In TN-4, what appeared to be a tight race between incumbent Democrat Lincoln Davis and Republican challenger Scott DeJarlais ended up being a blowout for DeJarlais.
Davis is one of those creepy Tennessee old-boy Democrat pols who tend to view the district as a personal plantation, assuming their constituents are just too stupid to figure out they're being systematically screwed. The ads the Democrats ran on his behalf, viciously attacking DeJarlais by dredging up allegations from his ex-wife from years ago. This, well, went over badly. Very badly. Very, very badly.
Finally damn time this nonsense backfire on someone.
Likewise, Rand Paul, trashed by Conway in the Kentucky Senate race, won going away. Not even close. And Conway gets to go back to his job tomorrow as Attorney General of Kentucky with his own ethics and credibility profoundly damaged by his own behavior.
Nikki Haley was trashed by allegations of an affair during her run for the governor's mansion in South Carolina, and survived the experience to win.
The voters were not in the mood for this BS, but the HopeyChangies just didn't seem to get the memo.
People willing to do anything, lie/cheat/steal, to win are utterly unqualified to hold office.
Send the memo around again, somebody.
And, locally, it appears that Doug Jackson, one of the worst and dumbest state senators in the history of Tennessee, is losing to his GOP opponent. Which warms OldSouth's heart. He asked on a number of occasions over the past twenty years why no one was willing to run against the man. Most expressed literal fear for their own health. OS always kept his head low, lest he find himself run into one of the many deep ditches of this county late at night. No kidding.
For his part, Jim Cooper, a BlueDog Democrat, held on to TN-5, the Nashville seat, but faced some energetic opposition. His victory speech was very muted, in which he expressed his sensitivity to the legitimate concerns of those who voted for his opposition. In other words, Himself can't assume Cooper will be voting for the next hunka-hunka-steaming-pork sent to Congress.
Steve Cohen won TN-9 easily, the Memphis seat. Charlotte Bergmann, a black conservative Republican, fought the good fight, but sadly the plantation is still alive and well in Memphis.
Fincher rolled over Herron for TN-8, unsurprisingly. Roy Herron didn't stand a chance. Being closely identified with AlGore and the retiring and much disdained John Tanner had to have hurt him.
Bill Haslam sailed into the governor's office. Again, no surprise. Mike McWherter is the son of former Governor Ned Ray McWherter, and that was his only qualification. Next!
OS did have hopes for the GOP to take the Senate, but it is not to be. New York and California just assume TheOne will be bailing them out, with no accountability required. So they vote for more of the same.
Someone send them the memo, please.
We are on the front end of the real pain. They gotta figure things out for themselves.
Michigan and Ohio both voted in conservative GOP governors. For those reading from overseas, this would have been unimaginable even a couple of years ago. Both states have finally felt the lash badly enough, and the voters in the small towns and outlying counties finally decided to install some grownups.
The shadow hanging over it all is Obama. Anyone who identified with the man, apart from deep-blue states, went down in flames.
He'll dismiss it all tomorrow, blame it on Bush, on the stupid voters, on the citizenry who he considers his enemies, on anyone except where the responsibility lies. Then he'll climb on his BigBird for a trip to Mumbai, spending money we're borrowing from China at the rate of $200,000,000 a day.
We've sent him the memo, ya'll. Still don't think He's read it yet.
Waiting on Nevada...
Showing posts with label TN District 8. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TN District 8. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Dear Messrs. Fincher And Herron: TN-8 Congressional Race
It seems presumptuous to write an open letter from behind the screen of a non-de-plume, but honestly, this writer's identity doesn't matter.
He and Mrs. OS, very reluctantly, voted for Mr. Fincher. They met the man during the primary at a restaurant where he was glad-handing, and had a conversation with him. To his credit, he sat down and talked, and was attentive. It was difficult to talk with him on the most basic subject of all, the true overriding ethical issue of our age, which is the public debt, and the fact that we will hand our children and grandchildren a country that resembles Argentina under the Peróns unless this is addressed. He wanted to talk about being pro-gun/pro-life/pro-military/pro-family, etc., the entire talking points list of the Religious Right, as well as the entire talking points list of the RNC. Here's what we couldn't get him to address directly that day:
(HT to Denninger at Market Ticker--look to your right, and you'll find him, America's Jeremiah of the 21st century.)
We're not even certain Mr. Fincher knows where Argentina is, or who Juan and Evita Perón were, or the damage they did to a once-great country. And, we asked the restaurant owner last week: Mr. Fincher has never made a return visit to our humble town, here on the outskirts of TN-8.
The only reason Mr. and Mrs. OS voted for Mr. Fincher is that we cannot survive as a country with Barack Obama in the White House and a Democrat majority in the House of Representatives.
Period.
So, here goes.
Gentlemen:
You are both very good men in your own way, and arrive to next Tuesday from very different paths. Both of you are family men, and are as morally upright as they come. Honestly, we're probably in good hands with either one of you.
But, as admirable as all that is, and as pious Christians we know you both to be, unless the problem posed by that graphic above is addressed, the other questions could become moot: Family life is already falling apart, the marriage rate will plummet, the military could be put in a position of having a much greater role than the Constitution ever contemplated; and yes, we'll be armed to the teeth, out of necessity.
