Commentary
Commentary: In Williamson County, a public education PAC takes shape
In late 2014, a good friend texted me with something along the lines of, “Are you watching this School Board nonsense?” I think my response was, “Who watches the School Board?” My oldest daughter was in 1st grade, and I was about as clueless as they come about anything beyond her immediate classrooms when it […]
Commentary: The vax of life
Bringing her vaxo-enthusiasm tour of the south to a Nashville distillery last month, Jill Biden told the assembled dozens that the COVID-19 vaccine “offers almost perfect protection,” plus “it’s just absolutely free so why not?” It’s a fair question, Madame First Spousal Unit, if you assume your intended audience of the unvaccinated can rationally evaluate […]
Commentary: Recapture the flag
When I was a kid, the American flag was a big deal in our house. We had a heavy cloth flag that, unlike flags now, wasn’t just a design printed on flimsy fabric. The red and white stripes were sewn together and the stars individually stitched onto the blue background. When it wasn’t hanging from […]
Nashville Power Poll: Power poll respondents strongly oppose tax reduction referendums
Nashville Power Poll members are overwhelmingly opposed to rolling back the city’s recent property tax hike. They also oppose amending the Metro Charter in a host of other areas, such as requiring elections if taxes are increased by more than 3%. Requiring such referendums would significantly weaken the mayor, and Metro Council, and turn us […]
Editor’s column: America has too little education on race, not too much
When I got out of college in 1987, I realized I was an educated idiot. For the past five years, I’d crammed my head with a lot of facts and knew about the politics of Latin America and the Soviet Union, political theory going back to Plato and Aristotle, the plays of Shakespeare and bawdy […]
Commentary: Nashville must prioritize protections for historically significant properties
The recent threat to Nashville’s iconic Exit/In may feel like Yogi Berra said, “déjà vu all over again.” Except, it is different. This one was both foreseen and preventable. Time and time again in Nashville, we have seen the push for height and density in our urban core approved at the expense of irreplaceable iconic […]
Commentary: Williamson County group chooses equal and fair treatment for all children
I am a storm-tossed and weary Williamson County Schools parent. I’m weary because I’m a mother of four who would rather be making summer plans with her kids instead of writing this op-ed. I’m weary after a year of navigating a pandemic with four children in four schools, almost losing my husband to COVID-19, and […]
Editor’s column: Refute the big lie
Almost five months ago, Joe Biden was inaugurated President of the United States, an event that came after months of lawsuits filed by former President Donald Trump’s campaign team, outright lies and a disgraceful and violent insurrection against Congress the very day that body was certifying the results of the federal election. That was bad […]
Commentary: Fund our schools, not the police
Mayor John Cooper’s budget for fiscal year 2022 includes some important measures to mitigate damage from the pandemic, including increased funding for affordable housing, transit, and emergency management. Mayor Cooper’s budget also brings our tax rate down, to the third-lowest level in Metro Nashville’s history. We are grateful for specific parts of this budget. As members […]
Commentary: Migrant children – what do we do with them?
I have just been appointed to a special joint committee of the Tennessee legislature by Lt. Gov. Randy McNally to study the issues surrounding migrant children being brought into Tennessee. I requested this assignment because the facility in Highland Park in question is in my district. I have known about this for several months and […]
Commentary: In comparing COVID-19 vaccines to the Holocaust, the idiots have outdone themselves
It should go without saying that one should never trivialize the Holocaust. The Holocaust, after all, was the systemic —and damn near successful—effort to wipe out the Jewish people by Adolph Hitler’s Nazi government. Six million Jews were marginalized, herded into ghettos, tortured and murdered—some by firing squads until Nazi officers realized that was too […]
Editor’s column: Lee is either ignorant or dishonest in migrant children situation
In this week’s manufactured crisis, I give you the situation of unaccompanied migrant children being transported to shelter in Chattanooga. To hear Tennessee’s Republican leaders, the kids were snuck into our fair state in the dead of night, with no consultation with local leaders and against explicit warnings to the Biden administration that we don’t […]