Liberal Tennessee Speaks

This past week was dominated by the Democratic National Convention and the historic nomination of Barack Obama. The morning after Obama accepted the nomination, John McCain announced his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate. Because of the wide variety of headline-grabbing topics, this week’s roundup of liberal Tennessee bloggers is divided into three [...]

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Will the Levees Hold in NOLA?

That’s the big question as Gustav heads towards the same area Katrina touched down, NOLA, 3 years ago.
Today, Tropical Storm Gustav “threatens to become a hurricane and poses the biggest threat to New Orleans since the killer 2005 storm,” the AP reports. In an interview with CNN yesterday, Mayor Ray Nagin expressed concern about the [...]

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McLame Doesn’t Get it: Women Will Not be Insulted

I was away from the computer most of yesterday, and by the time I did get to it, I did not have the energy to write. So, this morning I am playing catch-up on the Palin pick.
First, let me tell you, you wouldn’t believe the vehemence used by some conservatives on this mornings Washington Journal [...]

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Last Executed Witch Exonerated

This is not news of the weird, but news of enlightening the Enlightenment.
A woman beheaded after she was accused of causing a girl to spit pins and convulse was exonerated Wednesday, more than 200 years after she became the last person executed as a witch in Europe.
So, 226 years and a life too late, [...]

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After the O’s Speech: Will Campaign Be a Personality Contest?

Life interfered last night, and I was not near a TV to watch the speech. I’m sure that it was a rousing speech, Obama does excel at speechcraft. So, I’m going through it, little by little here.
I’m curious, though, by what others thought — after reading the local papers “strong opinions” it seems that the [...]

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Phil Bredesen to Obama: Get More Specific

Phil Bredesen goes to Washington and makes a fairly good point.
Barack Obama hasn’t won over working-class swing voters because he hasn’t moved beyond his soaring rhetoric to provide sufficient detail on economic proposals, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said Wednesday.
Obama’s Democratic presidential campaign has put too much emphasis on his abstract message of hope and change, [...]

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Rove Still Calling the Shots in the GOP

But, we knew that Rove would be involved in the GOP campaign, and that will probably continue on into a McSame presidency should he win.
Republican strategist Karl Rove called Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) late last week and urged him to contact Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to withdraw his name from vice presidential consideration, according [...]

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Should Teachers Have Access to Juvenile Records of Students?

Last week one student shot another student at Central High School in Knoxville, TN. Now, teachers and school administrators are saying they want access to a student’s juvenile record, should a student have one. The supposed reasoning is:
Being aware of a student’s court proceedings could help educators “be able to approach that child in a [...]

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Quotes of Day: Hillary Clinton

I’m reposting Egalia’s quote of the day, from yesterday, just because I think it needs to be reiterated.
In her 2003 memoir, “Living History,” this is how Clinton described her reaction to her earliest political loss, during her senior year in high school: “I ran for student government president against several boys and lost, which did [...]

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Income, Poverty and Health Insurance: Census Report Shows Us the Boom

Update below
CNN is touting the supposed economic upturn, based on the census report released yesterday.
Participation in government health insurance programs — particularly those aimed at children — increased from 2006 to 2007, leading to a decrease in the number of Americans lacking insurance, the U.S. Census Bureau said Tuesday.
Let’s note that if participation in government [...]

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