Newscoma

Every time that I see media on Stephen Colbert’s efforts in South Carolina I think of my Saturdays in the 70s watching SchoolHouse Rock.

I aced memorizing the Preamble for a high school exam because of that show.

I’ve imagine more people have learned about SuperPacs watching Colbert than anyone.

Just an observation …

There are a lot of reasons that I hope that Sen. Beverly Marrero will consider a run for the U.S. Senate. As a middle-aged woman myself who works in politics, I always find her to be inspirational because of her fearlessness and I consider her to be a role model.

Anyone who is going to run against Sen. Bob Corker needs to have a strong voice. I believe that Sen. Marrero is that person. Of course this is just my opinion and I have not spoken with Beverly, but I think she would be a hell of a candidate.

• She is a progressive and she is not afraid to stand alone on the things she believes in. And she’s not frightened of asking the hard questions even if it is to her own colleagues.
• She is a true voice for women’s issues regarding safety and combating domestic violence as well as an activist for children.
• She is a strong advocate for civil rights. Go and see the bills that she has filed in the last couple of years.  Her record of fighting human trafficking is exceptional.
• Last summer, she traveled with her colleagues around the state talking to small business owners about the state’s job crisis.
• She knows the issues that come from being a single parent. She is also a champion for LGBT issues.
• Marrero epitomizes what it is to be a savvy, smart woman and even started her own business in real estate consulting. She has worked within and outside the confines of a government giving her an edge on knowing the public, and private, sectors. She has a keen understanding of the loss of the middle class in this state as well and I think she would fight for the voices of people in this state who feel invisible.
• She has really worked on greenways and parks in Memphis but her environmental voice goes statewide. Last year when the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Bill was in committee, I watched her annihilate some of the members against the bill single-handedly over the multiple reasons why this state should not blow the tops of mountains.
• She reminds me a little bit of Bella Abzug with Betty White thrown in for good measure with the spark of Ann Richards.  Bella Abzug helped change politics and, let’s get real, who doesn’t love Betty White.
• She doesn’t engage in GOP Word Soup.

I was talking to a friend of mine about how Tennessee is constantly berated and belittled in mainstream media and many times deservedly so for so much wrong-headed legislation that is filed in Nashville. This is where I can see Beverly breaking down those walls. I can see her sitting and chatting easily on Rachel Maddow or FOX in one of her famous hats talking about real issues that reflect real Tennesseans in an elegant way.  And she is a friend of progressive grassroots movements.

I’m sort of tired of the prevailing attitude in Tennessee that politicians have to either “wait their turn” or “it’s mine, mine, mine.”

I think that Beverly could change some of these things.

I don’t know if she would consider running or not, but I would love to see her do it because of those reasons I mentioned above. She could combat sexism, ageism  and a few other isms out there that have ruled Tennessee politics for a long time. She reminds me of Elizabeth Warren.

We need strong women representing us in Washington breaking stereotypes. I think Sen. Marrero could be that person.

(A Facebook page has been created called Draft Beverly for U.S. Senate. Please join today.)

Campers, you may think people don’t want your advice and you don’t have a voice in policy issues. Give it to them anyway. Talk about what you know and you see because if you don’t advocate for your community, who will?

Having grown up in Hoots where anyone who has never lived in a Hoots (remember, this is a state of mind about rural Tennessee) there has always been the issue of a rural vs. urban divide. I believe a lot of this has to do with in many places in this state there isn’t local Tennessee news on television due to proximity. In Northwest Tennessee, if a family is getting certain satellite packages, local news may be coming out of Paducah, Sikeston or Cape Girardeau so local news comes out of three border states that aren’t Tennessee. The way I see it is that Urban America and Rural America both play an important part of driving the economy and although they are different, many issues are very similar.

One challenge though for rural Tennesseans is the lack of television news which I have pontificated before about. Also remember, there are patches of areas around this state that still do not have broadband.

So national news plays a large piece of the media pie as does radio talkies like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. The Tennessean and the Commercial Appeal only goes so far in an eastward and westward direction. The Jackson Sun has the area but with the economic landscape being so dire in certain pockets of rural America many newspapers have lost subscribers. If it’s between buying a ham for the family or buying the daily deadwood, what do you think most people are going to invest in?

