Commentary

Commentary: Workers must vote for candidates who will strengthen rights

BY: - September 7, 2020

It goes without saying: this Labor Day is unlike any other that we’ve experienced in our lifetimes.  Even though parades are postponed and large gatherings are not realistic options this year, the importance of this day cannot be emphasized enough.  For nearly 130 years, Americans have celebrated the many victories and contributions that working families […]

Metro Police at a recent protest. (Photo: Alex Kent)

Commentary: Co-opting: the secret keepers

BY: - September 4, 2020

It is no secret that during the reign of Adolph Hitler, there were Jews who enabled and fully cooperated with the Nazis to exterminate fellow Jews, just like there were Black Africans who helped capture Black Africans during the horrors of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade.  It has always been the way that those who […]

Graph from Johns Hopkins University.

Commentary: Immoral governance

BY: - September 2, 2020

Every ordinance the Metro Council passes, and the Mayor signs, ends with the declaration “the welfare of Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County requiring it.” Welfare is such a purposeful word. It is not the same as health or safety. Welfare describes a more complete condition of well-being and on it rests not just […]

Brandon Ward (blue shirt) argues with Sully Barrett in mask. (Photo John Partipilo)

Commentary: Vigilantes not wanted

BY: - September 1, 2020

This summer of political upheaval, protests and occasional violence has given Americans many troubling images –– the most recent of which was video of 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse freely walking the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin with an assault rifle last week both before and after shooting three people and killing two of them.  Rittenhouse was apparently […]

A U.S. Postal Worker monitors packages on a conveyor belt at a processing and distribution center on April 29, 2020, in Oakland, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

To Hell With Absentee Ballots

BY: - August 31, 2020

With the bluster and propaganda of the political conventions in the rear view mirror we can turn our attention back to the things that really matter in life: fretting over operational details of the U.S. Postal Service, spiffing up our yards so they look nice when MS-13 members show up for the open house next […]

Tennessee State Capitol (Getty Images)

Commentary: Time for the General Assembly to act on powers equal to governor

BY: - August 24, 2020

So, it appears revolutionary fervor is sweeping the Tennessee General Assembly, and there is a move afoot to reign in the tyrannical Gov. Bill Lee. Last week an ad-hoc committee of the legislature held its first hearing to determine if the governor is abusing his powers with the executive orders he has issued to respond […]

SEC shootout: Eric Gray of the Tennessee Volunteers runs with the ball to score a touchdown against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Neyland Stadium on November 30, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images)

Bookman: Virus toll ranks high in SEC country as teams huddle up

BY: - August 21, 2020

As you probably expected, the Southeastern Conference dominates the preseason national rankings. As of Tuesday, Florida could claim the title of No. 1 in the country, reporting the highest weekly per-capita death rate from coronavirus nationwide. Go Gators! Texas, home of the Texas A&M Aggies, had the second-highest per capita death rate, followed by Mississippi […]

A Tennessee state trooper chases a protester holding a sign on 5th Avenue, N. in Nashville, across from the Cordell Hull Office Building. (Photo: Ray Di Pietro)

Commentary: The spirit of Bull Conner is alive and well in Tennessee

BY: - August 18, 2020

If you wonder why many Americans, white as well as Black, distrust law enforcement, you need only visit the Tennessee State Capitol and the Cordell Hull Office Building to get an answer. Over the last couple of years, Tennessee Highway Patrol officers tasked with keeping law and order for the General Assembly, have devolved to […]

STONE MOUNTAIN, GA - JUNE 16: Organizer Quintavious Rhodes addresses Black Lives Matter protesters during a march in Stone Mountain Park to the Confederate carving etched into the stone side of the mountain on June 16, 2020 in Stone Mountain, Georgia. The march is to protest confederate monuments and recent police shootings. Stone Mountain Park features a Confederate Memorial carving depicting Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, President Jefferson Davis. (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

Prague Points the Way to Museum of Racist Rebellion

BY: - August 17, 2020

Last summer I was in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, and visited the Museum of Communism.  The museum had compelling exhibits on secret police interrogation, censorship, show trials, state propaganda, political labor camps, and the valiant but crushed 1968 uprising known as Prague Spring.  The statues of Lenin and Stalin are by the toilets.  […]

(Photo: Getty Images)

Commentary: The case for property taxes

BY: - August 13, 2020

Property taxes are generally levied by cities, counties and other local-level administrative bodies. They are the primary source of revenue at these levels of government. These taxes pay the lion’s share of the expenses for basic services provided by a city or county: Local road maintenance/signs/lights Utilities infrastructure (water/wastewater/trash are typically city-administered; electrical and telecom […]

California voters at a protest against Medicaid cuts. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Show Me The Democracy

BY: - August 10, 2020

What do you do when your elected representatives ignore the people’s wants and decline to do the people’s business? I’m talking here about simple and direct refusal to enact measures that clear majorities of the voting public want. The good people of the great state of Missouri showed me an excellent answer just last week: […]

Bachelorettes in Nashville's downtown Broadway entertainment district. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Commentary: Actions of Broadway bars affect music industry

BY: and - August 5, 2020

(Editor’s note: On July 20th Chelsea Crowell started a petition calling for the closure of bars on Nashville’s Lower Broadway strip in response to a viral video taken by Leslee Mitchell of the maskless groups in close quarters lining the streets of downtown.) The response to the recent petition to shut down Lower Broadway has […]