Feel Good Friday--Green Day Edition

I am SOOOOO excited to see Green Day in concert at the Sommet Center tonight!  I predict that although it will be a close contest, Billie Joe Armstrong will be wearing more eyeliner than I.  Here are some of my favorites:

"Basket Case"

"Welcome To Paradise"

"Brain Stew"

"Jesus of Suburbia"

"21 Guns" (I'm usually one to stick up my nose at one of my favorite band's "new" material, as opposed to the songs that came out when I was in high school, but I'm really digging the new album)

Deal Reached On House Healthcare Bill

Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman appears to have reached a deal with four of the seven "Blue Dogs" on his committee in order to give the healthcare bill the votes it needs to go forward:

As a result of the deal, party leaders have agreed to put off a House vote until the fall, giving members more time to digest the legislation — and opponents more time to attack it.

The Blue Dogs also succeeded in cutting $100 billion from the overall cost of the bill, bringing the total price tag under $1 trillion. The legislation will now exempt small businesses with a payroll greater than $500,000 from paying for any government-sponsored health coverage - double the $250,000 in the initial draft. And finally, under the terms of the deal Ross announced, doctors and other health care providers will be allowed to negotiate their payment rates with the government-sponsored health care arm.

None of these concessions seem to be that painful, and the deal seems to leave the public option intact.  I'm not too thrilled, however, with the constant delaying tactics--President Obama and House Democrats need to OWN the narrative in August as the well-funded fans of the status quo ramp up their attacks.

I am very pleased to see that Tennessee Representative Bart Gordon will vote yes in committee as a result of this deal.  He ultimately has to understand that this will be in the best interests of his constituents.  It's not a choice now between a better or a worse plan, it's a choice between HR 3200 or the unsustainable status quo.  Plan A or Plan B, if you will:

UPDATE:  More info:

The new version of the bill also has a breakthrough on the concept of health care “co-ops,” seen by some as an alternative to a public plan. States would be allowed to create co-ops for residents to buy private insurance. But the Waxman-Ross deal will also keeps the "public option" of government-sponsored health care.

What I wonder is if Bart Gordon is now on board, will this force Jim Cooper's hand?  He said last weekend that he would be a "reluctant no", but that was when it appeared as if the bill would be called out of committee altogether.  So what now?

Note to the Congressman--if Gordon looks like a better Democrat than you are, in a district much more hostile to Democrats, then you're doing something wrong.

A Confession

If I were in Rose Cox's position, I can't say that I would not have done, or attempted to do, the exact same thing.  

If the pictures were of me, not only would I have not have copped to it to someone I don't know that well, even if that person were "press," but I would have wanted to try to get them taken down.  If they were not of me, but I still had to deal with people harassing me to find out if they were, I'd still want to take them down, and I may very well be willing to lie to get it done.

Now, in Adam Kleinheider's Perfect Black And White World, this would make me a lying bitch and worthy of being burned alive at the stake.  But if you don't believe that it necessarily is so black and white, read on.

I gave a similar analogy over Twitter about this yesterday.  I've taken pole-dancing classes at my gym in St. Louis as a way to blow off steam from law school.  Pole-dancing might be seen as something at odds with a professional image.  But I'm not embarrassed to admit I do it--it's a great workout and I've never had the patience for slow exercises like yoga or Pilates.  I lost weight during the spring semester at least in part because of it.  I know, as does any rationally thinking person, that my taking this class does not make me a whore or a stripper.  That does not mean, however, that I want pictures of me doing it blasted all over the Internet (although, dear reader, that's as much for your own sake as for mine).

Because it can and will be taken the wrong way.

There is absolutely a double standard against professional women in this regard.  You can't tell me that anyone would have looked twice at the pictures if they were of a male lobbyist chugging beers with his friends.  In all of these fields--politics, business, finance, and yes, the legal field--there is still very much a "boys will be boys" attitude taken towards activity outside of the office.  But God forbid a professional woman look "unprofessional" even for one minute.  Pictures like this coming out could pose a real problem to any woman's current or future career prospects--regardless of whether that is her in the pictures or not.  A current employer might think she's embarrassing the company (I'm working under the assumption that this party had nothing to do with her job as a lobbyist, as we've been given absolutely no evidence to the contrary and you would think that would be a relevant point), and a future employer might determine that the pictures make her look unprofessional.  Of course it's wrong to lie to the press, but understandable if your livelihood is at stake because of some stupid gender double standard.  And honestly, I would have thought Aunt B. would have been among the first to recognize that.

And if the real issue is that she "altered the public record," then is that any different from when a friend puts up an unflattering picture of you on Facebook and you ask her to take it down?  Kleinheider claims that there is some sort of "sanctity of Facebook" which he would never violate.  It's a disingenuous claim, because there is no such thing.  Everything on Facebook can be made public, regardless of whom you allow to see it.  It's not any less public than a newspaper.  And yes, I have occasionally requested that friends or sorority sisters take down certain photos that I would not want future employers to see.  Does that make me dishonest?  Does that mean I'm altering the public record?  Or does that mean I'm just making a rational decision to look out for my own livelihood?

So Kleinheider made his point--that you can't lie to the press in this day and age, and that the coverup will always be worse than the crime.  If this point wasn't self-evident after all the sex scandals we've experienced in Tennessee over the last few years, I don't know if it ever will be.  But at what cost was this point made?  

If she were strutting around in a burlesque costume for the purpose of doing her job as a lobbyist and getting votes, and then tried to cover her tracks, I could absolutely understand how the public interest in exposing this sort of corruption would outweigh anyone's right to privacy.  But are you personally able to sleep better at night and feel more confident in your government now that Rose Cox's private life has been blasted all over the Internet for the world to see?  What benefit did you gain from reading that story?

