March 31, 2005

Legislator Blog Flap Update

The Memphis Commercial Appeal opined today about state Rep. Stacey Campfield's blog and the flap it has caused. Good snippet:

Campfield's critics say the blog is full of unfair and malicious attacks on Democrats, which violates the decorum required of lawmakers. All of that may be true but there's still a free speech issue involved. Blogs have become a popular forum where ordinary citizens can go onto the Internet and express their views. Campfield didn't waive his rights to use that forum when he became a legislator.

The Plug In blog by the CA's Online Creative Manager, Eric Janssen, is better. he links to articles and other web sites, though he hasn't posted to it since mid-February.

Blogs To Set Pace in '06 Race

Frank Cagle believes blogs will set the pace in media coverage of the 2006 Senate race in Tennessee.

The growth of weblogs and their growing audience has created a wild card in the arena of ideas, especially political ideas. The gatekeepers are still there, but the back door is open. The Tennessee elections of 2006 will be the first statewide elections in which critical mass has been achieved, so that established blogs, e-mail newsletters and websites will dominate political news. It has already begun, 16 months in advance of the Republican senatorial primary. It is apparent that cyberspace will be preoccupied with racing to post the latest in campaign news, poll results or signs of apostasy to conservative doctrine. There will also be Democrat-leaning blogs that will enjoy it all and gleefully call out their Republican counterparts.

If you are a political junkie, it’s manna from heaven. News organizations give scant coverage of political races until the final weeks. The question of this campaign season is whether mainstream news organizations will cede blow-by-blow coverage to the blogs, the e-mail newsletters and the campaign websites. There is an argument to be made that, given the low interest of the greater population in political minutia, having these cyberspace alternatives is a perfect example of a niche market. But will news organizations be willing to allow any niche to get away these days? They are also conceding the pre-primary, when political activists, contributors and interest groups are making up their minds about candidates. It is among these people that blogs will have the most influence because they are there and because it’s the only political news available.

He's right. And hallelujah!

Sandy Burglar 'Fesses Up

Sandy Berger will plead guilty to stealing classified documents from the National Archives. I seem to recall when news of the Sandy Burglaries first surfaced, the Left treated it as if it was a silly mistake rather than a crime.

Mark it down: A former National Security Adviser knowlingly and with intent stole classified documents regarding the Clinton Administration's handling of the al Qaeda threat - and intentionally destroyed them - while serving as a policy advisor to then-presidential candidate John Kerry. [Hat tip: Blake Wylie]

UPDATE: John Hinderaker at Powerline says:

Former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger got away with a criminal cover-up today when he pled guilty to a misdemeanor in connection with his theft of sensitive documents from the National Archives.

It is undisputed that Berger illegally stuffed original documents relating to America's response to the threat of Islamic terrorism into his coat, pants and briefcase. Berger then destroyed a number of these top-secret documents, so that they will never see the light of day. The idea that this was "an honest mistake," as Berger now claims, is ridiculous. Obviously, he was trying to destroy documents that showed the negligence of the Clinton administration--of which he was a key member--in dealing with the threat of terrorism. Key documents relating to our government's inadequate reaction to the threat of Islamic terrorism prior to Sept. 11 are now gone forever, successfully purged from the historical record by one of Bill Clinton's most loyal servants. This plea bargain appears, on its face, to be a disgrace. If anyone can think of a reason why this is not correct, please let us know.

From the WaPo:

The terms of Berger's agreement required him to acknowledge to the Justice Department the circumstances of the episode. Rather than misplacing or unintentionally throwing away three of the five copies he took from the archives, as the former national security adviser earlier maintained, he shredded them with a pair of scissors late one evening at the downtown offices of his international consulting business.

The document, written by former National Security Council terrorism expert Richard A. Clarke, was an "after-action review" prepared in early 2000 detailing the administration's actions to thwart terrorist attacks during the millennium celebration. It contained considerable discussion about the administration's awareness of the rising threat of attacks on U.S. soil. . . .

Berger's archives visit occurred as he was reviewing materials as a designated representative of the Clinton administration to the national commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The question of what Clinton knew and did about the emerging al Qaeda threat before leaving office in January 2001 was acutely sensitive, as suggested by Berger's determination to spend hours poring over the Clarke report before his testimony.

What did John Kerry know and when did he know it?

Speaking Engagement

I'll be speaking to the Middle Tennessee chapter of the American Marketing Association during their monthly luncheon April 13 at the Maxwell House Hotel . Details here.

