Fri
Jul 25 2008
09:07 pm

The day after Black Wednesday the N-S went ballistic

The N-S dubbed Black Wednesday"Relatives,Cronies & Hangers On."

The N-S kept blasting in it's editorial "it was not so much a government" but a "members only club."

Called the whole deal "politics of the old order" & a "sideshow".

Said the commission was "shamelessly cutting backroom deals"

But this week the N-S endorsed a candidate that was on the commission that "shamelessly cut backroom deals."

The N-S also did a 180 on county government not being a "members only club",endorsing candidates that have spent years working in the courthouse & babbled banal statements in support...one candidate "truly likes his job." & another candidate because their "institutional knowledge..just can't be thrown out the door.".

February 1st 2007 the N-S described many of the candidates they endorsed this week as "cronies" that practiced "the politics of the old order."

Finally,the N-S finished it's editorial with this:

"It's clear that the voters will have to show them the direction."

I agree but it's a shame the N-S has joined them.

jbr's picture

I glanced through it and

I glanced through it and thought, same old NS. They have gradually lapsed completely back into that stuff after some flirtations the last year with becoming a stronger, more interesting paper.

Sandra Clark's picture

tough call

It's a tough call, even to decide for whom to vote in certain races. Larry Van Guilder has a thoughtful look at the Trustee's race coming in Monday's Shopper.

Fred Sisk is certainly the old wave, but Robert Bratton had the situation with the custodian at South-Doyle Middle School -- caught on video tape, no less.

Yet Bratton has the best platform for the Trustee's office. And so it goes...

It's a shame that the KNS and the Political Action group encouraged new people to run only to abandon them at endorsement time. Take Andrew Graybeal. He represents change in the assessor's office. You would expect the KNS endorsement ... but it didn't come.

I used to think that Harry Moskos just decided where Tim Hutchison stood and went the other way. It's harder to predict McElroy. There's little logic in his endorsements. Perhaps they're making endorsements by committee -- they go around the table and horse-trade. -- s.

Pam Strickland's picture

Committee endorsements

Not sure about the horse trading, but KNS does have an editorial board that hashes out what the newspaper's stand is.

Pam Strickland

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." ~Kurt Vonnegut

jbr's picture

A friend of mine thinks the

A friend of mine thinks the publisher is behind the endorsement. The editorial board likely did not want to endorse those candidates it filed a lawsuit to remove.

Bizzy's picture

Sandra...

Maybe I missed something but when I viewed the tape of Bratton I didn't see a darn thing. I did see him talking with the young lady and pushing the mop bucket for her...what was there to see that backed up her claim other than the fact that they walked down the hall together? I am not being argumentative but it seems like some people saw more in that tape than I did...

Bbeanster's picture

I'm not Sandra ;). but I'll

I'm not Sandra ;). but I'll take a swing at this one:

Number One, the fact that Bratton was even there is damning. The janitor had complained about unwanted attention from him, and he'd already been formally warned and told to stay away from the school, so he had no business being there in the first place. And I do not buy the excuse that he had a child there, or that the school is in his district.
It was summertime and school was out. What was he doing there?
In the second place, as a school board member, he was in a position of power over this young janitor. The herky jerky nature of the video doesn't give you a very nuanced view of what happened, but when I watched it, it appeared to me that he'd come looking for her.
Why?

Godsgood's picture

Let me answer a few of

Let me answer a few of your questions. At the time of the video, no one had told him not to be there. He had a child in summer school that he was there to pick up. And it is not uncommon for him to walk around his schools and talk to employees. He is very present at all of the schools in his district.He is one of the School Board members who actually goes into the schools and talks to all of the teachers, principals and custodians. Which is what they should be doing. Not making decisions without being there to see the problems! All of the info I have given you can be found if you research the history of the situation from the beginning. He has had many years of service to the children in Knox Co and has volunteered at numerous agencies and this is the first complaint, EVER. That should be taken into account when this is looked at.
And to answer the question before you ask. Yes I know him, but am not associated with him.