Lying is wrong.  So is bringing down someone else's career not to make a journalistic point but to revel in your own superior morality.  And I don't think I'm the only one who might have done the exact same thing.

Channel 2 Is Messed Up

I saw a story on the 10:00 news on WKRN last night, one of the "That's Messed Up" features reported by the cheap Michael Turko substitute, Andy Cordan.  I rolled my eyes at it last night, but it's increasingly pissed me off throughout today, and not because the situation truly is "messed up."

You see, according to Andy Cordan, in a time when people right here in Nashville are losing their jobs, losing their homes, and going bankrupt from trying to pay for healthcare, what's really messed up is how some drivers in Brentwood are going to be inconvenienced when TDOT has to shut down a stretch of Concord Road in order to widen it.

Oh no, Brentwood people are going to have to take a detour!  Oh the humanity!

My family moved to Green Hills about a month and a half ago.  This summer, we've dealt with some of the most erratic and unpredictable construction schedules you'll ever see.  They give you about a five minutes' notice before shutting down half of Hillsboro Pike or completely shutting down Harding Place.  And all this construction still isn't going to fix the real traffic problem in Green Hills, the need to divert mall traffic.  But am I whining to the news about it?  No, I've been leaving the house a few minutes earlier in the morning and learning to take the back roads.  Yes, it's annoying, but it goes with the territory in a busy area Green Hills, and I accept that.

It's even worse in St. Louis, where I live for most of the year.  In order to massively widen and reconstruct the main interstate through the city, I-64 (or Highway 40 if you're actually from St. Louis), they shut down the whole highway in various intervals.  They shut down one large section outside of the city proper for all of last year, and shut down another section closer in for all of this year.  The choice was to do it this way and have the project take two years, or only shut down certain lanes in different intervals and have the project take 5-6 years.  It didn't affect me all that much last year, but since January, it's taken me twice as long to get to school in the morning as my route is one of the main alternative routes for I-64 drivers.  It's a pain in the ass, but again, I learned to give myself more time in the morning.  Everyone gripes, everyone complains, but everyone knows that the construction is necessary and that it will make everyone's commute easier once it's finished (and last I checked, because they were able to shut down the whole highway, the project is ahead of schedule to be completed).

I have no sympathy for these poor, inconvenienced Brentwood drivers.  Brentwood is not some rural enclave; it's a fast-growing, highly sprawled suburb that already has plenty of traffic problems (see:  Old Hickory Blvd. and Franklin Road intersection, I-65) and will have more traffic problems to be dealt with as more people move there.  It goes with the territory.  If you don't want to deal with traffic, and the construction work that goes along with it, move out into the country--you know, that area where you can't as easily mooch off of Nashville.

In the meantime, this isn't something that's "messed up," it's just a bunch of whiners.  It's shameful that a serious news broadcast would devote valuable airtime to this when there are so many bigger problems to report on in Nashville.  Surely there are more serious "messed up" issues to report on?  Or is WKRN going the way of The Tennessean, all fluff and no substance?

The Birth Certificate Is Not An Issue

Who said it's not an issue?  Some brainwashed Obamaniac?  The elitist liberal media, perhaps? 

No, it was Ann Coulter.  Broken clock, twice a day, etc.

Of course, this is hardly a conservative about-face on par with Kathleen Parker or Peggy Noonan, coming to the realization that there are plenty of crazies on the right.  Coulter is just sick of this particular issue, and it provides her a way to make CNN look crazy for promoting it while Fox, like all the other "respectable" conservative publications, put it to rest.   

But her statement does show one interesting point, that the constant whining about the birth certificate is embarrassing and damaging to the mainstream Republicans.  While they're seeking to minimize this issue--"nothing to see here, move along"--they'd really just like it gone altogether.  It puts them in a tight spot--either say it's not a real issue and piss off the crazies, or indulge the crazies but scare off everyone else.  It'd be much easier if the whole issue just went away altogether.

But seriously folks, here's the birth certificate.

Robin Smith Needs A Lawyer

From a pure entertainment standpoint, it looks as though the race for the 3rd Congressional District seat in East Tennessee may be the race to watch next year. Robin Smith attempts to get her tea party on, and fails miserably:

"I'm not an attorney, and I really don't want to be one," Mrs. Smith said during a question-and-answer period at last week's Hamilton County Pachyderm Club meeting. "Guess what? There weren't any attorneys that wrote the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution either."

She was wrong.

Fifteen signers of the U.S. Constitution were lawyers, and 30 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were attorneys. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were lawyers.

I mean, it should be pretty obvious that lawyers had a hand in constructing those documents. Otherwise, the Declaration of Independence would have simply said "You can't tax us, bye!" Simple, to the point, none of this legal mumbo-jumbo.

I'm very much looking forward to this race. It may be sexist to say, but Robin Smith is going to have a Sarah Palin-esque meltdown before this is all said and done.

You know who's not going to have a meltdown? Paula Flowers.

The Anti Tea Party In The Boro

Earlier today, there was to be a "tea party" outside Bart Gordon's office in Murfreesboro.  It ended up being five tea-baggers and almost 70 counter-protestors encouraging the Congressman to vote the right way on the healthcare bill:

Kleinheider has already noted one of the signs held up by a not so bright tea party attendee.

Also, the Energy and Commerce Committee (on which Bart Gordon sits) just released a fact sheet detailing how District 6 would benefit from the passage of HR 3200.  And all he has to do is vote "yea" in committee.