It's not about Liberal/Conservative or GOP/Democrat. It's about math. We cannot continue this way, and survive. The entitlement programs of Medicare, Social Security, and the effects of the health care 'reform' that will kick in beginning 2014 will swamp the culture and economy. The money must come from somewhere, and even this economy cannot generate the revenues to sustain the system in place. That's not even accounting for emergencies, such as major hurricanes, earthquakes, oil spills, a major terrorist hit, a major war, or some other outside event like Europe melting down.
It's about math. We need sober grownups in charge. Obama and company do not qualify. Neither did his predecessors post-1989. It will be up to whomever of you wins, sitting on your back bench, shuttled off to obscure committees dealing with issues with which you have no experience or interest. You'll have to stand up and scream 'NO' when the Speaker wants to spend the next 40 billion on a pile of pork on a voice vote at 10 p.m. on a Friday night. It's about math, and courage.
An old friend tells a wonderful joke, with a proverb imbedded. Goes like this:
A young man asks for the following Monday off from work, telling his boss he's the best man at a Polish wedding in another city. Boss agrees, and wishes him safe travels.
A week late, the young man returns to work, looking like he has been run over by a truck--hung over, bloodshot eyes, exhausted, and relieved to be home. The boss demands--'You're a week late! What happened!
Young man replies: It was a Polish wedding. I had no idea. They hold a raffle at Polish weddings, and I won second prize.
Boss: Second prize?
Young man: Yeah, second prize is I get to take the bride out on the honeymoon, the cruise, the bedroom, the whole nine yards. It was exhausting. It was traumatic. I'm so grateful to be home, even if you fire me.
Boss: So, if that's second prize, what's the Grand Prize?
Young man: A canned ham.
Best wishes to the winner. If you lose, consider that Providence has done you a favor.
If you win, print up that graph, frame it, and set it on your desk. It's the only thing that deserves your undivided attention at work.
OS
He and Mrs. OS, very reluctantly, voted for Mr. Fincher. They met the man during the primary at a restaurant where he was glad-handing, and had a conversation with him. To his credit, he sat down and talked, and was attentive. It was difficult to talk with him on the most basic subject of all, the true overriding ethical issue of our age, which is the public debt, and the fact that we will hand our children and grandchildren a country that resembles Argentina under the Peróns unless this is addressed. He wanted to talk about being pro-gun/pro-life/pro-military/pro-family, etc., the entire talking points list of the Religious Right, as well as the entire talking points list of the RNC. Here's what we couldn't get him to address directly that day:
(HT to Denninger at Market Ticker--look to your right, and you'll find him, America's Jeremiah of the 21st century.)
We're not even certain Mr. Fincher knows where Argentina is, or who Juan and Evita Perón were, or the damage they did to a once-great country. And, we asked the restaurant owner last week: Mr. Fincher has never made a return visit to our humble town, here on the outskirts of TN-8.
The only reason Mr. and Mrs. OS voted for Mr. Fincher is that we cannot survive as a country with Barack Obama in the White House and a Democrat majority in the House of Representatives.
Period.
So, here goes.
Gentlemen:
You are both very good men in your own way, and arrive to next Tuesday from very different paths. Both of you are family men, and are as morally upright as they come. Honestly, we're probably in good hands with either one of you.
But, as admirable as all that is, and as pious Christians we know you both to be, unless the problem posed by that graphic above is addressed, the other questions could become moot: Family life is already falling apart, the marriage rate will plummet, the military could be put in a position of having a much greater role than the Constitution ever contemplated; and yes, we'll be armed to the teeth, out of necessity.
It's not about Liberal/Conservative or GOP/Democrat. It's about math. We cannot continue this way, and survive. The entitlement programs of Medicare, Social Security, and the effects of the health care 'reform' that will kick in beginning 2014 will swamp the culture and economy. The money must come from somewhere, and even this economy cannot generate the revenues to sustain the system in place. That's not even accounting for emergencies, such as major hurricanes, earthquakes, oil spills, a major terrorist hit, a major war, or some other outside event like Europe melting down.
It's about math. We need sober grownups in charge. Obama and company do not qualify. Neither did his predecessors post-1989. It will be up to whomever of you wins, sitting on your back bench, shuttled off to obscure committees dealing with issues with which you have no experience or interest. You'll have to stand up and scream 'NO' when the Speaker wants to spend the next 40 billion on a pile of pork on a voice vote at 10 p.m. on a Friday night. It's about math, and courage.
An old friend tells a wonderful joke, with a proverb imbedded. Goes like this:
A young man asks for the following Monday off from work, telling his boss he's the best man at a Polish wedding in another city. Boss agrees, and wishes him safe travels.
A week late, the young man returns to work, looking like he has been run over by a truck--hung over, bloodshot eyes, exhausted, and relieved to be home. The boss demands--'You're a week late! What happened!
Young man replies: It was a Polish wedding. I had no idea. They hold a raffle at Polish weddings, and I won second prize.
Boss: Second prize?
Young man: Yeah, second prize is I get to take the bride out on the honeymoon, the cruise, the bedroom, the whole nine yards. It was exhausting. It was traumatic. I'm so grateful to be home, even if you fire me.
Boss: So, if that's second prize, what's the Grand Prize?
Young man: A canned ham.
