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The whole Willie Herenton saga continues to be interesting as I sit on the outside looking in. Steve Ross has a post on the soap opera that Herenton is currently starring in and I think he’s spot on with his analysis.

I haven’t written about Herenton’s primary challenge, or any of the on goings here in Memphis pertaining to the Mayor, because I don’t believe any of it until Council Chairman Lowery assumes the Mayor’s office on an interim basis. Once that happens, I’ll start believin’. Still, the Mayor’s antics today, including the possibility of running in the Special Election if he doesn’t like the field cast some serious doubts on how serious he really is about anything.

What this is starting to look like now, is a man who more than anything else, just wants to be in the public eye, stirring up shit, for his personal enjoyment.

Herenton, as you probably read earlier this week, called Steve Cohen an asshole. Cohen isn’t getting involved with Herenton, which is smart.

Ross goes on to write about how in politics, you have to make deals. Herenton basically says that he’s not a deal maker which may be the most naive, or asinine statement I’ve ever heard an elected individual say. I agree with Cracker, he’s not a stupid man and he is a seasoned politician or he wouldn’t have been mayor of Memphis for a billion years.

My point is that he’s saying what he thinks people want to hear.

I realize politicians do that. I’m not naive either.

And it all just rings very disingenuous. And his interview seemed, to me at least, to make him look a bit petty.

Herenton’s game is actually quite yawn-inducing to a large degree now that I think about it. And you’re looking at a special election that’s going to cost a lot of dough-re-mi at the end of the day.

So Willie, I ask, what’s the point?

Brad Watkins writes:

Let me be frank, Candidates are NOT your friends. They are not your family,your saviors or your messiahs, they are not perfect beings nor are the perfect extensions of your political beliefs. They are however, people of ambition, talent and skill who are all applying for job.

He’s right. I’ve often talked about how candidates tend to placate the people that support them.  I’ve often felt like I was being patted on the head at times from those seeking office.

Watkins goes on to discuss supporting issues instead of personalities.  It’s good advice.

The key for me in upcoming elections will be to watch what politicians are fighting for and endorsing the policies that I feel best represent me and my community. I was a bit disheartened earlier this year when I found that myself and other key bloggers were fighting hard against some policy changes being discussed in Nashville (some which passed) while elected politicians were not after we talked to them repeatedly. We were, in essence, placated.

This experience turned into being a great learning curve.  Mainly because I realize it comes down to my vote and my voice which I will use a bit differently now.

Change is never easy not only for those of us who vote but for those in office. And change is what we need after seeing the 106th at work.

As you know, politics has gone to the dogs. So, let a dog run the state of Tennessee.

I heard Mark Brown is available. (Mabel says “Call me.)

She doesn’t have a platform. She don’t need no stinking platform.  And her campaign is sponsored by a bar.

And she listens. This is of the good, my friends. And she’s run for president.

Winner, I’m telling you.

Well, Mayor Willie has resigned in Memphis to run against Steve Cohen. I’ve always thought that Willie Herenton was a bit of a poser and I think this will be an interesting race to watch.

One thing that folks might want to keep in mind is that Cohen is scrappy, and I mean that with the utmost respect. It’s one reason I dig him. Not only is he energetically aggressive when he runs for office (or in his politics) but he has always, to me at least, gone into everything he does with wild abandon.

I think he’ll be fine. Cohen has a long legislative history in Nashville that spreads to his current post in Washington. He won’t rest in this campaign that looks like it’s going to last awhile.

I’m two hours from Memphis, but I can feel the ground shaking in the land of Elvis. For all of us political geeks, I’ll pop the corn if you bring the sodas.

This is going to be something to watch as Cohen goes into action.

The quote of the day goes to Jeff Woods, who is writing about Bernie Ellis, Mary Mancini, Tre Hargett and how the TBI basically went to some bloggers to investigate this comment.

I remember when I thought my vote counted. I’ve said it before, if I can get a receipt for a quarter pounder with cheese, why can’t I get one when I vote?

I think too much.

Anyway, Woods writes:

Here’s the moral of this little tale of power and corruption: Don’t mess with aging hippies. They’re meaner than you think.

Hargett sees them as a bunch of pansies. But the pansies kicked his ass on this legislation, so he was embarrassed and decided it was time for payback.

Heh.