The reason I’m bringing this up is that yesterday I met with Rep. Jim Cooper and several other online scribes in Nashville. I agree with Betsy that I rather like Cooper’s exuberant geekiness about policy and I thought he was rather upfront about SOPA, how Congress has turned into a more Parliament environment without the perks of actually being a Parliament and that the news is not necessarily positive coming out of Washington.

She wrote this:

Congress is at the moment functioning like a Parliament, but without the checks and balances of a parliamentary system. There’s so much voting along strict party lines that Congress is actually being run according to the will of a minority of Republicans (though, in the recent past it has been run by a small minority of Democrats) because there are effective mechanisms in place to keep people from voting against their party.

It was kind of depressing, actually. Ha ha ha. But Cooper seems invigorated by changes in how vocal and engaged regular people are and can be with the political system. And I’ve been thinking about that, too. About whether the push for corporate funding for elections isn’t a direct response to discomfort with the ever-louder voice of the people–like let’s get back to just a small few of us being the ones whose needs need to be considered here.

The one thing that resonated with me was talking about what I discussed above as well. Political junkies will actively seek out information. If you notice, much of the time I write about state issues and not national ones. I truly am in the camp that all politics are local. Cooper discussed political messaging and narrative when I asked him about it and I mentioned about getting the message out. I think he and I agree that we do become fragmented at times as progressives. The Occupy movement did change the national medi dialogue which is important. I would love to be able to send Elizabeth Warren a check but I’d rather work on things here in the state I have a more concrete investment in. (Go Elizabeth GO!)

So I was thinking about urban and rural later in the day. Let’s look at the Tennessee Scenic Vista Act. Sen. Eric Stewart, who has a rural district, and Sen. Beverly Marrero, who is smack dab in Shelby County, both have been strong supporters of this state bill. Clean water, banning fracking and other issues are important to both rural and urban areas, as an example. We can work together in both environments so our lands are available for the next generation. Campaign reform (come on people, corporations are not people) is a resonating message. People want to be able to go home at night and feel financially stable, so jobs are important and we all need to be talking about.

And having conversations with our elected leaders is crucial, whether it is a congressman such as Jim Cooper or a local alderman. National news is important but local and state news affects you more immediately.

The challenges are there and should be addressed. Giving advice or having a cup of coffee with someone you may or may not disagree with is important.  A meme went around a while back  that said “Speak the truth even if your voice shakes.”

And talk about what you know and what impacts your community.

Once upon a time, there was a girl who was really a middle-aged woman with frizzy hair because the water in Nashville is as hard as the rock holding up the Matterhorn, who caught cold.

She believes that she caught it because the weather Gods were playing jokes with the seasons. Anyway, she went through roughly 4,307 boxes of tissues and became perpetually crabby.

She woke up one morning to find that she had sneezed up her intestines.

The Hobo Nose Cold was quite similar to smallpox, the black death and raccoon rabies.

The moral of the story is that there is no moral to any story. Just that the hobo nose cold kept winning.

By the end of the 15th day of having said hobo nose cold, she decided to name it Charlie Sheen.

The end.

A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation.
James Freeman Clarke

I have redistricting map eye fatigue right now after looking at countless maps across the state. I think it’s about what everyone expected. The democrats haven’t had to go through this process before so I’m sure for elected officials this has been nerve-wracking. As R. Neal said, these are the spoils of political war. We lost for two election cycles and so it goes.

I’m rather pragmatic in all of this. There’s not a lot that can be done about this, quite frankly. If state democrats try to take this to court, it’s going to need a face and a narrative of epic proportions. If it doesn’t, it will look a bit sour grapish, I’m afraid (my two cents). Redistricting is purely mired in politics, and I just don’t believe that it resonates with average folks. For those of us who are political junkies, it’s our bread and butter but for other people, it’s honestly not that “sexy.”  In talking to folks from my hometown over the course of this week, many people didn’t know or where just not engaged. What they were talking about were jobs, the anti-bullying bill (yes they were oh ye’ non believers that there are progressives outside of the 440 Loop) and … well jobs. And let’s look at news and messaging, Dorothy Cooper did more for educating Tennesseans about the Photo Voter ID law than anyone because she was a face. This is where traditional media, grassroots activism and social media all worked together.