America’s Affordable Health Choices Act would provide significant benefits in the 6th Congressional District of Tennessee: up to 11,600 small businesses could receive tax credits to provide coverage to their employees; 3,500 seniors would avoid the donut hole in Medicare Part D; 200 families could escape bankruptcy each year due to unaffordable health care costs; health care providers would receive payment for $92 million in uncompensated care each year; and 107,000 uninsured individuals would gain access to high-quality, affordable health insurance. Congressman Bart Gordon represents this district.

Feel Good Friday--Blogiversary Edition

Silence Isn't Golden launched on July 24, 2007, exactly two years ago today.  Which makes today my second blogiversary!

My world, and the world around me, has shifted in the last two years.  Only a few weeks after starting my blog, I returned to Ithaca for my senior year at Cornell, finishing up my time in my safe, comfortable, albeit freezing cold, bubble.  That May, they pretty much had to drag me kicking and screaming to graduation--DID NOT WANT.

What awaited me was probably the most challenging year of my life.  I moved in August to a city I had never been to before, Saint Louis, to start law school.  And while I immediately took to Saint Louis--it's a lot like Nashville, only bigger with more stuff to do--I spent the first few months of law school feeling like a deer in the headlights.  The worst part for me was not the hours of hard work, not the tough professors, not the classmates who constantly obsessed over everyone else's grades and job prospects.

The worst part was the doubt.  The feeling of being not just brought down but slammed down back to Earth.  The student who had never made a grade lower than a "B" in her entire life all of a sudden being unable to fully answer a question when called in class.  And hanging over it all, the uncertainty of whether anyone but the people at the very top of the class will be able to get jobs in two years in this economy.

This year was, in a word, humbling.  But it's over now, and I suppose what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger.

Also in the last two years, I did my little part to help get a mayor and a President elected.  I think the mayor is doing a good job, even if he is spending too much political capital on the convention center.  The President hasn't been perfect (remind me again why DADT is still in effect?) but I wouldn't have anyone else.

It's weird--I go back and look at what I wrote on here back in 2007, or on Daily Kos during the Ford campaign before that, and can't help but think that I've grown the hell up in the last 2-3 years.  The bratty kid who used to pick fights on comment threads with LeftWingCracker back in the day has now calmed down quite a bit, learned to pick her battles more pragmatically, and no longer takes every little criticism so personally.  I read Post Politics now as all the various gubernatorial campaign shills begin to gather around, and can only hope I didn't sound that crazy back then (I did, didn't I?).  But I will keep fighting the good fight even as law school tries to kill me.  It's kept me sane for the last two years by making me focus on the big picture, and hopefully will do the same for the next two.

**************************************

Oh hell no!  I'm too young to be getting all reflective now.  So here's a monkey and a cat making out for your Feel Good Friday:

Who Will Start For Vanderbilt This Fall?

Maurice Patton of The Tennessean asks an important question:

If Larry Smith was good enough to start Vanderbilt's most important game in more than 50 years, does that make him good enough to get the nod in the 2009 opener with Western Carolina?

Of course, if you were at the Music City Bowl, the answer is--DUH!!!  Apparently there is going to be some competition, but there probably shouldn't be.

If you were at the Music City Bowl, or watched it on TV, there was no missing what happened.  Larry Smith came in after early mistakes by both Chris Nickson and Mackenzi Adams, and took complete control not just of the offense but of the entire game.  Having never played in an NCAA game before, he came in for the biggest Vanderbilt game in 25 years and looked as poised and confident as a senior.  He looked like he was born ready for that moment.

We got a glimpse of the future last New Year's Eve.  It has a rocket arm and can run too.  It's understandable that they may want to treat Larry Smith with kid gloves, but if the Music City Bowl was an indicator of things to come, he's too good to not start.  Mackenzi Adams will be a reliable backup so that Smith doesn't have to shoulder the entire burden right away, but it needs to be his team to lead now.

I feel good about the offense for this upcoming season.  The defense is still a big old question mark after losing half the secondary, of course.

School Board Shenanigans

Dr. Martin Kennedy shares his experience going to what was supposed to be a "meet-and-greet" for the West Nashville council members to get to know the candidates for Alan Coverstone's school board seat:

I would like to think that, regarding involvement in local politics, that this ain't my first rodeo, that I am not too innocent. I checked too with my local council member to see if this selection process was going to be a good, transparent process, that they really wanted to get a good person in there and it wasn't going to be an exercise in horse-trading. She assured me that it would not be.

Tonight, where a handful of West Nashville council members could get a chance to meet us and hear from us, was just such a sham. Not one asked me any questions. I introduced myself, asked if they wanted to know anything. Nothing. They all thanked me for "being willing to serve."

Now if I had to make a choice between candidates that I didn't know very well I'd be pumping them with questions.

Finally, a council member came over and told me privately that the whole thing is a done deal. We talked for a while. There have been calls going back and forth and everyone knows who is going to win, who will come in second etc. For these people the school board appointment is not about the schools, much less about the kids or their parents. It is about building political coalitions, building networks. And that is why it is so difficult to achieve reform where rights and responsibility are de-centralized. People who run and win for council and school boards etc like power. They like to cut deals and trade the horses.

He clarifies the conversation (or lack thereof) in a follow-up e-mail:

I really expected to be asked some questions - what do you think of standard school attire, re-zoning, how would you handle this or that? What are your insights on special ed? NOTHING. I had to search out the different council members. I asked them if they wanted to know anything, had any questions. NOTHING. I asked Jason Holloman, Megan Barry, Bo Mitchell, Greg Adkins, Erica Gilmore, Craddock. Emily Evans is on vacation. Crafton left before I could even introduce myself. No one wanted to know anything about me. I told this one guy that this whole thing was kind of strange, that I thought this was a meet and greet for the benefit of council members. That's when he told me what the horses had largely been traded.