Schiavo 7

Glenn Reynolds's Salon essay on the political implications of the federal intervention in the Terri Schiavo tragedy is a must-read, even if I don't necessarily agree with all of his analysis. I would agree the GOP is facing an internal debate over the role of government, and that the forces of federalism seem to be in retreat while the forces of Big Government seem to be on the advance. But the GOP has always been hobbled by that internal debate, and put forth candidates on both sides of it. The party of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan also was the party of Nelson Rockefeller. It's a healthy debate, neither side is 100 percent right, and there's room for both views under the GOP's big tent. Indeed, there has to be, otherwise the coalition is too small to win elections.

Missionary Blogging

Tod Bolsinger is blogging his nine-day mission trip to Malawi, where his church is establishing a ministry reaching out to a community devastated by AIDS. Each post also has a scripture, a thought for the day and a prayer. Follow his trip here.

Hearts and Minds

Lance Frizzell has some great photographs from Iraq, including some great close-ups of young Iraqis demonstrating wildly at the presence of American troops.

The One-Day Sale

Today only: Place an ad in the second Blogads ad slot in the left-side column (below the mission statement, copyright info and counters) for just $20 per month. Price reverts to $30 per month at midnight. Four slots available.

A Fine Barn

Blake Wylie has posted a very cool barn photo. Meanwhile, I won't be publishing any photos of old British cars anytime soon.

Will The Tennessean Embrace Blogs?

A Tennessean editorial on the flap over state Rep. Stacey Campfield's blog calls Democrats "petty" for killing one of Rep. Campfield's bills because they don't like his blog - and tells Tennessee legislators to "get with it: Bloggers are here to stay." In fact, the paper seems to like the idea of legislators blogging:

Free speech should be welcomed in a stuffy General Assembly that hasn't always embraced it. The only caveat should be civility.

March 30, 2005

Legislator Blog Flap Postscript

I would be remiss if I didn't mention how WKRN handled the story of the Tennessee legislator whose blog has riled the leadership of the state legislature. WKRN is more blog-savvy than the other teevee news operations, and it shows. Not only did the station run the AP story on its website, it ran a sidebar with links to blogosphere reaction to the story, including to my post from this morning. Click the thumbnail to see a screen capture if the story doesn't stay available on WKRN's site.

WKRN, by the way, is helping sponsor the BlogNashville conference I mentioned below.

As for the legislator's blog, he has received a couple dozen comments on his latest post, including some from blogging legislators in other states. Almost without exception the comments are encouraging him to continue blogging. You'd think other legislators in the Tennessee legislature would learn something from that...

Take That, Osama

I haven't written anything for my satirical site, Osama's bin Bloggin', since June 1, 2002, but it still ranks sixth in a Google search for "bin laden website." And every word on that blog is as true as the stuff on the current number one search result.

Something For You

Already, as of Wednesday night, 115 people have registered for the big HUGE BlogNashville conference May 5-7 . All events on Thursday, May 5, and most on Friday, May 6, are for a limited number of members of the Media Bloggers Association, but the events on Friday night and Saturday, May 7, are geared toward larger crowds. Registration is capped at 300 for the Saturday sessions. The Friday night panel discussion about journalism and blogging, featuring Glenn Reynolds, J.D. Lasica, Linda Seebach and me, will be held in a location capable of holding an even larger crowd, and members of the Nashville media, public relations and government relations industries are invited.

Registration on the BlogNashville website is required for attendance at the Saturday sessions, while there will be a separate registration for the MBA-sponsored CARR training on Thursday and Friday. No registration is required for the Friday night panel discussion.

This will be the biggest blog-related conference in the United States this year - and bigger then previous "BloggerCon" events at Harvard University and Stanford University on which it was partially modeled.

If you are at all active in the blogosphere, if you are in public relations, marketing or government relations, if you are in politics - as a candidate, an elected official or a staffer or campaign pro - or if you are a journalist and you want to know more about this "blogging" thing that is increasingly impacting your business, BlogNashville has something for you and you don't want to miss it.

Lawmaker's blog "raises hackles on the Hill"

The Tennessean reports on a state legislator's new blog that "raises hackles on the Hill" - and how House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh had one of Rep. Stacey Campfield's bills sent to a committee to die because Campfield had the nerve to start writing a blog about the goings-on in the legislature. (I'm quoted in the story and Matt White's blog gets a mention.)

