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The drama never ends...

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Unless some great improvement has taken place in the last few years then this is a bit of an exaggeration:

(from here)

Since 1987, Boomsday has been a successful one-day free event that has brought hundreds of thousands of people to Knoxville’s Volunteer Landing and Neyland Drive for what has become known as the nation’s largest Labor Day weekend fireworks show.

Emphasis mine.

I haven't been in years to either one, but Cincinnati's Labor Day fireworks display makes Boomsday look quaint by comparison.

Isn't this great! Yet another story about how wonderful and open-minded we are here in Tennessee.

Since nobody else had posted about it yet...

Congratulation to Rikki Hall for his new column, Sideways Glance, in the Metro Pulse. His first offering is available now.

(link...)

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

I am pleased to be releasing campaign financial information here on my website and ahead of the deadline so voters can have as much information as possible. I encourage other candidates to do the same...

Read the rest and see the full list of contributors here.

This past weekend Amy Broyles, with the help of some friends and family, put together some TV ads. You can view them on her website (www.electamy.com) and vote for your favorite. Who knows, the winning commercial might even wind up on TV!

Does this man have no ethics?

What: DFA Training Academy
Date: Saturday, April 28 & Sunday, April 29
Time: 9:00am - 6:00pm
Location: Karns Middle School
Cost: $60 in advance, $30 for students
Notes: Lunch will be provided both days.

Democracy for America is bringing their Training Academy to Knoxville. For those that don't know what DFA is:

Democracy for America finds, trains, and supports fiscally responsible and socially progressive candidates at all levels of office across the country. We harness the power of our enormous grassroots network to get these candidates elected and to work towards positive change from the bottom up. We provide organizational support and training opportunities to the hundreds of local DFA groups nationwide.

For anyone that's always wanted to get involved but didn't know how. For anyone that complains to their friends, complains on their blog, yells at their TV, wants to run that SUV with the W sticker off the road or is just plain fed up, this is your chance to learn how to put your energy to productive use.

For more information on their program and trainers, click here. To RSVP, click here.

Please spread the word. Thanks!

For those that missed it, Mark Harmon was on Tennessee This Week yesterday.

Streaming video available here.

Mark and Gene discussed the upcoming, and much anticipated, ruling from the TN Supreme Court on our Charter and term-limits. They also discussed zoning and sprawl and Mark's appointment to the cable committee.

For the rest of the show Mark was joined by Kelvin Moxley and the topic changed to more national subjects.

My wife answered the phone just now and it was a "poll".  They asked these questions before she hung up:

Do you intend to vote for Bob Corker?  "No"

Do you intend to vote for Harold Ford?  "Yes"

Do you want your taxes raised?   "What?"

Do you think that terrorists should have the same rights as the rest of us?  "That makes no sense. What are you talking about?"

Paraphrasing because I didn't answer the phone.  Wish I had.

- Two Tim Hutchinson supporters (and probably both deputies) walking into two different polling locations with "re-elect Timmy" shirts on.  One where the poll workers make him turn it inside out and one where he's not challenged at all.

- One candidate, Mark Harmon, being screamed at by the wife of his opponent who apparently didn't appreciate Mark pointing out to a voter that David sued to stay in office.

- Hundreds of voters that seemed completely disinterested in the commission race but yet voted for Mark.

- One Billy Tindell supporter handing out David Collins flyers.

- One Billy Tindell supporter putting up Andy Jackson's yard signs and handing out David Collins' flyers.

- Two David Collins supporters handing out Billy Tindell's flyers.

- Me handing out flyers for Mark, Amy Broyles and Jim Andrews.

- One David Collins supporter that assured me that David was going to win and Mark stood no chance.

- One Hart Intercivic employee being delivered by Sheriff's deputy to deal with a misconfigured eSlate machine.

- One 20 foot long paper tape of the election results

- Four looks of shock when we realize that Randy Tyree, Ken Irvine and Jim Andrews all won at our polling place.

- Two looks of disappointment when Mark Harmon beat David Collins 127-85.

My good friend Amy may have lost but Mark won.  Thomas Deakins also won.  +2 for the good guys on August 3.

I just received a letter that outlines the real record of Mike Moyers with regard to term-limits.

Knox County Law Director and would-be Chancellor Mike Moyers has recently complained to the News-Sentinel that a flier prepared by supporters of term limits and bearing his name as a "term-limited politician" is "outright misleading."  Moyers understands perfectly well why his name is included on that list.

Voters will certainly recall that term limits were extended to all other county offices except judges by more than 70% of voters in 1994.  What voters may not recall is that Moyers personally drafted a charter amendment to remove those term limits from his office of law director when he penned an indefensible slate of proposals for the county’s Charter Review Committee in 2004. 

Two amendments Moyers proposed then, that commission and school board candidates should be allowed to run for these county offices on the day they move into Knox County, were debated in the media.  When voters learned that the two proposals were completely without precedent in federal, state, and other county governments and were instead Moyers’ attempt to impact a county school board race, they defeated both amendments.  Unfortunately, a third one of Moyers’ proposed amendments, that term limits should be lifted from his office of law director, received no such public airing and was enacted absent any debate.

How did Moyers affect this seeming reversal in voter support for term limits?  He simply garbled the ballot text to propose that "the Knox County Law Director shall be subject to the term limits provisions of this Charter to the same extent as any Constitutional officer of Knox County Government."