Best wishes to the winner. If you lose, consider that Providence has done you a favor.
If you win, print up that graph, frame it, and set it on your desk. It's the only thing that deserves your undivided attention at work.
OS
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
TN-8 Congressional Race: Q & A From Each Candidate
An interesting Q & A article with responses from each candidate.
Fincher is a Tea Party endorsed GOP nominee.
Herron is a classic Blue Dog Democrat.
Two independents, who also add food for thought.
If reading from overseas, it's worth exploring to get a sense of the debate and the local flavor. The questions are pretty clear and specific, so everyone had to behave like a grownup and submit some clear and specific answers.
OS hopes this is helpful.
The thing is, ya'll, whoever wins is in for one hell of a bad time in his new job. If Roy wins, the left-edge socialists who run the place will make him a pariah, and have in fact already. Roy knows how to do math, and they'll despise him for it if he attempts to do it in D.C. They just think Uncle Ben will print up a bunch of fresh money for them any time they need it.
If Fincher wins, he'll have to learn how to say 'Hell, no' when John Boehner cooks his next side of pork, and he'll end up as a pariah as well. And he's got all the nut-job Religious Right fundamentalists all over his ass, demanding he spend his time beating up Disney or some other such nonsense. Good luck with that, bubbah Steve.
Either way, the BIG issue is the fact that our government has pointed our culture over the fiscal cliff over the past fifty years, and has floored the accelerator.
Argentina, move over, unless enough people in Congress act like grown-ups, finally.
It's gonna get painful, no matter what.
Fincher is a Tea Party endorsed GOP nominee.
Herron is a classic Blue Dog Democrat.
Two independents, who also add food for thought.
If reading from overseas, it's worth exploring to get a sense of the debate and the local flavor. The questions are pretty clear and specific, so everyone had to behave like a grownup and submit some clear and specific answers.
OS hopes this is helpful.
The thing is, ya'll, whoever wins is in for one hell of a bad time in his new job. If Roy wins, the left-edge socialists who run the place will make him a pariah, and have in fact already. Roy knows how to do math, and they'll despise him for it if he attempts to do it in D.C. They just think Uncle Ben will print up a bunch of fresh money for them any time they need it.
If Fincher wins, he'll have to learn how to say 'Hell, no' when John Boehner cooks his next side of pork, and he'll end up as a pariah as well. And he's got all the nut-job Religious Right fundamentalists all over his ass, demanding he spend his time beating up Disney or some other such nonsense. Good luck with that, bubbah Steve.
Either way, the BIG issue is the fact that our government has pointed our culture over the fiscal cliff over the past fifty years, and has floored the accelerator.
Argentina, move over, unless enough people in Congress act like grown-ups, finally.
It's gonna get painful, no matter what.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The High Price Of Candor: Juan Williams And Katherine Birbalsingh
It's been a tough couple of weeks for people who suffer from the vice of speaking candidly in public.
First, the lovely young Katherine Birbalsingh, an Oxford-educated teacher who had devoted her career to teaching kids in the forgotten neighborhoods of the the UK, was shown the door after speaking her mind candidly at the Conservative Party congress.
(If you haven't had the pleasure of hearing her brief address, this would be the time to invest about eight minutes of your time. Well worth every second.)
Of course, her sacking was accompanied by the usual British couching of inexcusable behaviour in the most civil-sounding of verbiage. But, for all their attempts to sound plausible and professional, her superiors at St. Michael and All Angels School come off sounding, well, like a bunch of petty academics in search of a scalp. And hers was an obvious choice.
Her crime? Candor, and an elegant and piercing command of the English language, employed for eight memorable minutes in a public forum, where she stated the obvious about the decayed conditions of state-funded education in the UK. Had she instead addressed the Tories and informed them they were the most unimaginable heartless scum who cared not a fig for the poor children whose families could not afford Eton, she would have returned to her school, and been hoisted upon the shoulders of her cheering colleagues for a victory lap around the halls. Too late she found out that academic freedom is only for the Left.
Juan Williams was not even afforded the faux civility shown Miss Birbalsingh. His boss fired him over the phone, with no opportunity to even discuss the situation, and then publicly dissed him and his opinions, saying that they should be between him and his pyschiatrist, or publicist, or whatever. OS heard the recorded comment, and the disdain and condescension were overt. Too late he found that freedom of speech is only for the Left.
Locally, poor Roy Herron, Democrat candidate for Congress in the Eighth District of Tennessee, was screwed royally by his ostensible allies. When it dawned on him that most people would not vote for him because they knew his first vote as a Congressman would likely be to return Nancy Pelosi to the Speaker's chair, he let it be known that he would oppose MizNancy's return to power. For his candor, the money allocated by the Democrats for his TV ads was summarily pulled. Too late, he found that freedom of conscience, and sensitivity to voters' sensibilities, is something for which the Left has no patience.
Roy is a good, honorable gentleman with whom OS disagrees, and for whom he could not bring himself to vote. OS was hoping he would run for governor, but 'twas not to be.
None of these folks were mean-spirited, or racist, or dishonest. They simply spoke words into the open air that they meant, and stated the obvious in the process: Schools are failing, sometimes climbing onto a plane with people who may be religious extremists is unnverving, Nancy Pelosi is a real liability to this country as speaker. The Sword of Damocles descended anyway. Luckily, all three will land on their feet, and blessedly we haven't heard the last from them.