Michael Silence also has a run down on how this story has evolved.

This is an excellent article from SoulPancake about Hope, Protest and how Iran will never be the same again.

HOPE.

It’s a tricky word. In the U.S. presidential election last fall, hope became a thing to market and to mock. I admit, I often questioned whether “hope” was anything but a nice vaguery that helped candidates avoid details while motivating supporters. It sounded great, but can hope actually change anything?

My answer came from the strangest place: Iran.

Read the rest of the article. Well done.

Good grief! Grantham has this at Nashville is Talking.

In what can only be called a blatant attempt to violate state law, Republicans who recently gained control of the Rutherford County Election Commission tried to meet in private and called the police to physically remove reporters.

The scene got so tense that Post Publisher Mike Pirtle and DNJ Editor Jimmy Hart arrived and attempted to physically hand Republican Chairman Tom Walker a copy of the state’s Sunshine Law. Walker refused the copy and said he does not care what the law is.

Physically remove reporters? WTH?

Silence says it’s a slap in the face to the general public.

He’s right.

We haven’t really delved into the governor’s race in awhile so I thought I’d take a look at what’s going on. I figured that there would be a bit of hitting the ground running after the 106th ended, and in some ways it has.

In Memphis, there were candidates with the (D) behind their names campaigning like raccoons on acid and Kim McMillan even made a stop in Paris.

I noticed that she also brought up green industries as Ward Cammack has been doing. I keep wondering why both Cammack and McMillan are pounding this issue hard. Ilissa has more on McMillan at her blog on some of the details and then there is this on Cammack from an interview I did with him back in May.

My advice to both of them, if they haven’t already done it which they may have, is talk to some farmers. I believe that talking to guys whose hands are in the dirt, you know, growing our food is very important.

I’m waiting on more from Mike McWherter although I know he also did some “visiting” in the city of Elvis and has set up a rather impressive staff. As for Roy Herron and Jim Kyle, well, we just will see. Herron may want to see this story from the Chattanooga Times Free Press as the first story up while using my google-fu says about him that he was “unavailable” and candidates don’t want to seem inaccessible. That’s not an insult, just constructive feedback.

In other news, the story of Mark Brown leaving the Cammack campaign had my cell phone burning up with messages asking  if I had heard the news. Brown hasn’t really commented to anyone on why they are no longer together. I like Brown and I wish him well on his next endeavor. It will be interesting to see if Cammack continues with his, for lack of a better word, aggressive campaigning now that Brown is no longer on the ship.

And, you just have to love West Tennessee politics.

Photo by Steve Ross

Blue Collar Muse has a big reveal about some correspondence he says comes that he found offensive from a Democratic staffer also via e-mail.

Apparently he’s going to be doing this for the next six hours.

As I said in my earlier post, it’s just as bad coming from one side or the other.

I’m with Jim Voorhies on this.

It goes both ways. I’m waiting to see what happens next.

UPDATE: Nashville is Talking has said it’s a staffer out of Memphis. BCM hasn’t announced it yet, however, so I will wait on him.

UPDATE: BCM says this:

Christian Grantham correctly reports the email came from a staffer from Karen Camper’s (D – Memphis) office.  Since we’re than close, let’s jump the timeline and report that the staffer in question is Blake P Graves.

Graves appears to be an intern but it states on this pdf he’s in Rep. Joe Towns office.

(Would have been up sooner but my Blue Host server was down and we had 30 minutes of repairs.)

So this week, we see racism, making fun of people with disabilities, making fun of child abuse and the elderly.

He needs to be reprimanded as well.

Hell, I’m reprimanding the whole legislature. Go home, people. This isn’t a bad state.

And these elected officials, their aides and their interns aren’t helping us look good in the least.

UPDATE: Roger Abramson says this in comments at Tiny Pasture’s:

But, seriously, I don’t know what some of you folks think is going on up there. The state legislature’s basically just one step up from your average Panhellenic Council. you;re not going to find Cicero and Solon walking the halls or contemplating the intersection of the state and private spheres. Since the door was opened to do this sort of thing, we’ll probably be seeing some more of these sorts of emails from all quarters. Be prepared.

Yup. It’s like Gilligan’s Island these days.

Final update: Blake Graves has been dismissed. Please read the post at Liberadio as well because Mary says it better than I can. She’s right. It’s up to us to change the tone in Nashville.

