Commentary
Commentary: Tennesseans need to pull together to blunt COVID’s toll
Recently, the FDA gave full approval of the Pfizer Vaccine, with approval of the Moderna and J & J vaccine to follow. This removes the Pfizer Vaccine from the “emergency use” classification to full approval classification as all other FDA approved medications. Ask any emergency room or ICU physician about the effects of COVID-19 and […]
Editor’s Column: In Williamson County’s underbelly, everything old is new again
Recently, a recording of a Williamson County School Board meeting went viral after anti-mask parents mobbed physicians after the meeting, screaming at the doctors and threatening them. National news outlets, including CNN, The Washington Post, the New York Times and Esquire, covered the disgraceful incident and many locals shared their feelings of distress on social […]
Stockard on the Stump: Republican lawmakers could look outside mask mandates
Even before Metro Nashville Public Schools and Shelby County Schools balked at Gov. Bill Lee’s opt-out order on mask mandates, legislators were considering curtailing vaccine “passports” and possibly even contact tracing in schools. And with the state at loggerheads with both districts, things could get tough. House Speaker Cameron Sexton says everything is being considered […]
Commentary: I invited Gov. Lee to visit my hospital. He didn’t come.
Hospitals in Tennessee are filling up to capacity. We are seeing the effects of the erosion of our nursing workforce combined with the consequences of letting the Delta variant run rampant in our largely unvaccinated state. Last weekend, I was working in a rural hospital, treating sick COVID-19 patients that needed to be in the […]
Commentary: Leaders lead.
Enough already. It is time for Nashville to step up and follow New York’s and San Francisco’s lead, and put in place a vaccination/testing mandate for high-contact indoor establishments and large-venue events. That opening paragraph might strike some as delusional: sure, we’re the blue island in a (feels like literally) bloody red sea, but we’re […]
Stockard on the Stump: Governor defends no-bid contracts during state of emergency
Gov. Bill Lee is standing behind his administration’s decision to sign hundreds of sole-source contracts over the last year and a half even though many of them didn’t have anything to do with the COVID-19 state of emergency. The governor’s Unified Command Group, made up of the Department of Health, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and […]
Editor’s Column: COVID comes home
My husband is a bull of a man. He’s rarely sick and I’ve never known anything to scare him. He joined the Chicago Carpenters Union at 18, swinging a hammer for years before working his way up to superintendent. When a nail went through his work boot into his foot, he pulled it out and […]
Commentary: Our children will bear the brunt of state’s mishandling of COVID-19 crisis
As a teacher, I can pinpoint distinct feelings associated with each part of the year. The obvious excitement of the end of the school year in late spring with students wrapping up exams and desks being pushed to the perimeter of the room for the annual waxing of the floor over the summer. The tired, […]
Editor’s Column: Welcome to Absurdistan!
Christopher Buckley is known for writing novels of absurdist political fiction, with titles like “No Way to Treat a First Lady,” in which the First Lady is accused of killing her husband, the president, and “Thank You for Smoking,” which was turned into a 2005 film. Buckley’s 2007 book “Boomsday,” revolves around a public relations […]
Stockard on the Stump: Sen. Robinson finds support in Memphis billboards
Dogged by federal fraud and theft charges, state Sen. Katrina Robinson is finding friends in unlikely places – Memphis billboards. The roadway signs contain a picture of the Memphis Democrat with the words, “I love me some Katrina Robinson www.lovekatrina.com,” where a Gofundme site is set up to raise money for her legal fight. Go […]
Commentary: Tennessee plunges deeper into the opioid crisis
Alarming statistics indicate a sharp uptick in opioid-related deaths in 2020. About 90,000 people across the country died from drug overdoses in 2020, up nearly 30% from 2019, when overdose deaths were the leading cause of death in Americans under 50. Tennessee is far above the national average, with overdose deaths jumping 45% in 2020. […]
Stockard on the Stump: Senator predicts Delta variant will spur vaccinations
State Sen. Ferrell Haile, a pharmacist by trade, is not on the fence when it comes to vaccines. He was writing an opinion piece on the importance of vaccinations when other senators found out and wanted to join the push. Seventeen Republican senators signed the letter and sent it out this week hoping to bolster […]