And, I hear the reader say it already: Bubbah, you're bloggin' under a nom de plume! What-choo doin' blathering about candor?
OS admits to his cowardice, but he had to make a decision to protect his family. It is a matter of physical safety. Don't ask, 'cuz OS won't tell, and if you think you know, you're mistaken. Besides, ya'll, this is a hobby, and always will be. OS can't imagine people parting with their hard-earned money for the privilege of reading his scribble. Puh-leeze!
And, there are many things he won't write about, 'cuz he already knows the high price of complete candor. He hopes, while he has to be discreet, that he has helped add a bit of humor, a bit of insight, and a bit of dignity to the public discussion.
And he hopes he'll make it a safer world for candor, one fine day.
First, the lovely young Katherine Birbalsingh, an Oxford-educated teacher who had devoted her career to teaching kids in the forgotten neighborhoods of the the UK, was shown the door after speaking her mind candidly at the Conservative Party congress.
(If you haven't had the pleasure of hearing her brief address, this would be the time to invest about eight minutes of your time. Well worth every second.)
Of course, her sacking was accompanied by the usual British couching of inexcusable behaviour in the most civil-sounding of verbiage. But, for all their attempts to sound plausible and professional, her superiors at St. Michael and All Angels School come off sounding, well, like a bunch of petty academics in search of a scalp. And hers was an obvious choice.
Her crime? Candor, and an elegant and piercing command of the English language, employed for eight memorable minutes in a public forum, where she stated the obvious about the decayed conditions of state-funded education in the UK. Had she instead addressed the Tories and informed them they were the most unimaginable heartless scum who cared not a fig for the poor children whose families could not afford Eton, she would have returned to her school, and been hoisted upon the shoulders of her cheering colleagues for a victory lap around the halls. Too late she found out that academic freedom is only for the Left.
Juan Williams was not even afforded the faux civility shown Miss Birbalsingh. His boss fired him over the phone, with no opportunity to even discuss the situation, and then publicly dissed him and his opinions, saying that they should be between him and his pyschiatrist, or publicist, or whatever. OS heard the recorded comment, and the disdain and condescension were overt. Too late he found that freedom of speech is only for the Left.
Locally, poor Roy Herron, Democrat candidate for Congress in the Eighth District of Tennessee, was screwed royally by his ostensible allies. When it dawned on him that most people would not vote for him because they knew his first vote as a Congressman would likely be to return Nancy Pelosi to the Speaker's chair, he let it be known that he would oppose MizNancy's return to power. For his candor, the money allocated by the Democrats for his TV ads was summarily pulled. Too late, he found that freedom of conscience, and sensitivity to voters' sensibilities, is something for which the Left has no patience.
Roy is a good, honorable gentleman with whom OS disagrees, and for whom he could not bring himself to vote. OS was hoping he would run for governor, but 'twas not to be.
None of these folks were mean-spirited, or racist, or dishonest. They simply spoke words into the open air that they meant, and stated the obvious in the process: Schools are failing, sometimes climbing onto a plane with people who may be religious extremists is unnverving, Nancy Pelosi is a real liability to this country as speaker. The Sword of Damocles descended anyway. Luckily, all three will land on their feet, and blessedly we haven't heard the last from them.
And, I hear the reader say it already: Bubbah, you're bloggin' under a nom de plume! What-choo doin' blathering about candor?
OS admits to his cowardice, but he had to make a decision to protect his family. It is a matter of physical safety. Don't ask, 'cuz OS won't tell, and if you think you know, you're mistaken. Besides, ya'll, this is a hobby, and always will be. OS can't imagine people parting with their hard-earned money for the privilege of reading his scribble. Puh-leeze!
And, there are many things he won't write about, 'cuz he already knows the high price of complete candor. He hopes, while he has to be discreet, that he has helped add a bit of humor, a bit of insight, and a bit of dignity to the public discussion.
And he hopes he'll make it a safer world for candor, one fine day.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Friday Afternoon, Small-Town Tennessee, Hot Day In August
You know it's hot when you go to the bank to deposit a few checks, and the teller hands you a bottle of chilled water with your deposit slips, and invites you to sit down for a few minutes.
It's so hot (How hot is it?) that the local golf club has had to build temporary greens in two fairways, because the heat has destroyed the original greens. They heat up all day in the 100+ heat, the rain comes in the evening. Instead of watering the greens, the rain ends up boiling on the greens. OS played five holes, two with the temp greens, and a third that really should be taken out of play and repaired.
It's really hot. OS usually walks, come what may, but reason prevailed and he took a cart. Even riding, five holes in the heat was it, followed by a long cool shower before heading home. The starter will be turning away anyone who attempts to play without a cart tomorrow, even the teenagers who are too young to drive carts. It's that hot.
OS hates shopping at WalMart. Period. He'll duck in for dog food if he has to, when the seed-and-feed is closed, but that's about all he can tolerate. Blessedly, there are still small grocers and a 50's-era-by-golly men's shop on Main Street. OS ducked in to buy socks, and the salesman was gossiping with a gent who had to be at least 85 years old. He had tales to tell, especially about the bootlegger from the next county who publicly held court at the diner across the street.