Sen. Roy Herron spoke out yesterday about things going on in the state. As I can be hard on elected folks, when they say something I like, I want to point that out as well.

Here’s what he said:

“Mr. Speaker, this has been a difficult day.

In the last few hours, we have insulted Tennessee’s two Nobel Peace Prize winners.

Secondly, we have shown the world that some in state government find racism amusing.

And now, third, we are about to remove the independence of the Ethics Commission that was created when five legislators were indicted and convicted of bribery.

This third action is not ‘third time’s charm,’ ladies and gentlemen.

This is another signal we ought not send.

This is another action we ought not take.”

I’ve watched the events unfold over the past couple of days regarding Sen. Diane Black’s legislative staffer Sherri Goforth. I’m not going to expound on this any further as people all across the country are steadily talking about it now. The image hit a nerve nationally and is yet another example that every time we think we’ve taken five steps forward, in actuality, we’ve taken six steps back.

I am hoping there is a lesson here about how words and actions do matter. Ms. Goforth obviously didn’t feel there would be a chain of events from sending the e-mail in question. It was racist, there is no doubt, and I’ve said that. Both democrats and republicans have let her know they did not find this acceptable. Despite our political allegiances, we are still human beings at the end of the day.

I guess she knows now. This e-mail is just a symptom of the problems regarding all kinds of discrimination.

Have you ever read The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss? It’s sad how close that children’s book is to our day-to-day lives.

Can we change this?

Hopefully some good can come out of this incident. May lessons be learned so our state won’t be lambasted again nationally. One can only hope. One can only think we might learn from this.

Let’s also take a moment to see what’s beneath the waves of our state’s political ocean. Overlooked in this whirlwind is a budget that needs passing and a legislative session that has been mind-boggling. Our elected officials of both parties, in my opinion, need to show they are leaders on and off the floor of the house and senate. It isn’t a game and they need to stop acting like it is.

People across this state are left to deal with the real results of the actions of those sitting in the legislature, those who were elected and those who assist them. It’s not a frivolous party for folks just trying to get from one day to the next.

It’s not a game.

There is much to do on a variety of levels.

Late last month, an email went out from an administrative assistant working for a Republican elected official  in the legislature here in the state that was titled “Historical Keepsake Photo.”

The photo was this:

This was sent to me recently by another legislative staffer who was offended by it, as I am.

I talked to my local rep, Mark Maddox about it, and described the picture to him at a recent fund raising event. I think he was as appalled as I was. I was going to post it last week but there was a death in my family and I had to think about it.

Because it made me mad.

But, you know, people need to know that this stuff is going on. I would be just as angry if a democratic staffer had sent it.

Dammit, Tennessee, haven’t we moved past this kind of crap. I’m serious.

Leaders and their staffs need to be just that. LEADERS! And they have done a pretty suspect job this year if you ask me.

We live in a world of uncertainty and a lot of hurt. In Tennessee, it’s more important to pass dog bills than the budget. But, I guess we can find the time to send out junk, racist emails. Jeez.

Racist imagery matters.

I decided to release it because we need to think about our actions. How does this kind of behavior effect our children? It’s just ridiculous and it’s wrong.

I expect better of anyone elected to position that my tax dollars pay. I guess I give folks too much credit.

Yes I am on a soapbox and I’m not getting off of the damned thing.

Update: The email I received says the staffer is Sherri Goforth, who works for Diane Black.

UPDATED:

Christian Grantham talks to Ms. Goforth, who admits she sent the email.

When I asked her if she understood the controversial nature of the photo, Goforth would only say she felt very bad about accidentally sending it to the wrong list. When I gave her a second chance to address the controversial nature of the email, she again repeated that she only felt bad about sending it to the wrong list of people.

I sent it to the wrong list of people? Huh.

UPDATED:

People are talking.

Open Pen

Daily Kos

The Associated Press via Eyewitness News

Gawker
Sandy
Mancini
Silence
Grantham

Aunt B

Jim Voorhies

Southern Beale
Humphrey
Cracker

Think Progress

Ablogination

Cuppa

GoldnI
Atlantic
Wonkette

Lean Left

Pith In The Wind one and two

Scott Adcox

TNDP

Adam Kleinheider

Cari Kumari