So much for this new "enlightened" Council--even if they pass bills like the nondiscrimination ordinance, for everything else it's still very much business-as-usual.  

Honestly, Metro Council members--even if you're determined not to elect a "conservative" to the board, you at least owe it to your constituents to hear from all of the candidates and get all of their ideas prior to voting.  There is simply no excuse for refusing to listen to a bona fide candidate, even if you think you're going to disagree with what he has to say.  And if you're not going perform this aspect of your job or take it seriously, then please, put it up for a real vote and make it a special election.

The Name Game

I've noticed, as Joe Lance at Tennessee Ticket has as well, that the "powers that be" among state Democrats are beginning to coalesce around Mike McWherter in the 2010 Governor's race:

Mike McWherter, son of former Governor Ned McWherter--early on, I thought that "son of former Governor Ned McWherter" was going to be all there was to write about this candidate. I stand corrected. The party establishment has largely, silently (so far), and somewhat inexplicably gathered in his support, which is not what happened when he briefly considered a run for the U.S. Senate in 2008. As of right now, McWherter is essentially the frontrunner and, even though these early polls are mere noise, he can tout being ahead of the pack in that regard as well.

Now, I want to stress something before I go on, because I know this post will inevitably be taken out of context by those who want to paint me as some crazy moonbat who "just doesn't understand what we need to do to win."  I certainly supported McWherter in his brief Senate campaign in 2008, when it looked like he would be the only one willing and able to put up more than token opposition against Lamar! Alexander.  For all I know, he could be a great candidate, someone who really knows what he's doing, the answer Tennessee Democrats have been looking for.

But we don't know that as of right now, and it bothers the hell out of me that we would quietly "anoint" someone and come to a consensus with so much unknown a year before the primary.

We have yet to hear where McWherter stands on a single issue.  What's he going to do about healthcare, jobs, education?  What are his plans for taxes and budget issues?  Had he been in the legislature, how would he have voted on the gun bills or on S.J.R. 127?  I don't think these are hostile questions, nor an unreasonable expectation that the apparent frontrunner for the Democratic nomination should be able to provide an answer.

The other candidates have records to run on (Kyle, McMillan, and Herron, even if Herron's record is more than a little disjointed) or have come out with clear policy positions (Cammack).  For all I know, McWherter's policy positions could be the best of all of them.  But we DON'T KNOW THAT because we have no idea what any of his positions are.

So my question is, are we going to find out any of that before the primary, or are we just banking on his last name to turn out voters?

I've heard Ned Ray was a great governor.  He was the man behind TennCare, after all.  But I was born in 1986, so I have no memory of any of that, and neither do plenty of other Democratic (or Republican, for that matter) voters.  I have a grand total of one memory of Ned Ray from when he was Governor, and that was from when my third grade class at Percy Priest went on a field trip to the Capitol and got to meet him (a particularly memorable story in Gold family lore as my mother, who was chaperoning the trip, plopped herself down in the Governor's lap when it was time to take a class picture around his desk--what is it with Southern Democratic governors and Jewish women?).  This would have been in mid-to-late 1994, when he was on his way out.

So you can't tell me, nor can you tell a lot of other young voters, that we should support Mike McWherter because he'll be like his dad.  Because that doesn't mean anything to us.  It could mean he'll be great, but you still need to explain what exactly that will entail more than 15 years after Ned Ray left office.

Again, this is not to diss McWherter.  I'm not supporting or opposing any candidates so early on in the race, and look forward to getting to know more about him.  But I just need a little bit of assurance that we will know more about him at some point before the primary, and that we are not just banking on the McWherter name.

Hell Has Frozen Over And Pigs Are Flying

Stop the presses, because I agree with Kay Brooks on something, as much as it pains me to admit.  Although the reasons for my support are probably different from hers, I too think that Martin Kennedy would be an excellent pick to for the school board seat currently vacant after Alan Coverstone stepped down to become the "charter school czar" in Metro.

I disagree with Dr. Kennedy on a lot of issues.  I once got into a 50-comment long argument with him over on Sean Braisted's blog over gay adoption.  But I've also learned that he is the "go-to guy" if I have questions over education policy issues, such as vouchers or charter schools.  The charter school issue is one that's going to be key in the next few years in particular.  He can provide all the facts without spin or bias.  On the issues that come before the school board, I believe that he is someone who could look at them from all sides and come to a rational, objective conclusion without another political agenda getting in the way.

Which brings me to my next point.  He is someone whom we could trust, more than some of the others on the school board, to fully be in it for the best interest of the children.  He's not looking to simply get his name out there for a future run at higher office, but is simply passionate about this issue.  For those reasons, I'm pleased to give him some "bipartisan" support.

You can read his whole statement here.

Obama vs. The Machers

In this week's Forward, Isaac Luria of J Street points out that in the battle of Obama vs. The Machers, represented by the mostly older members of the traditional Jewish organizations, the American Jewish youth have voted, overwhelmingly, for Obama:

The latest United Jewish Communities report on National Jewish Population Survey data shows we are less likely to give to traditional Jewish organizations than were previous generations. This doesn’t mean we are tuning out from Judaism — we are simply finding different ways to express it. We are finding meaning in an emerging new Judaism of independent minyanim, social justice and alternative Jewish culture. As social media expert Allison Fine wrote in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, if young people are “unhappy with their reception by nonprofit organizations, they will simply start their own efforts — overnight, online, at almost no cost.”