Naifeh isn't the only politician looking petty in the story. State Rep. Jere Hargrove, D-Cookeville, calls Campfield's blog "scandalous and scurrilous."

Right words, wrong target, Rep. Hargrove. Campfield's bill that you and Naifeh killed, HB 0238, would have prohibited the act of aiming a laser pointer or other laser device at law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, or other emergency service personnel "while in the performance of his or her official duties with the intent to place such person in fear of serious bodily injury or death."

It's a public safety bill, and worth discussion and a vote. Instead, as The Tennessean reports, "At the prompting of House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, Campfield's bill was scuttled to a committee where it probably will die."

Democrats Naifeh and Hargrove killed a good idea in a snit over a blog.

Naifeh and Hargrove are entrenched Democratic politicians who, naturally, don't like the idea of a freshman Republican being able to talk directly to the people of Tennessee and tell them what, as he sees it, is really going on in the legislature. But instead of acting like spoiled children, they should grow up, join the information revolution, and start blogs of their own. Unless they're afraid of the scrutiny and the direct interaction with the public that blogs invite and enable.

The Tennessean says Naifeh "declined to comment on the blog yesterday."

But while Campfield has received blistering comments from some of his lawmaker colleagues, he has become a darling to many political followers, hungry for a deeper look inside the Statehouse.

Let's hope so.

And now that The Tennessean has brought this story to the mainstream media from the blogopshere (where Matt White had it first), I'll restate my offer to every Republican legislator (and a few select Democrats like Frank Buck and Ben West): If you want to start blogging and join a group blog authored by legislators, contact me at bill-at-billhobbs.com and I'll set it up and even teach you the basics of blogging.

Update: The AP has also done a story, "Republican's blog causes stir at Capitol," so news of Naifeh and Hargrove's petty, childish reaction to Campfield's blog will now spread statewide. Not bad for a story that, quite literally, started in the blogosphere.

Update: More wisdom from Rep. Campfield's blog:

I encourage other Representatives to blog. Bill Hobbs has even offered to set up this site. I will even go as far as to set up a blog for any representative (republican or democrat) who wants one. In the battle of philosophy and information, I offer all a gun; the bullets are up to them. Those who use fear, punishment, and oppression instead of wisdom, philosophy, and logic show their own inaptitude at leading. They are more dictator than leader and will not be allowed to lead for long in a free and informed society. I try not to follow this style of management. Maybe that is what some of my critics fear most.

Segway Segue

A post I wrote about Segways six months ago drew a new comment today. Check it out.

Wednesday Barn Blogging

This is perhaps the most famous barn in Brentwood, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. The barn is one of three or four barns on a 579-acre horse farm owned by Cal Turner Jr., founder of the Dollar General retail stores. The property may be the most valuable large piece of real estate in Tennessee, and one of the most valuable anywhere in the South as it is one of the last large undeveloped tracts of land in the wealthy city of Brentwood, where residential lots can go for well north of $200,000 an acre, and there's a subdivision of dozens of homes just across the road from this barn that sell for $1 million, $1.5 million and more.

The farm property is not completely undeveloped - Turner and his family live on homes on the property, and it is a working horse farm. Turner had proposed to develop the property as a mixed-use "new urban" style development, but the city shot the idea down last year. More on that here.

The barn pictured above, visible from highly-trafficked Franklin Road, sports a beloved Christmas display every year. Click image to enlarge.

"How'd That Work Out?"

Say Uncle comments on U.S. Senate candidate Van Hilleary's new campaign website, noting that all it tells us is that Hilleary, who lost the 2002 gubernatorial race, will vote for conservative judges and that polls show Hilleary is in the lead 19 months before election day.

You were also in the lead in that run for governor. How’d that work out? We want the issues, dude. Give us that or go home.

Schiavo 6

My recent much-commented-upon posting about the Terri Schiavo case (After Schiavo, 3/22/05) got mentioned in Doug Kern's thoughtful piece at TechCentralStation.com today. Kern raises some excellent points and I must say I'm not wedded to the idea of a federal law requiring every adult American to have a living will. What I am convinced of, however, is the need for federal policy that encourages people to have written living wills. The Schiavo case only happened because Florida law allows oral living wills, which by their very nature - hearsay - make it impossible to be 100 percent certain of the person's true intent. You can find all of my Schiavo-related postings here.

March 29, 2005

Buggy Whips

Newspapers are dying. Oddly, the rising profitability of the newspaper industry is an indicator of their coming death. NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen explains in a must-read article if you work in the newspaper business. To see the future of the news industy, come to BlogNashville, May 5-7 .

