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Nashville, Tennessee

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Nashville Scene - Pith in the Wind

The Nashville Scene News Blog

The State of Dean's Speech is....Crapalicious

Posted May 16, 2008 at 03:40:11 PM by Matt Pulle

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Well, the reviews are in—Mayor Karl Dean's State of the Metro Address has been panned by both the City Paper and the Scene, the two papers that actually follow local politics. The address was bland, unchallenging and had several head-scratching moments, which we mock and ridicule after the jump.


Continue reading "The State of Dean's Speech is....Crapalicious"...
Category: By the Way, Crazy Crap, Education, Politics, Pulle
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Better Fred than Read

Posted May 16, 2008 at 11:23:14 AM by Bruce Barry

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We at Pith join the many who welcome Fred Thompson to the blogosphere following his inaugural post yesterday at Townhall.com. Thompson’s opening salvo was mostly a vapid paean to an imagined conservative future, but it did include this curious bit of cause-effect reasoning:

Now isn’t the time for conservatives to be looking for a tailored message or a politically expedient route to victory if the end result is going to be the inevitable slide toward the liberalization and secularization of America, and the growth of government and loss of freedom that inevitably ensues.

Let me see if I have this right, F-man: Eight years of a staunchly anti-liberal, anti-secular administration (abetted by six years of an obsequious Congress) yields unrestrained growth of government, a ravaging of the separation of powers and a willful disregard for civil liberties, and you think liberalization and secularization are the paramount threats to freedom and government efficiency? So what are they putting in the water up there on Planet Delusion?

Category: Barry, Politics
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Reeling in That Marlin

Posted May 16, 2008 at 09:02:31 AM by Matt Pulle

Nothing like a little Chris Matthews to jump start your Friday morning. In this clip, the MSNBC staple plays a little hardball with Kevin James, a conservative talk show host from Los Angeles. (And not the costar of Hitch.) It took a clearly irritable Matthews about four minutes to embarrass and humiliate James, who was rabidly echoing Bush's comparison of Barack Obama to former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain without really knowing what Chamberlain did to enable Hitler's rise to power. When Matthews discovered that James' grasp of history was even shakier than Bush's, he moved in for the kill, angrily devouring the talk show host as he revealed his ignorance. It's absolutely captivating television.

And, yes, there's nothing local about this clip, but if it would make you feel better, imagine Phil Valentine sitting in James' place. He wouldn't have fared any better. Steve Gill, on the other hand, would have held his own. We'll give him that much.

Category: Media, Politics, Pulle
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It's Not Personal; It's Personal

Posted May 15, 2008 at 02:53:03 PM by Matt Pulle

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This week we wrote about how Gov. Phil Bredesen's office wouldn't turn over so-called “personal” emails to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research (TCPR) after they posed a series of irritating questions about the ongoing restoration of the Executive Residence. The libertarian think tank understandably frets that Bredesen's flacks are labeling controversial emails as “personal” so that they won't ever become fodder for the governor's detractors.

What makes Bredesen's position all the more bizarre—in addition to the fact that it flies in the face of the state's open records' law—is that his office has no problem turning over emails that certainly seem personal. That just fuels suspicion that the governor's people are just slapping the “personal” tag on whatever it is they want to hide and not on correspondence that was meant to be private.

TCPR had asked for a screen shot of the inbox of Judy Folk, who works for first lady Andrea Conte, also known as the "FL," who has spearheaded work on the Bredesen Bunker and has clearly been annoyed by its detractors. Anyhow, after the jump we have a partial list of of emails from Folk's computer that the governor's office had no problem sharing with the think tank. These are just the subject lines:

Update: Our new friends at the Tennessee Republican Party have issued a statement about Bredesen's issues with electronic correspondence.


Continue reading "It's Not Personal; It's Personal"...
Category: Media, Politics, Pulle
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Paving Wetlands for the Wealthy

Posted May 15, 2008 at 01:03:52 PM by Jeff Woods

Now that state lawmakers have decided to let certain commercial real-estate tycoons off the hook on taxes, they're desperately looking for an extra $15 million to plug the budget hole. One possible target? The state's land acquisition funds that are used to protect wilderness areas and wetlands.

It's a neat solution to the budget problem, isn't it? Lawmakers decide to keep giving a tax break to commercial real-estate businesses, which can then pave wetlands that would have been protected by the land acquisition funds if they hadn't been depleted to give the biz pigs the tax break.

Among the fabulously wealthy who benefit from the tax break are Nashville's May family, which started May Hosiery Mill in 1895 and now owns downtown properties, Belle Meade Plaza and Belle Meade Office Park. And that's not to mention lots of land at Bells Bend, which the family wants to pave for a Cool Springs-like shopping paradise.