Many of these new communities and organizations are more committed to making Judaism personally meaningful than to simply pursuing Jewish continuity, and aren’t necessarily housed inside traditional Jewish institutions (though they may be funded by forward-thinking Jewish philanthropies). Many of us who are active in these new endeavors are connected to and care about Israel. We hope for a lasting peace, and believe that both sides must play a role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

For many young Jews, Obama embodies our values. He leads an interconnected world, dealing with myriad and difficult problems pragmatically and honestly. As a symbol of a new era of racial relations, he is uniquely positioned to help peacefully resolve ethnic strife and conflict abroad.

It's a good article, read the whole thing.  However, there was another article today that showed exactly why these groups are losing relevance right now.

Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, after a meeting with Obama and several Jewish groups yesterday, writes for the Jerusalem Post blog:

Still, I continue to sense that the administration is putting too much weight on solving the conflict. We all want to see progress and I have no problem with the administration view that the US must be much more engaged to achieve progress. But I am concerned when expectations rise dramatically, as when the president says that he expects the problem to be resolved in two years.

Apparently, it is possible to put too much weight on solving the conflict.  Funny, I would think for a Jewish organization, seeing a peaceable end to the conflict (in whatever form that might take) would be the number one priority for foreign policy matters.

It's the unintentionally revealing comment of someone who almost sounds as if he'd rather see the conflict continue than see it come to an end in a form he doesn't prefer.  I often think that the reason why Republicans don't make ending abortion their number one priority, as much of their base would like them to do, is because they can milk it while it's legal.  Every new restriction they can place on abortion brings in votes and donations, which would dry up if abortion were outlawed altogether.

I'd hate to think that the same line of thinking had entered into the thoughts of the Machers.  But wouldn't an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict mean at least a few traditional Jewish organizations would lose their entire reason of existence?

You Are So Nashville If...2009

It's out today.  And I got a personal record six entries in, including one honorable mention!  Slowly but surely, I'm working my way up there.

You Are So Nashville If...

• You think the May Town Center is proof that Nashville has officially given up on Bellevue (the honorable mention)


• Your state legislature makes your Metro Council look smart and reasonable.


• You used to like Phil Bredesen.


• You see nothing wrong with carrying a gun into a bar but believe that having wine for sale in the grocery store would lead to more drunken accidents (under the "Guns and Rosés" section)


• You go to Cafe Coco in hopes of spending a quiet evening with fellow progressive types only to have a beer bottle thrown at you by John Rich (that one is marked as "Unknown" as are a lot of others, but I swear it's mine.  If I didn't type in my name on that one it was an accident).


• You think that a second downtown is exactly what a city that can barely sustain its first downtown needs (which I honestly thought was funnier than my May Town entry that got an honorable mention, but that's ok).

Reading The Sunday Tennessean

I've never delved into the whole "are newspapers dying" question before, but after reading the Sunday Tennessean yesterday and thinking about it further, especially in light of a fellow blogger's troubles with this exact problem, I can only conclude that they are.  It's a shame--I am one of those people who thoroughly enjoy reading the paper over a cup of coffee in the morning.

But it's not something I *need* to do.  Those are an extra 15 minutes in the morning I could spend sleeping.

The first thing I noticed in pulling the Sunday Tennessean from the plastic bag was how much thinner it had become.  It was about the size of what I remember the Friday paper being back in the day.  While it is a welcome development to not have to dig through so many ads to find the comics, it's also an ominous sign, of the ad revenue lost and the sections that had to be cut out as a result.

So I turn to the front page section.  And it's all news that I already knew about, either from the Internet or from the cable stations.  The biggest story was about the Steve McNair funeral, which had been on TV the day before, so I didn't need to read about it a second time.  There's not much in the way of good investigative journalism on the front page like there used to be.

Next came the "Issues" section.  I used to write letters to the Tennessean before I started blogging, but most of mine were neither hyperbolical nor nonsensical enough to get published.  The paper still comes out with a well-written main editorial every now and then, but are those still effective at shaping opinion?  Meanwhile, the Tennessean has tried to "balance" any perception of liberal bias by publishing the worst of the right-wing columnists.  I might appreciate a well-written, thought-provoking column by a conservative who could encourage readers to think about issues in different lights than the mainstream media memes.  That conservative is not Phil Valentine.  Come on, make it harder for me to refute your talking points, it's no fun if it's too easy!  Honestly, most conservative bloggers in this state could come up with at least a more coherent 1,000 word column.

Well, I still need to read "Local News," right?  Not really.  If I want to know what's going on in Metro government at any given moment, I simply turn to Mike Byrd's Twitter feed, especially during Metro Council meetings.  For other political news, in addition to business news, I've got Nashville Post, which discusses it in more depth.  I certainly don't need the latest fluff piece from Gail Kerr.  And if I want to know what's happening around town, we've got the Nashville Scene and Nashvillest.

Sports!  I still need sports news, right?  Eh, not really.  Any fast-breaking Titans, Predators, or Vanderbilt news can be quickly found respectively on Music City Miracles, On The Forecheck, and VandySports.  Any other scores I need can be checked on ESPN.  As shocked as I'm sure everyone will be to hear this, I don't particularly care about NASCAR.  And I have no great desire to read Joe Biddle's and David Climer's concern troll columns everyday.

As I mentioned before, I still want to read the comics, right?  I love "Peanuts" and "Garfield", and I swear that "Zits" is actually about my little brother and my mom.  But more and more lately, the comics feel like something I've outgrown.  I still like following them, but they're not as funny or relevant as they once were.  Even "Doonesbury" feels tired lately.