Wishful Thinking

The Memphis Flyer reports on some wishful thinking in the Democratic field for the 2006 campaign for the U.S. Senate in Tennessee.

Why the Press is Paying Less Attention to Iraq

Lance Frizzell wonders if declining press coverage of Iraq means the American media is beginning to realize just how well things are going there.

My impression is that current war correspondents are disappointed by not getting their own Vietnam to cover so they express resentment by simply not reporting our success. Contrast that with WWII journalists who actually - get this - rooted for an American victory during the war.

over the past month, the news from Iraq has been unusually good. Depending on which military official you ask, insurgent attacks have dropped by either a third or nearly half. The number of Americans killed in action has declined. Civilians have begun killing terrorists. Over the past week alone, U.S. forces have killed scores of insurgents in lopsided battles - in the latest, Iraqi forces spearheaded the offensive.

March 28, 2005

16 States Considering Taxpayers Bill of Rights

The Heritage Foundation reports that, "even as it comes under fire in Colorado, the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights is attracting strong interest in states across the country."

Some 16 states are considering amendments this year that resemble Colorado's landmark - and highly successful - Taxpayers' Bill of Rights, including Tennessee. The other 15 are Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, and Wisconsin. The Heritage article says passage of a Taxpayers Bill of Rights is "most likely" in Arizona, California, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon and Wisconsin.

Eight Is Enough

Now this is hilarious: No less than eight states claim to be 49th in spending on public schools, according to Vicki Murray, Ph.D., director of the Goldwater Institute's Center for Educational Opportunity. That's right, eight out of 50 claim to be 49th, including Tennessee. The others are Florida, Illinois, Idaho, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Utah and Arizona.

The Future of TV News

Jeff Jarvis explains the ease of video-blogging, and why it matters to teevee news outlets, in a 3-minute "vlog" I found via Terry Heaton's blog. Check it out here. I want this.

The Electability Factor

Ed Byrant, candidate for the U.S. Senate from Tennessee, welcomed fellow former Republican congressman Van Hilleary to the race for the nomination today with a press release and a devastating PowerPoint titled Van Hilleary's Historic Statewide Loss in Perspective. It's a brutal and brutally effective retort to Hilleary, who recently claimed he was more "electable" than some other candidates in the Republican field. Message: Hilleary can't win. For my take on Hilleary, read this. Short version: Hilleary lost the 2002 gbernatorial race due to an overabundance of caution and a cautious campaigner will have trouble defeating likely Democratic nominee U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., in the general election.

For Bryant's press release, click "read more."

FRANKLIN, TN - Former Congressman Ed Bryant, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, today welcomed 2002 GOP gubernatorial nominee Van Hilleary to the Senate race and suggested he explain to Tennesseans how his historical loss in 2002 makes him more electable in 2006 and doesn’t his historic loss prove the Democrats are capable of winning statewide.

On March 21st in Roll Call, Hilleary and his team claimed "the Republican nominee will be the Senator" and that "the differentiation is electability" and "it might dawn on some as the campaign goes down the track their electability is not as good as mine."

"Like so many Tennesseans who poured their hearts and souls into Van's campaign for Governor, I felt he'd have made a great Governor, endorsed him in the primary and am disappointed he's decided not to run for Governor again," said Bryant. "Although Van's relatively late decision to instead run for the Senate comes at a time when economic and social conservatives are coalescing around my campaign, I respect his right to run and welcome him to the race.

"Sadly, despite the hard work of so many great people, Van's the first Republican to lose statewide since before the landslide victories in 1994 leaving folks curious as to how his historic loss makes him more elect-able this time and how he can claim the Republican nominee will be the next Senator? Contrary to his claims, Tennessee Republicans are telling me that Van's historic loss in 2002 proves the Democrats are capable of winning statewide in Tennessee and underscores the importance for Republicans to nominate a strong, proven conservative who can win statewide, or risk losing Senator Frist's seat to the Democrats."

The First Five Freedoms

Today I attended a talk by John Seigenthaler, former longtime editor of Nashville's The Tennessean newspapaper and founder of the First Amendment Center , in which he noted that surveys done by the Center find that only about 1 in 100 Americans can name all five freedoms enshrined in the First Amendment.

Can you name them? Try - and then click "read more" for the answers, and for the rest of this blog post. (Please tell me in the comments section how many you got right - and be honest, don't cheat and don't look it up!)