Mary Mancini wrote just last week the best advice ever:

I had two conversations with loved ones over the last couple of weeks about the Occupy movement. After going ’round and ’round and finally agreeing that yes, corporate money and special interests have an undue influence on the political process and must be removed, they both said, “but that will never happen, so why bother?”

Let’s all make a New Year’s resolution to work to keep this kind of nihilistic cynicism at bay in 2012. We are fighting for opportunities for strong communities, economic justice, and a government that works for all Tennesseans. Together we CAN make it happen.

Tennessee Talking Points looks at each district of how things will change and who is in trouble and who just might be.

There is a new world order happening right now but there is a hell of a lot of purple voters out there as well. How are those potential voters who could swing either way being engaged? I’m partisan and I own it but I also know that preaching to the choir each week doesn’t get any new members into the church.

So here are a few ideas for candidates:

1. If you are going to run for office or you are already in office, start your campaign yesterday.
2. Set up your strategy, your call time for fundraising and meet with anyone and everyone in your district. One thing that happened last go around is that people started their campaigns late and discounted that many voters were absolutely done with incumbents.
3. Know when it’s time to transition from getting your team together for your race and then morphing into being the candidate. Don’t micromanage, trust your people.
4. Don’t discount social media as a tool. Don’t put it on the back-burner. A combination of traditional media and social media can have a lethal punch if worked correctly.
5. You can’t have enough friends. Not everyone has a checkbook overflowing with goodies (God knows I don’t)  in this day of corporate fundraising and nothing is more effective, even in smaller district races, than water cooler conversations be it face-to-face or over social media. Train and lead people to want to talk about you online and in person. Create keyboard warriors for your campaign. But you damn well give them a reason to fight for you.
6. Own your story. Don’t let others own it for you.

Now I realize that I just put on my Captain Obvious cape and tights on here but I do believe that some of this gets forgotten. When you get lemons, why not make a lemon drop? And for those folks who aren’t running or lost last time around, be a statesman. Just because you aren’t in office doesn’t mean that you can’t mentor. Leaders just lead. They don’t say “we can’t” they just do what needs to be done.

People want to help but they need a reason to get off the sofa and into the trenches. They need a reason to give the party or a candidate their time.

They need to believe. As Mary said, it’s important to change the narrative to where people want to “bother” and be engaged.  It’s honestly not that hard if folks start listening to each other.

While watching CNN this morning I learned all about the clothing habits of Rick Santorum’s penchant for sweater vests. Yes indeed, a whole segment dedicated to this “secret weapon” which was apparently picked up by MSNBC just a few minutes ago.

The Jasper Award goes to the lazy coverage I’ve seen the last couple of days. How many times do I have to watch the same stump speech from Mitt Romney saying his been going steady with his wife, Ron Paul doing what Ron Paul does, Newt Gingrich snarling at people, Michelle looking oddly like she always does?

It’s been like a three-day press release. Where was the bite?

Salon writes:

Political journalism, of course, is supposed to be adversarial in nature. It’s supposed to be about providing a check on power, and about covering issues, elections and candidates without regard for whether the candidates and their staffs want them covered. Yet, what Capital New York tells us is a taboo truism that is rarely ever spoken out loud: Namely, that for all the faux conflict and chest thumping of the cable shows, and all the references to “Boys on the Bus” nostalgia among print reporters, political journalism today is now the mirror opposite of adversarial. It’s about people who preen around calling themselves “reporters,” but who are in reality just glorified royal courtiers simply transmitting press releases and spoon fed stories from the candidates and their staffs.

Couldn’t agree more. Enjoy your Jasper.

Public policy is not sexy, my friends. It’s not. If you have ever sat in a county commission, subcommittee meeting or anywhere quite frankly that policy is being discussed, it can be mind-numbing.

It is, however, the backbone of effective government and politics but its the one thing that so many people turn a deaf ear to.

More outrage and narrative comes will come after the policy is set into motion when many times the votes have been set and negotiated. And it’s too late. Don’t get me wrong, groups like TEP and Tennessee Citizens Action are always out at every meeting and watching potential legislation at all times. The issue is that in so many places in this state, what we have are empty city halls and courthouses where policy is shuffled on through without much fanfare.