There's no need to read the rest of the "Living" section either.  Movie showtimes I can get either from the "Showtimes" app on my iPhone or from Fandango.  I can do a Sudoku on the hardest level but can't even do the Monday crossword puzzles.  And any interesting art or entertainment happenings, once again, will be in the Scene.  Honestly though, I think "Ms. Cheap" is probably the best thing the paper has going for it right now, even if that smug smirk annoys me to no end.

So it occurred to me yesterday morning over a cup of coffee that there's really no need for me to read this paper anymore, aside from sentimental reasons.

****************************

It's not just the Tennessean though.  There's not much to the City Paper anymore, although the glossy print was a nice touch.  I still pick it up in front of my office on Mondays though, if only to read Kleinheider's column (Hey SouthComm, that's the only reason I read it on Mondays!  Be sure to keep paying that man!).  I love the Scene, but again, all of their content is online (although I promise that if I get into the "You Are So Nashville If" contest I'll pick up copies for the whole family!).  This past year I subscribed to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and while it did help me to learn about what to expect in my new city, I don't know that I still need it for next year.

I don't know what the answer is.  It's not that I don't *want* to read the newspaper anymore, but that I don't *need* to.  I suspect I'm not the only one who feels that way.  If newspapers are going to survive and compete with the Internet, they need to come up with a reason why we *need* to read them.  Better investigative journalism, not just stories off the wire or fluff columns, would be a good start.

Hitler Reacts To Palin's Resignation

OK, so these YouTube parodies using Hitler's deranged rant from the movie "Downfall" are getting a little old, but this one was still great:

Of course, my favorite is still the one where Hitler finds out that Tim Tebow is returning to Florida for his senior season:

From Behind The Veil

Yesterday, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama met with the Pope.  They talked about some issues that really shouldn't be issues in the first place, but the President feels the need to find common ground with those who keep trying to shift "the center" away from where it really is.  So, same old.

But what I'm interested in is Michelle's veil:

It may seem strange to see Michelle Obama wear a full veil as is the old Catholic custom, even though the Obamas are not Catholic.  But I don't think there's anyone who would disagree with the notion that when placed into a situation such as this, the right thing to do is to show a little respect for the customs, traditions, and etiquette of the culture you're visiting, even if that's not your own culture.

So what's my point?

Just remember this picture if Michelle ever accompanies Barack to a Muslim country and the Right goes into full poutrage meltdown mode over her wearing of a hijab.  And just so we're perfectly clear when that happens, it was absolutely ok for Laura Bush to do so.

Feel Good Friday--Disco Sucks Edition

This Sunday will mark the 40-year anniversary of the "Disco Demolition Night" in Chicago, where a publicity stunt inviting punk and metal fans to come to a White Sox doubleheader at Comiskey Park in order to blow up disco records in between the games resulted in a full-on riot.  It was the culmination of a growing backlash against disco music, a once vibrant African-American and Latin music form that had been increasingly co-opted, commercialized, homogenized, and over-saturated by rich whites in the club scene (isn't that the way these things always happen?).  

Here's a song that is widely considered to exemplify the discontent with disco in 1979 prior to the riot.  You can now hear it played at every Titans game after a field goal kick or extra point, because it occurred to someone that "Rob Bironas" rhymes vaguely with "My Sharona."

Proof That There Are Racists Everywhere You Go

You read this story and it's hard to imagine this even happening in Belle Meade:

More than 60 campers from Northeast Philadelphia were turned away from a private swim club and left to wonder if their race was the reason.

I heard this lady, she was like, 'Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?' She's like, 'I'm scared they might do something to my child,'" said camper Dymire Baylor.

The Creative Steps Day Camp paid more than $1900 to The Valley Swim Club. The Valley Swim Club is a private club that advertises open membership. But the campers' first visit to the pool suggested otherwise.

"When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool," Horace Gibson, parent of a day camp child, wrote in an email. "The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately."

Surely, this had to have just been a horrible misunderstanding, right?  Right?  Perhaps the president of the swim club can clear it up:

"There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club," John Duesler, President of The Valley Swim Club said in a statement.

Wow.  Just wow.

Unless the reporter who did this story completely messed that up, I'd like to know if this guy had a white hood on his head when he said it.  Come on, has no one learned anything from the Tennessee GOP?  If you're going to use racist code words or dog-whistles, you have to be a little more subtle about it.

It's difficult to believe, but you always need a reminder, that this sort of thing still happens in America.

The Best News, Ever

"DARIA" IS COMING OUT ON DVD!!!!

"DARIA" IS COMING OUT ON DVD!!!!

"DARIA" IS COMING OUT ON DVD!!!!

"DARIA" IS COMING OUT ON DVD!!!!

"DARIA" IS COMING OUT ON DVD!!!!

Adam Kleinheider Writes Jesus Christ's Obituary

(Inspired by this post and the prior Michael Jackson hate-a-thon)

I've been perplexed by the outpouring of emotion coming from the Israelite blogosphere and the Disciples following the death and subsequent rise from the dead of Jesus H. Christ.

I suppose he did good things with his life.  He did a lot of good work for the poor and the least among us.  He turned water into wine, which is a useful skill.  His life was obviously inspirational to many.  And of course, no one deserves to die in such a brutal manner as being whipped and then crucified.

But let's not get carried away with the Messiah-worship here.

The way he lived his life was bound to attract suspicion from the Romans and from the High Priests (who, whether you like it or not, are respectively the legitimate government and legitimate religious leaders in Judea).  How else did we expect them to react when he stormed into the holy Temple and caused so much vandalism?  That seems hypocritical for the so-called "Prince of Peace."  Besides, his statement that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven is clear evidence that he was attempting to instigate a Communist plot against the government.