Category: Legislature, Politics, Woods
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The Keyboard Assassin

Posted May 15, 2008 at 11:26:34 AM by Liz Garrigan

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That handsome (kinda) man is our own Jeff Woods on a rare day when he didn't look like a street urchin. Anyway, his journalistic efforts during last year's mayoral race have made him a finalist for our industry's Public Service Award category. Some call his coverage of the candidates, particularly of former Congressman Bob Clement, journalistic malpractice. We call it kicking tail. There continues to be widespread misunderstanding, apparently, about the role of altweeklies, which is to offer reporting with point of view, not to serve as a platform for stenographic mealy-mouthery the likes of which readers can get at The City Paper and The Tennessean.

In fact, I named the package of pieces "Mayor Bubba Smackdown," and we argued to the judges that the Nashville Scene provided a public service to Nashvillians by reporting and editorializing over several months' time that Bob Clement was far from the best choice to run this $1.8 billion major American city. An independent panel of judges apparently agrees, though the best we can hope for is probably third place as these types of journalism awards typically go to papers discovering that corporations are poisoning poor people, not to grumpy, unshaven wretches singularly obsessed with picking on political hacks desperately in search of power.

We never thought that Jeff Woods—whose triangle of existence includes our office Monday through Thursday, a seedy downtown bar and the Smoky Mountains—would be recognized for providing a public service. He's probably cringing at the notion that someone thinks he's done something good in the world.

Category: Garrigan, Media, Politics
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Pride and Prejudice

Posted May 15, 2008 at 11:08:45 AM by Jeff Woods

Republicans made this little video to welcome Michelle Obama to Nashville today and they're asking Tennessee's radio stations to play patriotic music to mark the occasion. "The Tennessee Republican Party has always been proud of America." And America is proud of the Tennessee Republican Party. My chest is swelling with pride even as I type this.

Category: Politics, Woods
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Dean Making Political Mistake

Posted May 14, 2008 at 01:02:27 PM by Jeff Woods

Mayor Karl Dean is misleading the public about the state of Metro's finances and making a political mistake by not preparing voters for the need for a property tax increase.

Just about everyone familiar with the city's finances figures a tax hike will be needed next year to avoid some serious slashing of spending. But as we write in this week's Scene, Dean has been running around the city telling people that a little belt-tightening will take care of our problems.

To this point, Dean has pretended not to understand the troubles that lie ahead. (Or maybe he’s naive. Over drinks during the campaign, one Dean adviser griped to Scene staffers, “We’re talking about a candidate with about as much political sense as this beer mug.”)

At Glencliff High School during one of his town meetings last month, Dean actually said this: “The stars have sort of aligned right now in our city where we can make an investment in our schools.” And this: “If we plan for some tight years, we’re going to be fine.”

In his State of Metro speech Tuesday, he suggested “smart fiscal management” is all that’s needed. “Although times are tight,” he said, “we know that will not always be the case.”

Dean did say during last year's election campaign that he wouldn't raise taxes as mayor. But breaking that promise is inevitable. With the kinds of comments he's making, he'll eventually damage his credibility with voters, and he's going to need it. When the time for the tax increase arrives, he'll have to mount a big campaign to persuade the public that the city needs more money. Then, how's he going to explain away all those times he said the government could manage its way out of trouble?

Category: Politics, Woods
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The MAN In Charge...

Posted May 13, 2008 at 04:21:37 PM by PJ Tobia

The Hill newspaper, which functions as the class secretary of the D.C. political world, has asked all the U.S. Senators how they would respond if offered the vice presidency of these United States. The answers range from the hilarious—“I would say, ‘You’re out of your mind,’ ” said Sen. James Inhofe, (R-Okla.)—to the succinct—“Nope,” said Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.)

The Tennessee delegation, consisting of Republicans Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, also said they would decline the veep position if asked. In his three-sentence answer, Alexander comes off as both a know-it-all and a chauvinist. If only Congress were always so efficient.

Both senators' full answers after the jump. Hat tip, Wonkette.


Continue reading "The MAN In Charge..."...
Category: Politics
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Tuke's Long Walk

Posted May 13, 2008 at 01:09:37 PM by Jeff Woods

Bob Tuke is walking across Tennessee. What an original idea! And he's wearing his combat boots. He's an ex-Marine. But how could you not know that? With nearly every breath he takes, he tells us that he was a Marine.

"This march also will demonstrate an important difference between Lamar Alexander and me," Tuke says in an email to supporters today. "My boots aren't a gimmick – they are the real thing, earned by military service in war. Our nation is fighting two wars now and we need at least one more senator who has fought in combat and understands the difficulty of ending a war with minimal casualties and maximum honor."

Personally, I'm tired of hearing Tuke talk about his military service. To some voters, it may matter as a sign of his willingness to sacrifice for his country. And that's fine. But it's wrong to claim, as Tuke is doing, that military service is a prerequisite to understanding foreign policy. If that were the case, then Barack Obama, whom Tuke supports, shouldn't be president.

Category: Politics, Woods
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