Bills aren’t known until they hit subcommittee or up for action (and there were beau-coups of them last year during the General Assembly.) It’s fun for policy wonks to look things up but even going through state websites can be a bit tedious. Local action in counties and cities is where conversations with elected officials can be had one-on-one yet in the smaller communities I have lived in many times the meeting agendas weren’t released until that day showing little time to peruse.

Meeting with state reps and senators at the local diner and asking questions (and also requiring solid answers and not a wave of the hand or a dismissal is crucial.)

It’s easy to get on the outrage juice with national issues. Listening to some of the things I’ve heard on the news today which is IA Caucus ad nauseum, it is a bit mind-boggling.

So as we head into session, I’m taking my own way of doing things that I’m documenting over here at the ‘Coma. What are things that I have control over? What can I do in my own backyard? What language am I writing and speaking? Is it media/partisan word soup or is it fact-based? It’s easy to fall into calling caps on damages the old side car that it’s tort reform. It’s not, it’s caps on damages.

There is another key I’ve been thinking about right now and I realize I am being Captain Obvious but no one trusts government right now. Doesn’t matter what side of the aisle you might be sitting on. So how do we start believing that our government is effective? I think it is more simple than we might think. If we are stewards on making local and state politicians accountable for each decision they make by participating in the process, then that might help. I think one other key element is respecting those people who are doing these things already. It’s just as easy to say “Good Job” as it is to be outraged.

That’s what’s floating around my cranium today.

Today’s Jasper Award goes to Ron Paul. Now I know there are folks out there that love them some Paul. And I realize that he wants to legalize marijuana and stop war but he does have some issues that he might need to be a bit more accountable about.

From Raw Story:

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on Sunday admitted that racist and homophobic newsletters published in his name called into question his management style, but insisted there were only eight offensive sentences.

“I wrote a lot of part of the letter,” Paul told ABC’s Jake Tapper. “And I’ve never said I didn’t. I wrote some of the — you know, the economic parts. I was not the editor. I was the publisher. And there were some very bad sentences put in. I did not write those. I did not review them.”

Let’s think about this for just a moment. There is a bit of GOP word soup happening here. When anyone uses the word “only” that isn’t accountable. It happened. And he also has been accused of being a 9/11 truther although he does deny that little tidbit although a former staffer and senior aide confirms he shared many of those beliefs. And it does show flawed management skills from the good doctor.

That’s a paddlin’.

Let me be clear and I won’t stutter but do not let any pet near Mitt Romney.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney offered no defense Wednesday when asked about a dog he had made ride on the roof of his station wagon during a family vacation.

According to a 2007 Boston Globe profile of the candidate, Romney’s oldest son, Tagg, yelled, “Gross!” as he noticed a brown liquid flowing down the back window from the Irish Setter Seamus, who had been riding on car’s roof for hours.

“As the rest of the boys joined in the howls of disgust, Romney coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station,” the Globe noted. “There, he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway. It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management.”

Who in the hell straps their dog in a crate on top of a car for hours? What was he thinking?

Our first Jasper award this year goes to Mitt Romney:

2011 was the year of transition.

For those of you still keeping up at home, I moved to Nashville on Dec. 1, 2010. I took a job that didn’t suit me, nor did I suit it, and after a bit of soul searching I opted to stay in the Music City. I resigned from that four month soul suck. Some things just aren’t meant to be. Most times I’m glad I stayed in middle Tennessee but there have been other times that I wondered what the hell was I thinking. Now I am most likely putting a lot more into my thought process when I say that there is much I loved about my online advocacy about Hoots.

Might not mean a lot to Hootsvillians, but it meant a lot to me. I know rural west Tennessee. The quirks and the subculture inspired me more that I can say. No one outside of northwest Tennessee got it, but I know the little details that make the place unique. In my own silly, self-serving way, I wanted to break some of the stereotypes of rural life. It never ceased to amaze me that folks outside of that area thought everyone was a rube about politics.

I’m pleased that Steve Steffens,

Eating Corn At Oktoberfest. It was tasty and gave me corn teeth. I had to cover my mouth when I ran into people I knew.

Betsy Phillips, The Hoots U folks and Steve Ross (on several occasions) took the time to come over and check it out for themselves. The online community in this state has offered me a wealth of opportunity, which I am grateful for. I remember Steffens and I sitting last November on the square in Dresden next to the Ned McWherter statue talking about the vibe of a small town, looking at so many closed businesses that surround the courthouse to this day. It was a moment between myself and Cracker.