Furthermore, why did he spend so much time around prostitutes and lepers?  What legitimate purpose could he have possibly had?  There are so many other people who need saving, why just focus on them?  Of course, we don't know what exactly the nature was of Jesus' relationship with Mary Magdalene, but why was he so quick to run to her when he rose from the dead?  It seems so suspicious for someone who had committed himself to a life of chastity and poverty to be so attached to a woman like that.

I'm not suggesting that Jesus Christ deserved to be crucified.  But as everyone mourns, I cannot forget how many inconsistencies there were in his own life.  If he had not been causing so much trouble and dissension among the Israelites, he would not be dead today.  As you reap, so shall you sow.

Would You Like Ammonia With That?

Last night, I went to see "Food, Inc." at the Belcourt.  While I'm not one to write movie reviews, this movie brought up some important issues that need discussing.

First, let me say that this movie was enough for the girl who loves a filet mignon and can make a mean teriyaki-glazed pork chop (yes, I'm Jewish.  Why do you ask?) to briefly consider going vegan.  My parents had gone out for Chinese right before I left for the movie and had brought me back some chicken skewers for my dinner after the movie, and I honestly had a hard time eating them.  I'm not going vegetarian--ultimately, I like meat too much for that--but the movie was thoroughly disturbing in every way possible.

In a nutshell, we're led to believe in this country that the food we buy in the grocery store comes "fresh off the farm" as it was back in the olden days.  But in reality, it's all coming from a few large corporations, who want to produce food as cheaply as possible.  And all too often, "cheap" does not coincide with humane, nutritious, or even remotely safe.

The corporations ensure that the farmers who supply them remain in debt and wholly dependent on them for a living.  They bring in undocumented immigrants to work in the meat processing plants and treat them horribly, but they're not the ones who get in trouble whenever there's an immigration raid.  They keep cows and chickens penned up and living in their own filth.  If you see the conditions, it's really no wonder why we've had so many high profile e. coli outbreaks over the last few years, and it's amazing that there haven't been more.

The most telling moment for me was when they showed some of the "high-tech" solutions for improving on food safety.  After one e. coli outbreak, one of the largest beef processing companies came up with a particularly creative fix.  Rather than making systemic changes (like, I don't know, not keeping cows in conditions that pretty much guarantee the spread of disease), they invented an ammonia-based filler to put into ground beef to kill the germs.  Yes, your burger has ammonia in it.

And I've only described a fraction of the problems described in the movie.  So what can we do when faced with such a dangerous food supply?

A large chunk of this problem cannot be solved by the government.  The government has utterly failed here.  Part of that was a deliberate failure, caused by a constant eroding of the FDA's authority over the last few decades and putting agribusiness executives in charge of the departments that regulate their own industries.  But even if not for that, agribusiness still has both Democrats and Republicans wholly in their pockets.

So it's going to take a consumer revolution.  Corporations need to be shown that it is in their economic interest to invest in and sell organic and sustainable food.  They interviewed Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stonyfield Farms, the third highest-selling yogurt brand in the U.S. and the biggest organic one.  His brand did so well that it was eventually snapped up by Dannon and is now sold in Wal-Mart.  He pointed out that for every yogurt sold, it's a profit that allows organic methods to grow and prosper.  This ultimately has to start with consumers deciding that we want beef from grass-fed cows, not beef filled with ammonia from cows that spent their lives ankle-deep in their own manure.

But that raises another problem--how can you possibly convince consumers to buy organic (or even non-organic) fruits and vegetables and meat when it is infinitely cheaper to buy chips, candy, and fast food, especially in this economy?  No matter how concerned you may be about your health down the line and what that may cost, it's entirely understandable that you'd be most concerned about stretching a dollar now.  And that's something that cannot be fixed without a complete overhaul of our agricultural policy in this country.  We heavily subsidize large corn growers, which goes into producing junk food and fast food, keeping it cheap.  That's ultimately the biggest problem, but I don't see Democrats or Republicans as having the political will to do anything about it.  That's why the first changes will have to come from consumers.

My biggest worry about this film, though, is that it's only going to be seen by those who don't need convincing.  It's a riveting hour and a half, and other than Harry Potter and Bruno, what other good movies are coming out anytime soon?  Go see it!

Hating On The McNair Haters

To those of you saying that Steve McNair wouldn't be dead if he hadn't been cheating on his wife, or that he somehow had it coming because of what he was doing, all I have to say is:

Screw.  You.

First, we don't know know what the situation was.  It does look suspicious, but we don't know what the full story was behind McNair and his girlfriend.  McNair may very well have been separated or in the process of divorcing, we don't know that for sure.  And even if he was cheating, infidelity does not warrant murder, period.  No matter what problems he had in his personal life, none of it justifies the way he died.  And if you're going to hate on him for that, then just know you're throwing stones from a glass house.

I'm with Newscoma, why does it even matter to any of us?

As for "he wouldn't be dead if he hadn't been there," no, he wouldn't have died at that moment.  But who's to say that something wouldn't have happened to him the next day?  That he wouldn't have gotten shot some other way, that he wouldn't have been in a car accident?  

People die in senseless ways everyday.  But for the grace of God go any of us.

I'm going to remember Steve McNair not as a saint, but as someone who gave his all to his team and to his city.

Here's an excerpt from Jeff Fisher's moving statement on McNair:

The Steve McNair that I knew would want me to say I am sorry. I am not perfect. We all make decisions sometimes that are not in the best interest. Please forgive me. The Steve McNair that I knew would want me to say, Celebrate my life. For what I did on the field and what I did in the community, the kind of teammate that I was – that’s what Steve that I knew would want me to say.