The 8th District Republican primary candidates have all decided to publicly kiss and make up after weeks of circular firing squad stupidity, and visited downtown yesterday. Salesman reports there was a large crowd there to greet them. This is new behavior. Candidates have never paid more than token interest in this county, and Republicans have never drawn a crowd here. Hmmm...they turned out in 100 degree heat.
More Planet Knucklehead stuff today, but OS won't use this space to bellyache. It's the weekend.
It's so hot (How hot is it?) that the local golf club has had to build temporary greens in two fairways, because the heat has destroyed the original greens. They heat up all day in the 100+ heat, the rain comes in the evening. Instead of watering the greens, the rain ends up boiling on the greens. OS played five holes, two with the temp greens, and a third that really should be taken out of play and repaired.
It's really hot. OS usually walks, come what may, but reason prevailed and he took a cart. Even riding, five holes in the heat was it, followed by a long cool shower before heading home. The starter will be turning away anyone who attempts to play without a cart tomorrow, even the teenagers who are too young to drive carts. It's that hot.
OS hates shopping at WalMart. Period. He'll duck in for dog food if he has to, when the seed-and-feed is closed, but that's about all he can tolerate. Blessedly, there are still small grocers and a 50's-era-by-golly men's shop on Main Street. OS ducked in to buy socks, and the salesman was gossiping with a gent who had to be at least 85 years old. He had tales to tell, especially about the bootlegger from the next county who publicly held court at the diner across the street.
The 8th District Republican primary candidates have all decided to publicly kiss and make up after weeks of circular firing squad stupidity, and visited downtown yesterday. Salesman reports there was a large crowd there to greet them. This is new behavior. Candidates have never paid more than token interest in this county, and Republicans have never drawn a crowd here. Hmmm...they turned out in 100 degree heat.
More Planet Knucklehead stuff today, but OS won't use this space to bellyache. It's the weekend.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Incumbency Was A Disadvantage In Tonight's Elections, Part Deux
OS woke up to the early news on the local stations, to check the weather for today's long drive north.
Eight county mayoral seats in the middle counties of Tennessee turned over. Incumbents were booted. In Tennessee, many of these folks serve for decades, transforming each county into a personal plantation.
In the governor's GOP primary race, Zach Wamp, Congressman from Chattanooga, enjoying the support of much of the Religious Right, lost by a wiiiiide margin after almost two years of campaigning. Voters remembered that he voted for TARP, after he was swamped by his constituents begging him to vote against it. That sort of stuff comes back to haunt. People have memories, after all, and waited for the opportunity to register their displeasure.
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, a GOP institution in the legislature, came in a distant third. OS met Mr. Ramsey a few weeks ago as he came through town politikin'. He was, well, creepy, not anyone who should be allowed to actually run anything large.
Bill Haslam, mayor of Knoxville, who actually has successfully managed budgets, won the GOP primary. In his case, the public experience worked in his favor.
OS thinks the serfs may be irritated, that the natives may be getting restless.
Here's hoping.
Eight county mayoral seats in the middle counties of Tennessee turned over. Incumbents were booted. In Tennessee, many of these folks serve for decades, transforming each county into a personal plantation.
In the governor's GOP primary race, Zach Wamp, Congressman from Chattanooga, enjoying the support of much of the Religious Right, lost by a wiiiiide margin after almost two years of campaigning. Voters remembered that he voted for TARP, after he was swamped by his constituents begging him to vote against it. That sort of stuff comes back to haunt. People have memories, after all, and waited for the opportunity to register their displeasure.
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, a GOP institution in the legislature, came in a distant third. OS met Mr. Ramsey a few weeks ago as he came through town politikin'. He was, well, creepy, not anyone who should be allowed to actually run anything large.
Bill Haslam, mayor of Knoxville, who actually has successfully managed budgets, won the GOP primary. In his case, the public experience worked in his favor.
OS thinks the serfs may be irritated, that the natives may be getting restless.
Here's hoping.
Incumbency Was A Disadvantage In Tonight's Elections
OS lives in a little county west of Nashville, which has stumbled along for years. It's a beautiful and utterly frustrating place to live.
The frustration boiled over today at the polls, as almost every incumbent had his or her head presented on a silver charger.
It wasn't even close, ya'll.
Meanwhile, Steve Fincher handily won the TN 8th District GOP Congressional primary.
Roy Herron won the Democrat nomination. Fincher's primary total far outstripped the entirety of the Democrat vote in their race. The three top GOP contenders together really swamped the Dem's numbers.
Here's hoping Mr. Fincher knows how to be a gentleman, and that if he's elected, he'll mature in office. In the end, OS just couldn't put the 'X' by the man's name, and no, t'ain't your business to know who he voted for.
The frustration boiled over today at the polls, as almost every incumbent had his or her head presented on a silver charger.
It wasn't even close, ya'll.
Meanwhile, Steve Fincher handily won the TN 8th District GOP Congressional primary.
Roy Herron won the Democrat nomination. Fincher's primary total far outstripped the entirety of the Democrat vote in their race. The three top GOP contenders together really swamped the Dem's numbers.
