legislation come out of the Tennessee General Assembly this session. We limited people’s access to the court, completely ripped apart teaching as a profession, tore the already weak organized labor groups down to bare bones, dictated reproductive health to women, overruled local governments, made ‘gay’ a swear word, set science curriculums back to the dark ages and put public schools on the path to bankruptcy all while managing to completely ignore the 10% unemployment rate in Tennessee. We have enough crap to deal with from here to kingdom come without ever looking for issues elsewhere.

Let’s face facts. Barack Obama isn’t going to win in Tennessee. We are not going to beat Bob Corker in 2012. We have ZERO say in redistricting. So as Tennessee Democrats, let’s get focused on things we CAN do. Instead of spending time phone banking for the President, let’s phone bank for someone in House District 40 where James Hale almost beat Rep. Weaver in 2010. Instead of sending $5 to fight Prop 8 in California, send $5 to the Maury County Democratic Party to help send the bigoted Rep. Butt back to Columbia. Instead of focusing on national issues and campaigns, follow the lead of groups like the National Firefighters Union and get involved on a local level where we can actually have an impact.

I say this from place of love and, as my minister says, I am as guilty as anyone of doing what I am advocating against, but we have got to get focused as Tennessee Democrats. I love the President. I hope Elizabeth Warren wins the Senate seat in Massachusetts. I hope Scott Walker gets recalled, we win the special election in New York and Prop 8 gets overturned in California. But right now, I’m more concerned about Republicans screwing up the HOPE scholarship for my sister. I am more concerned that my cousin-a first year teacher-won’t have basic classroom supplies she needs to be effective. I am more concerned that members of the General Assembly think a sexual orientation is a swear word, that any jobs bill from a Democrat is socialism and that we should really go back to the days before that disastrous Scopes Trial. These are issues that affect my daily life as a Tennessean. These are issues where I can have a real impact.

Over the next weeks, I am going to begin talking about issues that we can affect as Tennessee Democrats. I too love a good fight at the national level. I support many progressive causes that are going on around the country, but right now I want us to examine what is really going on in Tennessee and how we can make a difference. The issues won’t always be sexy, but they will be substantive.

Let the conversation continue.

A New Perspective on Redistricting

2011-08-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

The so-dubbed Ketronmander

In my initial post, I forewarned readers that while my objective is to get us talking to each other again, one might not always like what I have to say. I feel as if this post will serve to back up that notion.

So let’s have a conversation about cutting off the dead weight.

Yesterday, Mayor Karl Dean and Congressman Jim Cooper participated in an editorial board with the Tennessean. To sum up the content, Jim Cooper plead for his political life, while newly re-elected Mayor Dean lectured on the virtues of a united Nashville.

Before I go on, let me say this: I have no strong feelings either way when it comes to Mayor Dean or Congressman Cooper. I know very little about either man and what I do know is neither impressive nor damming.

That being said, I think the fact that I as an active, dedicated and in-the-loop democrat know very little about a multi-term democratic congressman is a problem. I’m sure part of the problem is me. I should know more about Congressman Cooper. But honestly, I grew up in a house where democratic politics was the rule of law. I knew who John Wilder, Jimmy Naifeh and Ned McWherter were almost before I knew Jesus Christ. The only thing I know about Jim Cooper is that when he ran for senate, he let Fred Thompson tell him to “shut-up” during a debate like he was a three-year old.

Herein is the problem. We, as democrats, can pontificate all day about how unfair the majority party is being if they can successfully split Nashville into multiple districts. Yes, it is unnecessary. Yes, it is unfair. Yes, it is patently political-color me shocked. We did it for 140 years and no one in the general public is going to listen to us complain now that the shoe is on the proverbial other foot. I don’t like it, but I think we are remiss to be so “offended” and “shocked” by this completely legal activity.

As democrats, I think we ought to be more upset that Congressman Cooper and Mayor Dean are NOW suddenly so concerned about the redistricting process. Perhaps had either man been more concerned last fall, we’d have more than 34 seats in the House and might have a chance to actually affect redistricting. Perhaps, if Congressman Cooper had paid more attention to the reputation and state of the Democratic Party in Tennessee 10 years ago, we’d have more than 13 seats in the Senate. Perhaps, the issue here is not what the evil republicans are doing to us, but the lack of action by our own party statesmen to build a bench for state races, to build effective fundraising networks and to act as leaders all the time, not just when your district is in trouble.

To be fair, the things said in the preceding paragraph could be written about a multitude of our elder statesmen in the Democratic Party. We have let our party fall into disarray in this state and we have no one to blame but ourselves. So maybe it’s time to cut the fat. From my perspective, if Congressman Cooper is sent into retirement nothing changes for Tennessee Democrats. We’re not any better or worse off. We don’t lose an exceptional campaigner or fundraiser. We don’t lose someone who is leading or shaping the conversation for Tennessee Democrats. We don’t even lose a vote for Nancy Pelosi should we regain the majority in DC, since Cooper voted against her as Leader.

Every year, my Grandmother cuts her azalea bushes in the fall. They go from looking plush and nice, to looking lanky and forlorn. But the next spring, the strongest and most beautiful bushes are those that have been pruned. Perhaps in Tennessee, it’s time to trim our own hedges and cut off the dead weight so we too can grow into something better and stronger.

Let the conversation continue.

2011-08-29T18:43:00.001-07:00

It's time to start a conversation. For too long we, as Tennessee Democrats, have refused to listen to one another. We have talked to each other. Goodness knows we've had enough trainings and meetings and forums and facebook groups and meet-ups to clog up every one's inbox and Google calendar, but what have we got to show for it? A Republican Governor, 34 seats in the House and 13 in the Senate to be precise.

So what's the problem here? The problem is that somewhere during out 140 year majority reign, we forgot how to listen to and deal with each other as Democrats. Now we find ourselves deeply in the minority with even more losses to come courtesy of redistricting.

So how do we fix it? That is the million dollar question. In short-I have no easy answers. I do know, however, that we won't solve it by ignoring each other as democrats and dividing ourselves into these asinine sub-groups of liberals v. moderates, unions v. business, rural v. urban, Nashville v. Knoxville v. Memphis, pro-party v. anti-party, old guard v. young turk or any other ridiculous subdivision playing out in comment sections on blogs and facebook groups that span the Tennessee Democratic sphere.

And that is why I've started this blog. We need to start a respectful dialogue about who we are as Tennessee Democrats. This blog is my contribution to that discussion. You may not like what I have to say. You may find my pro-marriage equality sentiments too liberal on one day, only to find my NRA membership too conservative on another. On this blog, however, you can always depend on honesty, respect and an earnest love for the Tennessee Democratic Party.

On a final note, I will try to post once or twice a week. Most of the post will deal with current political topics in Tennessee and how we, as Democrats, react to them. I have chosen to do this anonymously because of my job. I hope this blog will accomplish a few things. One, I hope it will disseminate information that otherwise would have remained unreported by the media at large. Two, I hope it will serve as new kind of conversation where viewpoints are presented in a precise, but respectful and serious manner. Three, I hope it will help us rebuild the party we all love.