I’ve known him for 15 years, and I endured wins and losses, joy and laughter, sadness. I watched one of the greatest competitors of all time on the field do whatever it took to stay on the field. I watched one of the best teammates you could have be a teammate to everybody, to extend a hand to everybody.

The Steve McNair that I knew was a great person. He helped put this organization on the map here in Tennessee, put is in our first Super Bowl. I will miss him, as you all will miss him. And I asked you to honor what he did on the field and in the community and he was a tremendous legacy. And that is his legacy and I am proud to have been a part of that.

R.I.P. Steve McNair

Damn, I'm ready for everyone to stop dying already!  First Farrah, then MJ, and now Air McNair?

When the Titans came here in 1997, all the focus was on Eddie George.  But McNair came into his own over the next few years and consistently got better as a player even after Eddie hit his peak.  He helped give the team an identity here when they were still considered "the ex-Oilers."  There wasn't one play I remember him for, because there were just too many.  Even when he wasn't playing at his best, when he was injured or not throwing as many passes, he still carried the whole team on his back.  He may not have been like Peyton Manning or Tom Brady in that he had a ton of long, graceful passes, but he always got the job done.  And even when he went to Baltimore in 2005, I think everyone still considered him to be "ours."

And that's to say nothing of his community involvement.  He was trying so hard to revive the neighborhood in which he was shot.

I went and found my old #9 jersey in the back of my closest after hearing the news.  I'm going to wear it downtown to the fireworks tonight and I hope everyone who has a #9 jersey will do the same.

By the way, Bud Adams, Mike Reinfeldt, Jeff Fisher--Retire the #9 jersey.  It's time.  The reason why no one on the roster wears #9 or #27 right now is presumably because y'all were planning on retiring the numbers at some point anyway.  I remember two years ago when Michael Griffin wanted to wear #27 when coming onto the team, since that had been his number in college, but was refused.  But it's time now to retire #9.  The first Titans home game is on September 20, do it then to kick off the season.

Feel Good Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!  I'm excited for the Hot Chicken Festival in East Nashville later on today (which I've never been to) and the fireworks downtown later on.

In the meantime, here's Martina singing about some real independence:

Bruce Pearl To Bring Peace To The Middle East

More or less.  The Israelis and Palestinians will both be too distracted by his bright orange jacket to fight while he's over there.  I'm guessing he comes back with at least one commitment:

Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl and the Maccabi USA Open Men's team he coaches leave Philadelphia for Tel Aviv, Israel, today.

"I've got the red, white and blue on and I'm representing my country,'' an excited Pearl said in a phone interview from Philadelphia, where he has been drilling the USA team the past week in preparation for the Maccabiah Games. "We're playing in the 18-to-32 age division, and that's a tall task. We're basically playing against pros.''

The Maccabiah Games are basically the "Jewish Olympics," and are sanctioned as Regional Games by the IOC.  So go Coach Pearl, represent the U.S. and make us proud!

Lane Kiffin would have come along to help, except that he's being accused of an NCAA secondary violation for trying to contact Petah Tikvah High School's star quarterback!

But Where's Her Flag Lapel?

ACK posted a link to a photo gallery of Sarah Palin posing for Runner's World magazine in her running clothes.  Of course it's a cheap stunt to distract everyone from the fact that she's clueless by reminding everyone that she's attractive (if you're into that sort of thing, of course).  But that's not what struck me as odd about the pictures.

Look at Picture #7, pay close attention to the flag, then come back over here.

Is the American flag supposed to be draped over a chair or bunched up like that?  According to the U.S. flag code:

The flag should not be used as "wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery", or for covering a speaker's desk, draping a platform, or for any decoration in general (exception for coffins). Bunting of blue, white and red stripes is available for these purposes. The blue stripe of the bunting should be on the top.

The flag should never be drawn back or bunched up in any way.

Now, for those of you saying this is stupid, it's a nonissue, it's much ado about nothing--of course.  As was Obama's lack of a flag lapel pin, an issue that the Republicans were so fixated on for so long.  Do the same standards apply to Palin?  I'll betcha not!

The Fake Journalist Provides Real News

Missed in the hubbub over Michael Jackson and el affaire Sanford was this very compelling story of the plight of North Korean refugees on last night's Daily Show:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mike Kim
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

A Great Day For The Predators

My younger brother says that my blog is boring and I ought to talk more about sports, since sports are more interesting than politics.  I don't entirely disagree, on the latter part anyway.  So...

On the first day of free agency, the Predators re-signed two of their biggest unrestricted free agents, Steve Sullivan and Joel Ward.  Steve Sullivan got a huge new deal, $7.5 million for two years.  It sounds like a lot, but reportedly it's less than what he wanted.  He let everyone know by proclaiming on Twitter that his house was not for sale.  Some will inevitably complain that we're overpaying, but there's no doubt that Sully is the heart and soul of the team.  No one expected much from him when he returned to the ice in February after missing two years of play from a back injury, but he immediately contributed an offense and lit a fire under the team.  He's got nine lives, and he still wants to prove everyone wrong.  And I have no doubt he will.

Re-signing Joel Ward was just as critical.  He was solid on offense although he hadn't had much playing time before this past season, and I believe next season is going to be a breakout year for him.

The Preds lost two players to the free agency--Greg Zanon to the Wild and Vernon Fiddler to the Coyotes.  Losing Fiddler is certainly going to hurt a little.  I'd like for the Preds to sign one more forward, especially since they went very D-heavy in the draft.  Next year's free agency is going to be incredibly painful compared to this one, when Jason Arnott and Martin Erat's contracts are up (my take:  let Erat go, move heaven and earth to re-sign Arnott).

But in the meantime, the Predators are back and WILL be in the playoffs next year!