Here's hoping Mr. Fincher knows how to be a gentleman, and that if he's elected, he'll mature in office. In the end, OS just couldn't put the 'X' by the man's name, and no, t'ain't your business to know who he voted for.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
A Conversation With Steve Fincher: TN District 8 GOP Congressional Primary Candidate
OS enjoyed lunch today at the diner in his small town. He especially enjoyed the company of Mrs. OS across the table, ever amazed that she still tolerates him after all these years. It must be love. No other explanation fits.
Along strolls an enthusiastic gent, handing out a candidate flyer for Steve Fincher, candidate for Congress. OS barely looked up from his plate, until he noticed that the enthusiastic gent was Mr. Fincher himself, who graciously sat down and allowed himself to be questioned.
He's thirty-seven, with three kids, a farmer, gospel music singer and Methodist from a small town in the center of the district. He's been well-coached, perhaps over-coached, and Heaven knows the man must be weary of talking to strangers who interrogate him.
We tried to convey a couple of ideas to him, and it's not certain we were successful.
1. The 1994 GOP Freshman Class of House members absolutely blew it. They simply muscled the Dems away from the trough and began their own feeding frenzy. Our disdain for George Bush the Younger was unmistakable. We were hostile in tone when speaking of this. He agreed, and agreed, and agreed, but we're not sure he understood the import of what he was hearing. OS asked him point blank if he was willing to look that horse's-patooty John Boehner in the eye and say 'NO'. He said he would.
2. Mrs. OS posed a more crucial question (she's a lot wiser than her husband). When push comes to shove, and you have to prioritize between your social conservatism and your fiscal conservatism, which way will you go? What's the more crucial question in your mind? He began to talk about his core conservative values, 100% pro-life, etc. Again, he's really been coached. She was attempting to find out if this nice man has been so captured by the Religious Right that he doesn't see the Bigger Moral Question, that the government is in danger of collapsing the culture itself, making other arguments moot. The Religious Right types are a biiiiig part of the problem, with real tin-foil-hat wing-nuts scattered liberally throughout their ranks. They tolerate no differences of opinion, and take no prisoners. He did say that he was running because he thinks the country is about to burn down, and that he is concerned about his children's futures. He is sincere and earnest, but we were looking for a more measured quality of mind. Perhaps in time, he'll develop that.
3. We asked him his age (37), and where he plans to be at age 50. He plans to be home by that time, no more than six terms, if memory serves correctly.
This primary is a very close call, and OS will likely vote for this gent. John Tanner is thankfully departing, a member of the YellowDog Democrat crowd that has treated this part of the world like a plantation. Mr. Fincher has some real appeal, because with young children and a family business to run, he still has some true existential and emotional skin in the game. He also would have enough energy to juggle all those conflicting responsibilities. His opponents create much, much more serious misgivings in OS's mind. But it will not be an enthusiastic vote.
OS hopes someday to talk with him again, post-primary. Fincher didn't adequately answer the culture-forms-economy questions, and perhaps OS needs to phrase them more clearly.
Roy Herron, his likely Democrat opponent, is someone OS has known in the past. He is a thoughtful man of real character, but sadly has hitched his wagon to the wrong team of horses, like AlGore, Clinton, Obama, and company. OS would be very aggrieved to witness ad hominem attacks upon the man, because it would be more indicative of the GOP candidate's character than Mr. Herron's. OS can't vote for Roy, but doesn't think he ever deserves to be trashed. It is likely that the typical RNC down-and-dirty approach would doom the GOP candidate.
Ya'll play nice out there.
By the way, OS's comment board is still open for the OS Candidate Challenge, TN 8 GOP Primary:
50 words or less from each candidate, explaining positively why he would serve the district best, and no circular firing squads allowed. No attacks, no name-calling, no nothing like that. If you do, your post will stay up, be memorialized, and OS will personally throw verbal rotten eggs at the candidate.
Along strolls an enthusiastic gent, handing out a candidate flyer for Steve Fincher, candidate for Congress. OS barely looked up from his plate, until he noticed that the enthusiastic gent was Mr. Fincher himself, who graciously sat down and allowed himself to be questioned.
He's thirty-seven, with three kids, a farmer, gospel music singer and Methodist from a small town in the center of the district. He's been well-coached, perhaps over-coached, and Heaven knows the man must be weary of talking to strangers who interrogate him.
We tried to convey a couple of ideas to him, and it's not certain we were successful.
1. The 1994 GOP Freshman Class of House members absolutely blew it. They simply muscled the Dems away from the trough and began their own feeding frenzy. Our disdain for George Bush the Younger was unmistakable. We were hostile in tone when speaking of this. He agreed, and agreed, and agreed, but we're not sure he understood the import of what he was hearing. OS asked him point blank if he was willing to look that horse's-patooty John Boehner in the eye and say 'NO'. He said he would.
2. Mrs. OS posed a more crucial question (she's a lot wiser than her husband). When push comes to shove, and you have to prioritize between your social conservatism and your fiscal conservatism, which way will you go? What's the more crucial question in your mind? He began to talk about his core conservative values, 100% pro-life, etc. Again, he's really been coached. She was attempting to find out if this nice man has been so captured by the Religious Right that he doesn't see the Bigger Moral Question, that the government is in danger of collapsing the culture itself, making other arguments moot. The Religious Right types are a biiiiig part of the problem, with real tin-foil-hat wing-nuts scattered liberally throughout their ranks. They tolerate no differences of opinion, and take no prisoners. He did say that he was running because he thinks the country is about to burn down, and that he is concerned about his children's futures. He is sincere and earnest, but we were looking for a more measured quality of mind. Perhaps in time, he'll develop that.