We both knew the magnitude of what we were looking at and the silence of that moment was deafening.

Two days later, I would leave.

Well, I moved to Nashville and I suddenly found that I had misplaced my writing muse. I knew some of the bloggers up here which helped but I haven’t lived here in so long that I had forgotten much of the rhythm of this city. I’m too old to be a hipster (which I would suck at quite frankly) and I found that there was a controlled cynicism that I didn’t expect. In many ways, the political environment was the most surprising and I have been rather vocal in some of the small circles I run in that we need to remember that there are voters outside the 440 loop yet I know that those words fall to the wayside. And yet, I’m confident enough to know that I’m right on this one.

I am not complaining. I have been learning which is never easy. When a person is in transition, educating yourself is what you have to do. So what I learned this year is that there is a cadence to any place that must be explored. I have made friends outside the blogging world who have become special to me. I have kept the friends who are interested whom I met online. I am learning that Nashville is a whole bunch of small towns are glooped together to create a city. I have also learned that if you have a party that starts after 8 p.m. that my old ass can’t stay up as late as I used to. Last night, I was home by 7 in fresh pjs. I may also have moved into being a bit boring.

I’m fortunate that I have been given an opportunity through Mike McWherter. I want to say that. I am allowed to write his daily eblast and we are working on expanding the Out of the Blue website. I get to read stories from across the state and compile them daily. This has been absolutely wonderful. It’s been interesting to study policy before it hits the General Assembly.  I wish I could get folks more interested in model bills being sent to this state from think tanks owned by ALEC and the Koch Brothers but it’s like Tim Robbins character in The Shawshank Redemption. Little bits of concrete shavings at a time falling on the floor did create a progress over time. It’s not sexy enough for the most of the media, I guess.

Sure, there have been some deep disappointments and some giddy highs that have marked this year. It has been, for the most part, okay. Life is what it is. In this coming new year, I am hoping that the transition year of 2011 will move into positive action in 2012. And I am still looking for a new muse.

Have I told you about this little bar out in west Nashville? Maybe I should …

You work with what you have.

Sort of what you do.

I’ve been watching The Walking Dead since it debuted last year. The first mini-season was taut, wicked and unrelentless. So many scenes still resonate with me including the half of the body that Rick encounters when he leaves the hospital, the ride into Atlanta, him being surrounded by all of the zombies once he gets there and the ongoing lack of hope. The CDC couldn’t help was crucial for me although I have no idea why (they are the smart guys. The should know the answers.)  When Angela had to put down her sister, it was a bit of acting you don’t see on television that often.

Which brings me to this season which has been … well, let’s just say not as satisfying. The herds walking down the Interstate was tight and I liked the ongoing suspense of that opening scene. It worked.

And then there was Sophia which was just a drag.

The time on Hershel’s farm has been too long, too melodramatic and too much like watching formula soap operas on prime time. I like many of the characters, but the three leads have been overwrought. I get that Shane’s inner asshole, which was most likely always part of his character, had to evolve into his role of the antagonist but the faith struggle between Rick and Lori has, for me at least, been a snooze fest. It’s the supporting cast that have held things together and, quite frankly, I’m going to watch zombies anywhere because that’s what I do.

I just wanted it to be as good as its first season. I realize the behind the scenes squabbling but I’m a consumer and I wants what I wants.

Things I like about The Walking Dead:

• I do like that Glen is scared but does brave things anyway.
• Dale, oh how I love that he acts with every bit of his body and that face. He doesn’t have to say a word and you get everything that he does.
• Who doesn’t love our favorite white supremacist Darryl? The cross bow is also a character to me and I just dig he’s a badass. I’d rather him backing me up instead of Shane for obvious reasons.
• Reluctant leader Rick does what he has to do. I think that’s what the writers are trying to convey.
• The walkers. More walkers please.
• I think that our wily and uncohesive band of RV riding heroes have not gotten over being shell-shocked yet. They haven’t realized their Ka-Tet thus far which may be the point thus far.

We have until February until we see if the money shot at the end of Sunday night’s series was an indication that the series will take a more aggressive path in the plot. Or if that was a one-time deal, which I hoped it is not.

You can read Ron Hogan’s critique of the season finale at Den of Geek.