Commentary
Knox County’s Mayor Grapples with Nonsense, and Loses
Knox County’s mayor is Glenn Jacobs. It’s his first elective office. He is better known as the wrestler Kane, and before his election the only clues to his political inclinations were his anti-government online rants. Unfortunately, those inclinations are causing trouble during a pandemic that requires not only faith in government abilities to take action, […]
Stand up for the media
First things first: Thank you for your support. The Tennessee Lookout is wrapping up our first full week of coverage and the support we’ve received from across the state has been gratifying. We’ve received social media follows and daily newsletter subscriptions. Readers from all areas of Tennessee have reached out with ideas for stories. But, […]
Is Voting a Right or a Risk?
On Tuesday, Gov. Bill Lee said he will not allow expanded mail-in ballots. “What we want to do in this state is remove a reason to have fear about going to the polling booths,” Lee said. While planning to reopen the state is a complex undertaking, removing any fear of in-person polling is simple: Expanding […]
Commentary: Pandemic reveals continued importance of manufacturing
Since its beginnings, the American economy has gone through countless changes. We’ve seen both times of prosperity and times of hardship. We’ve seen several recessions and subsequent recoveries. One of the biggest changes that we’ve seen, especially in recent years, is the shift from a manufacturing economy to a mostly service-based economy. Make no mistake, […]
Commentary: Let it Bleed
Since the 2016 campaign, MAGAheads at Trump rallies have been regaled with the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” as Dear Leader’s post-bloviation anthem (over the Stones’ objections, but that’s how it goes). Whatever the song’s merits as a musical coda for the assembled agitations of red-capped masses, it turns out to […]
Commentary: Pandemic brings mental health toll, PTSD
There’s a statistic that mental health advocates frequently use when discussing the prevalence of mental illness: At least one in five individuals will experience a mental health challenge in any given year. That challenge could range from situational anxiety and depression to more debilitating conditions such as schizophrenia. Despite the large segment of the population […]
Opinion: Peg Leg Porker owner needs to simmer down
Let’s get the obvious points out of the way first: The timing of Mayor John Cooper’s proposed 32% property tax increase is terrible. We’re at the start of a nationwide economic collapse caused by a once-in-a-century global pandemic, and parts of Nashville are still in tatters from March’s devastating tornadoes. A tax hike, even if […]
Welcome to the Tennessee Lookout
Hello, Tennessee. In a quote often misattributed to German statesman Otto von Bismarck, the American poet and politician John Godfrey Saxe said in 1869, “Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made.” That’s a fancy way of saying if we understand the way government works, we might […]
In the unforgiving light of the pandemic
As an implacable force of nature that is utterly immune to political spin and ideological cant, the coronavirus is shining a harsh light on Tennessee. The pandemic highlights our collective vulnerabilities and, especially, the folly of a politics guided by ideology rather than facts. With the stern authority of reality and the deadly seriousness of […]