3. We asked him his age (37), and where he plans to be at age 50. He plans to be home by that time, no more than six terms, if memory serves correctly.
This primary is a very close call, and OS will likely vote for this gent. John Tanner is thankfully departing, a member of the YellowDog Democrat crowd that has treated this part of the world like a plantation. Mr. Fincher has some real appeal, because with young children and a family business to run, he still has some true existential and emotional skin in the game. He also would have enough energy to juggle all those conflicting responsibilities. His opponents create much, much more serious misgivings in OS's mind. But it will not be an enthusiastic vote.
OS hopes someday to talk with him again, post-primary. Fincher didn't adequately answer the culture-forms-economy questions, and perhaps OS needs to phrase them more clearly.
Roy Herron, his likely Democrat opponent, is someone OS has known in the past. He is a thoughtful man of real character, but sadly has hitched his wagon to the wrong team of horses, like AlGore, Clinton, Obama, and company. OS would be very aggrieved to witness ad hominem attacks upon the man, because it would be more indicative of the GOP candidate's character than Mr. Herron's. OS can't vote for Roy, but doesn't think he ever deserves to be trashed. It is likely that the typical RNC down-and-dirty approach would doom the GOP candidate.
Ya'll play nice out there.
By the way, OS's comment board is still open for the OS Candidate Challenge, TN 8 GOP Primary:
50 words or less from each candidate, explaining positively why he would serve the district best, and no circular firing squads allowed. No attacks, no name-calling, no nothing like that. If you do, your post will stay up, be memorialized, and OS will personally throw verbal rotten eggs at the candidate.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Thoughts On Friday, No Particular Order
OldSouth sits to collect himself before the non-stop circus of the next ten days begins. Out for a week beginning Sunday, with contractors gutting a portion of the house in his absence. Progress emerges from chaos, hopefully. Won't be much to time think, much less write.
It is stinking hot in Tennessee, and no place of escape. The dogs head out the door for a few minutes, and come in completely spent from a brief circuit around the property.
A wonderful dinner last night in a recently-owned restaurant in our small town. Husband and wife in their thirties, moving in to nest and raise children. A real sign of hope for us all here. They opened a year ago, brave souls, and have survived the first year in good form. There are little signs of progress here and there, in the midst of all the gloomy news. Here's hoping the various levels of government don't drive a stake through the heart of their ambitions.
Much of the past two days has been spent on one academic colleague whining piteously about the unfairness of a world he cannot make bend to his will, from his exalted position at Bugtussle State U. As one friend noted, whiners seems to exhibit incredibly long attention spans.
Still waiting to hear from the members of the Circular Firing Squad, aka the candidates for the Republican primary in the Eighth District.
They are certainly burning copious piles of cash defaming one another.
Away we go.
Fifty words or less, boys, and play nice...
It is stinking hot in Tennessee, and no place of escape. The dogs head out the door for a few minutes, and come in completely spent from a brief circuit around the property.
A wonderful dinner last night in a recently-owned restaurant in our small town. Husband and wife in their thirties, moving in to nest and raise children. A real sign of hope for us all here. They opened a year ago, brave souls, and have survived the first year in good form. There are little signs of progress here and there, in the midst of all the gloomy news. Here's hoping the various levels of government don't drive a stake through the heart of their ambitions.
Much of the past two days has been spent on one academic colleague whining piteously about the unfairness of a world he cannot make bend to his will, from his exalted position at Bugtussle State U. As one friend noted, whiners seems to exhibit incredibly long attention spans.
Still waiting to hear from the members of the Circular Firing Squad, aka the candidates for the Republican primary in the Eighth District.
They are certainly burning copious piles of cash defaming one another.
Away we go.
Fifty words or less, boys, and play nice...
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Listening To The Crickets Chirp: TN 8th District Republican Primary
OldSouth's invitation from yesterday remains open.
Fifty words or less, boys, but play nice.
Why should I vote for you?
Why should the people who read my screed, and live in your district, vote for you?
(Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.)
Fifty words or less, boys, but play nice.
Why should I vote for you?
Why should the people who read my screed, and live in your district, vote for you?
(Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.)
Republican Candidates For TN District 8: Fincher, Flinn, Kirkland
OldSouth really has no idea where to invest his vote.
After twenty years or so of Democrat ownership, TN 8 is finally being abandoned by John Tanner, who decided to get out while he could.
So, we have three Republicans seeking the seat, in alphabetical order.
Stephen Fincher
George Flinn
Ron Kirkland
Fincher runs his large family-owned farm operation in Frog Jump, Tennessee. Really, no joke, there is a Frog Jump, Tennessee, although OS wonders why one would admit to it, much less boast of it. However, running a successful farming business is no small feat. It has very little to do with those pastoral distance shots with the music of Copland hovering in the background. He did announce his run before Tanner bowed out, and may have helped the blessed event occur. He travels with his family gospel-singing group in his spare time. The Southern Gospel Music culture is a world unto itself in many ways. OS knows more about it than he cares to admit, and don't ask him how he knows...