The First Amendment says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The five freedoms are the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and the right to petition government for redress of grievances.

You can read more about Seigenthaler's talk here. The First Amendment Center's website is here.
I spoke with Seigenthaler after the event about the blogosphere and its reaction to the threat of regulation of political blogs by the Federal Election Commission under the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law. He was very aware of the blogs, and remarked of them that, "We're back to the age of the pamphleteers."

As the pamphleteers were instrumental in the success of the American Revolution, I think that's a good thing.

I'm going to send Mr. Seigenthaler an invitation to BlogNashville. I'd also urge him to write a blog about the media.

Imagine The Impact They'll Have at 20 Percent

Only about 2 percent of American adults blog, but "demographic trends suggest that history is on their side," as young adults ages 18-24 are almost three times as likely as the general population to have blogged, reports Mediamagazine in its April cover story, ""The Rise of the Consumer-Generated Media Machine." [Hat tip: Rex Hammock]

Blogging Politicians

Friday's Christian Science Monitor had a very interesting story about politics and blogging, headlined More politicians write blogs to bypass mainstream media.

Memo to Republican members of the Tennessee legislature: If you would be willing to contribute to a new blog, now in the planning stages, that would be written by several Republican members of the state legislature, about the legislature, contact me at bill-at-billhobbs.com.

State Rep. Chris Clem, R-Lookout Mountain, is one of a few legislators I have already invited individually to write for the blog, either under his own name or as "Legislator X" due to the possibility of blowback from the Democratic House leadership. Clem emailed me a very thoughtful response, and gave me permission to post it for you:

It is not a bad idea. I, for one, prefer to sign my name to anything I write. I think it is good practice for people to learn to write and to learn to write well. Writing forces one to think about what they believe and why they believe it. Too many conservative legislators simply vote knee-jerk conservative without thinking why. I think several legislators would love to write for one of your blogs. And, it would help them think through their own beliefs.

I would love to see Campfield, Hill, Kelsey and Swafford start writing about why they vote certain ways, not just reporting what is going on.

We need more people who can articulate why the income tax is not a good a idea, why the TEA is heading in the wrong direction, why activist judges are undermining our republic, why abortion cheapens human life and why euthanasia will threaten all our rights.

This is the 50 year anniversary of Francis Schaeffer's founding of L'Abri in Switzerland. I owe him and L'Abri a great deal. My wife's family spent a year in L'Abri back in the 1960's. On this 50th anniversary of L'Abri I find an even greater need for conservatives to understand certain foundational truths.

Republicans could learn a lot from having a clear "world view." Voting a certain way because Ronald Reagan did it will only get you so far. I hope your blogs and your attempt to get Republicans to write about their beliefs will deepen and strengthen the conservative philosophy in a Republican party that is too often too shallow to respond to the challenges of today.

So, don't just encourage them to report what is going on. Ask them why they believe what they believe. And, don't be satisfied with a shallow response.

- Rep. Chris Clem

So, a special invite to Reps. Hill, Kelsey and Swafford to join the group blog.

P.S. The invitation to join the blog includes the following offer: basic training in how to post something to the blog. It's easy and training you will take about 10 minutes - less if you know how to use word-processing software and put a hyperlink or bold text into an email.

BlogNashville Registration Opens

The Media Bloggers Association today opens registration for BlogNashville, a three-day blogging conference scheduled for May 5-7, 2005 . BlogNashville will bring together leading bloggers from around the world including Glenn Reynolds, Robin Burk, Brendan Greeley, Rebecca MacKinnon, Hossein Derakhshan, LaShawn Barber, Ed Cone, Henry Copeland, Dan Gillmor, Jay Dedman, Mark Tapscott, J.D. Lasica, and two journalists who actively cover the blogging space, Mark Glaser of Online Journalism Review and Staci Kramer of PaidContent.org.

As part of the BlogNashville event, the MBA announced a first-of-its-kind journalism education program. The MBA partnered with two leading think tanks, The Heritage Foundation and the Center for Budget Priorities, to offer a two-day computer training "boot camp" at the Freedom Forum at Vanderbilt University, identical to similar programs offered to professional investigative reporters. A second boot camp is already in the works for the National Press Center in Washington, DC over the summer. The events are intended to train bloggers in basic journalism skills.

Four-Star Blogger Update

More, here, on the Army 4-star general who blogs - and uses his blog to pull good information up from the bottom of the chain of command atop which he sits. I wish we could get him to come to BlogNashville.