Anonymously Nine's picture

Not exactly...

All of the info I have given you can be found if you research the history of the situation from the beginning.

You must not have seen the second tape where the young woman was running from Bratton with an obvious look of fear on her face. Your research is incomplete.

WBIR reported the story differently:

(link...)

(link...)

Pam Strickland's picture

"his schools"? I thought

"his schools"? I thought they were the county's schools, the people schools. I had no idea that school board members owned them.

I have never in over 30 years of following school boards heard a group of elected officials be so proprietary of the schools that just-so-happen to be in the district they were elected from.

Pam Strickland

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." ~Kurt Vonnegut

scottfrith's picture

I've known Fred Sisk for 10

I've known Fred Sisk for 10 years and he's a great guy. The guy is sincere, knows the office, and is vastly more qualified than Robert Bratton.

I'm VERY sympathetic to the argument that we should "throw all the bums out." (I'd also argue that the office could be run competently with three folks and a laptop.) However, the Trustee is an important job and I believe Fred would do a far better job than Robert Bratton.

And I'll say it... That videotape with Bratton and that young female janitor was just darn creepy.

Anonymously Nine's picture

However, the other tape...

Maybe I missed something but when I viewed the tape of Bratton I didn't see a darn thing.

The tapes are not available now. But one tape clearly showed the young woman was afraid. She was running. One tape showed little. The other showed a great deal. Now they are gone. How convenient.

Care to explain why the taxpayers had to pay $21,000 to make this go away?

Godsgood's picture

The school paid $21,000 not

The school paid $21,000 not for him , but because the lawsuite against them was that the compliant was not logged properly. Not that he done anything. Failure to follow procedure was what the newspaper reported.

Anonymous's picture

Bratton paid $3,000 himself

Bratton paid $3,000 himself to settle the suit:

(link...)

gonzone's picture

The difference

Just like the WSJ, the difference is between the reporters trying to make an honest living and the editors writing misguided opinion pieces. And just like the WSJ, you'd think it was two different papers, often contradicting itself.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Hunter S. Thompson

bill young's picture

no endorsements

I agree Sandra.Maybe no endorsements would have been the way to go & really got behind getting voters to the polls.Treat early vote like the paper does shopping days till Christmas.Have you voted yet? kinda thing.

I have to say it was really exciting how the N-S pushed voting for Super Tuesday.Front page stories of the county primary.However,the N-S has moved most of the coverage of the county general to the back pages of the local section.On top of that the N-S is back to same ole song & dance of why is the peoples not voting.

On another note that mailer by the GOP is really good.

Rigsby Werner's picture

It all boils down to Ad Revenue

In my opinion, the rag continues to endorse the candidates who throw as much money at the newspaper for worthless advertising and endorsements which are truly meaningless. It was not that long ago that a News-Sentinel endorsement was taboo in any upcoming election, particularly if you were the opponent of Sheriff Tim Hutchinson.

The News-Sentinel is becoming more irrelevant to our daily lives each and every day, as other more accurate and insightful media and blogs take over the space which was once a journalistic battlefield between the Sentinel and the old Knoxville Journal, two respected, profitable, and well written newspapers. My how things have changed.

Sandra Clark's picture

Who knows?

But one thing's for sure. The KNS should have told us what's wrong with Andrew Graybeal or endorsed him.

That's the only consistent position.

And Bean, how's that grandkid? That Little Lily Bean?

Ken Weaver's picture

Keep them at each other.

I used to vote for Tim Hutchinson to make the city council and Mayor cringe. Keep them hopping. Keep the politico's at each others throats and we'll get the cronyism out of our government. They will stab each other in the backs and make deals to expose each other.
Keep it churning folks!
Maybe we'll even get rid of Baby Joe Hultquist!

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