Flinn is a physician and businessman, with an engineering degree as well. He is a radiologist, and owns a series of radiology facilities, as well as a firm that owns some forty radio stations, Flinn Broadcasting. The man definitely knows how to organize things and make money, which OS considers a virtue.
There is an oddity here, though. Under Tennessee law, one does not need to live in a particular Congressional district in order to run for the seat. Given the imaginative manner in which the usually-Democrat-controlled state legislature cheerily gerrymanders districts to protect Democrat Members of Congress, this is not truly surprising, even though it is creepy. Flinn has taken advantage of that fact, and lives in Memphis (its own Congressional district, forever Democrat) while running for office in District 8, which stretches almost to Nashville. All very odd, but one has to admire his chutzpah, perhaps.
Ron Kirkland is a physician and businessman as well, practicing and managing a large medical practice in Jackson, TN, that provides most of the medical services for most of rural West Tennessee. He undoubtedly has prospered as well, again a virtue, assuming the earnings are acquired virtuously. One of the downsides of private-enterprise medicine is the same as public-sector medicine: large practices like this can tend to be anti-competitive, making life hell on any provider who may create competition. OS was recently regaled with just such a story, emanating from (you guessed it), Jackson, Tennessee. It may or may not have been Kirkland's outfit that screwed that provider, but it is illustrative of the problem.
The counties these firms serve begin to resemble plantations. OS lives in a county that was long dominated by such a practice, and the results were tragic in many cases. Fifth-rate medical care, fortunes built, patients regularly injured. OS is a capitalist, and thinks that rigged markets are evil.
All three candidates have formed the requisite circular firing squad, each accusing the other of secretly sleeping with Nancy Pelosi, worshipping Obama, and enthusiastically promoting abortion, while simultaneously assuring the voter 'I'm more conservative than THOSE GUYS!!'
OS is, well, not impressed.
Given the fact that each campaign probably has some snot-nosed kid working in the office whose job it is to scour for bloggers who write about the upcoming primary, OS hereby issues the invitation for someone from each camp to state, in fifty cogent words or less, why his guy merits a vote. Only rule is, no one can say anything remotely nasty or snide about the opponents.
Play nice, boys.
OS is curious to see if any of these gents is up to the linguistic task...
After twenty years or so of Democrat ownership, TN 8 is finally being abandoned by John Tanner, who decided to get out while he could.
So, we have three Republicans seeking the seat, in alphabetical order.
Stephen Fincher
George Flinn
Ron Kirkland
Fincher runs his large family-owned farm operation in Frog Jump, Tennessee. Really, no joke, there is a Frog Jump, Tennessee, although OS wonders why one would admit to it, much less boast of it. However, running a successful farming business is no small feat. It has very little to do with those pastoral distance shots with the music of Copland hovering in the background. He did announce his run before Tanner bowed out, and may have helped the blessed event occur. He travels with his family gospel-singing group in his spare time. The Southern Gospel Music culture is a world unto itself in many ways. OS knows more about it than he cares to admit, and don't ask him how he knows...
Flinn is a physician and businessman, with an engineering degree as well. He is a radiologist, and owns a series of radiology facilities, as well as a firm that owns some forty radio stations, Flinn Broadcasting. The man definitely knows how to organize things and make money, which OS considers a virtue.
There is an oddity here, though. Under Tennessee law, one does not need to live in a particular Congressional district in order to run for the seat. Given the imaginative manner in which the usually-Democrat-controlled state legislature cheerily gerrymanders districts to protect Democrat Members of Congress, this is not truly surprising, even though it is creepy. Flinn has taken advantage of that fact, and lives in Memphis (its own Congressional district, forever Democrat) while running for office in District 8, which stretches almost to Nashville. All very odd, but one has to admire his chutzpah, perhaps.
Ron Kirkland is a physician and businessman as well, practicing and managing a large medical practice in Jackson, TN, that provides most of the medical services for most of rural West Tennessee. He undoubtedly has prospered as well, again a virtue, assuming the earnings are acquired virtuously. One of the downsides of private-enterprise medicine is the same as public-sector medicine: large practices like this can tend to be anti-competitive, making life hell on any provider who may create competition. OS was recently regaled with just such a story, emanating from (you guessed it), Jackson, Tennessee. It may or may not have been Kirkland's outfit that screwed that provider, but it is illustrative of the problem.
The counties these firms serve begin to resemble plantations. OS lives in a county that was long dominated by such a practice, and the results were tragic in many cases. Fifth-rate medical care, fortunes built, patients regularly injured. OS is a capitalist, and thinks that rigged markets are evil.
All three candidates have formed the requisite circular firing squad, each accusing the other of secretly sleeping with Nancy Pelosi, worshipping Obama, and enthusiastically promoting abortion, while simultaneously assuring the voter 'I'm more conservative than THOSE GUYS!!'
OS is, well, not impressed.
Given the fact that each campaign probably has some snot-nosed kid working in the office whose job it is to scour for bloggers who write about the upcoming primary, OS hereby issues the invitation for someone from each camp to state, in fifty cogent words or less, why his guy merits a vote. Only rule is, no one can say anything remotely nasty or snide about the opponents.
Play nice, boys.
OS is curious to see if any of these gents is up to the linguistic task...
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