As Moyers anticipated, a majority of voters did not realize that the extent to which Knox County’s constitutional officers were subject to term limits is that they were not subject to them at all, at least per the state Attorney General opinion then standing.  As Moyers also anticipated, a majority of voters did not realize that the Knox County Law Director’s office is not a constitutional office, either.  Had they realized it is not, voters would have questioned why we would want to treat it as such by exempting it from term limits. 

In light of Knox County voters’ clear support for term limits in their vote of 1994, there is only one reasonable explanation for 70% of voters then lifting term limits from just the law director’s office in August of 2004.  These voters were intentionally duped by Moyers, who did, indeed, act in the spirit of a "term-limited politician."    

Now, in the matter of Mike Moyers’ bid for Division III Chancellor, chagrined voters will want to cast their votes for his more transparent opponent, Jim Andrews.
 
Tamara G. Shepherd
Knoxville

Emphasis mine.

It's also worth noting that Mike Moyers is misleading the voters in another way.  He's claiming that he "led the defense of the charter while his opponent sat on the sideline".  Two things occur to me: a) Weaver ruled against the defense so if you're not lying, then how exactly is this something positive and b) Where's the evidence that he did anything to help the defense?  What evidence did he enter for the defense?  Does anyone here have a copy of the court record?

From here via Facing South: 

We should never forget the 33 members of the Hall of Shame: Jo Bonner and Terry Everett of Alabama; Trent Franks and John B. Shadegg of Arizona; Wally Herger, John T. Doolittle, Edward R. Royce, Gary G. Miller, Dana Rohrabacher, John Campbell, all of California; Joel Hefly and Thomas G. Tancredo of Colorado; Tom Price, John Linder, Lynn A. Westmoreland, Charlie Norwood, Nathan Deal and Phil Gingrey, all of Georgia; Dan Burton of Indiana, Iowa’s Steve King, Richard H. Baker of Louisiana, Roscoe G. Barlett of Maryland, New Jersey’s Scott Garrett; Virginia Foxx and Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina; South Carolina’s J. Gresham Barrett, John J. Duncan Jr. from Tennessee and six from Texas: Sam Johnson, Jeb Hensarling, Joe Barton, K. Michael Conaway, Mac Thornberry and Ron Paul.

No Democrats voted against it but 33 Republicans did.

Their article on Jim Andrews may have been way off the mark but their endorsements for the rest of the county races are well thought out. 

Nine county commissioners, however, may not get a chance to serve another term, depending on a state Supreme Court ruling that will not come until after the election. Metro Pulse does not endorse any of their candidacies. 

...

The opposing candidates all have something to commend them, especially those opposing Jordan, Collins, Tindell, Guthe, and Griess, whose lawsuit resulted in a chancellor’s ruling that declared the whole county Charter invalid.

Exactly.

There's been a bit of a shakeup in the schedule for Truman Day.  On Wednesday, Joe Biden backed out as the keynote speaker. Yesterday morning, Paul Hackett agreed to speak!  That gives us the next U.S. Senator from Tennessee, Harold Ford, Jr. and a rising star in the Democratic Party, Major Hackett, as our two main speakers.

Tickets are still available!

Truman Day will be held tomorrow night, May 20, at the Knoxville Convention Center. A pre-dinner reception starts at 6pm on the Cumberland Concourse and dinner starts at 7pm.  Tickets are $50 each or table for 10 is $450. There's also an optional, $100 per ticket, VIP reception at 6pm.

Tickets By Phone: Please call 540-4001.  The message will direct those interested in tickets to press "0."

Yes everyone, I got it wrong.  I'm not on the Executive Committee.  I haven't seen the petition in question.  I didn't attend the meeting that was mentioned.  I simply have no idea what I'm talking about and you should listen to the KnoxGOP chair and the News Sentinel.

Of course, you'd be wrong on every point but that doesn't seem to bother Brian so why should it bother you?

Back to the issue at hand.  Yes, Jim Andrews is working to make sure that the executive committee sides with the will of the voters.  Which, from what I can tell, we do.  Eventually, we'll meet officially with the media present, open nominations, and put it to a proper vote according to our bylaws.  In the end, what Knox County voters will see is is that the Democratic party respects their vote.

Will the KnoxGOP be able to say the same thing?

Stupid question, of course they'll say it, true or not.

But will Knox County voters believe them?

In the comments for this post, Brian Hornback had this to say:

This coming from the party, that according to Jim Andrews on The Voice said they have already determined who their candidates will be for County Commission without giving the 10 day notice and without notifying the media. This "We're" are the people cutting backroom deals without the 10 day meeting notice and without the reporters to shine the light of truth on their backroom deals.

The Republicans will give the mandatory notice and will invite the media and public. There's the right way and then there's the local demo way.

Actually, Jim Andrews said that most people on the executive committee are planning to support the will of Knox County voters and elect Helen Diane Lewis and Amy Broyles in the 1st and 2nd districts.  Apparently, having the voters of Knox County decided which Democrat should be on the ballot is what the KnoxGOP considers a "backroom deal".

So while we Democrats put the decision to the voters of Knox County, has KnoxGOP done the same thing? Will they go with the person that got the most write-in votes on May 2? Will their convention be little more than a dog and pony show to nominate Ragsdale's friends? Does this mean that Mr. Hornback is not planning to run against Tom Salter for seat 5C?