Barn-Blogging Bonus Edition

Steve Gill emailed this photo of a barn in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that, he reports, "has been converted from a working barn to a fantastic cabin." Very cool.

Down With Freedom

The Tennessean endorses legislation that will: 1) limit the expression of political support via donations to a political party, and, 2) hamper political activity by making it harder for political parties to raise money.

March 27, 2005

Easter: It's Not About The Bunny

He is risen. He is risen indeed!
He is risen. He is risen indeed!
He is risen. He is risen indeed!

He is risen. He is risen indeed!
He is risen. He is risen indeed!
He is risen. He is risen indeed!

March 26, 2005

Caution: Hilleary's Running

Former Congressman Van Hilleary, last seen losing the governorship in 2002 to a Democrat, has launched his campaign website for the 2006 Senate race. By the way, back in 2001 in the early stages of that Tennessee gubernatorial campaign I wrote a column urging Hilleary to make his campaign message much more clear regarding the state income tax.

Democrat Phil Bredesen, I wrote then, "has figured out how to explain his opposition to a state income tax in plain language that doesn’t get bogged down in technicalities," while Hilleary "has yet to offer an equally simple statement, and his opposition to an income tax always comes packaged with a caveat: He says he’s against it unless voters approve one in a referendum. This creates the impression he has left the door open, ever so slightly, to the possibility of an income tax."

Hilleary was being too cautious, and too clever - wordsmithing an issue on which voters wanted crystal clarity.

I concluded by giving Hilleary some advice on how to sharpen his rhetoric and make his anti-income tax much clearer to the average Tennessean who cared little about the difference between a statutory tax or a constitutionally-created tax, or about tax system "elasticity."

"As long as Hilleary leaves the door open even a bit," I wrote, "folks I talk to think it sounds like the third term of Don Sundquist is just around the corner. And that makes the quiet people nervous. Bredesen gets this. He might get the governor’s mansion too."

Hilleary never really did slam the door, rhetorically speaking, on the income tax. He never did "sharpen his anti-income tax rhetoric," as I urged him again in another column in the Nashville City Paper on Jan. 17, 2002. And he sent the wrong message on Internet taxes.

He did offer a tepid endorsement of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights concept of requiring voter-approval for tax hikes and new taxes, and capping spending with surpluses being returned via tax rate cuts, but he never campaigned on that issue or ran ads pushing it. And it was too late. Bredesen - who had a record of big tax hikes taxes as mayor of Nashville - incredibly outflanked Hilleary on the tax issue, and - just as I predicted - won the governor's mansion.

I've been itching to say this for a long time about that August 2, 2001, column in the Nashville City Paper, a column that rankled the Hilleary campaign: I was right. Hilleary's campaign should have listened to me.

In the 2006 Senate race in Tennessee, the GOP nominee likely will face U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, who will pose as - and be portrayed in the mainstream press as - a moderate. He will attempt to get to the right of the GOP nominee on some issues.

He will not be defeated by a cautious candidate.

Related Items:
TeamGOP, a Tennessee grassroots Republican activist group, has started a blog and will be following the 2006 Senate race.

Patting Big Brother On The Back

The Tennessean endorses the encroachment of Big Brother. Over to you, Blake Wylie...

Happy New Year!

Lance Frizzell has pictures of angry young Iraqis demonstrating against the presence of American troops a Kurdish New Year's celebration. The war on terror looks to be going poorly...

Open and Shut

This week's Nashville Scene has a good story by Matt Pulle asking why is Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen's administration crafting TennCare reform plans in secret meetings - and whether those meetings violate both the state's open meetings law and Bredesen's own previously stated commitment to open government.

"Because of the complexities of the issues at hand, the number of the alternative courses that could be taken toward the Governor's policy goals, and the need for candor and efficient deliberation, Team members must be able to work free of the distraction of news media in these meetings," read a private memo about the way the TennCare team would operate. "If a member of the news media or public seeks to attend a Team Meeting, a member of Bob Corney's communication team should be called immediately."

March 25, 2005

Bloggers In The News

Linda Seebach - the Rocky Mountain News columnist who will be in early May as part of a panel discussion on blogs and journalism sponsored - writes about Social Security from the perspective of someone who just turned 65. Seebach quotes blogger Donald Luskin in her column. It's a good column, too.

Schiavo 5

Glenn Reynolds nails it in his comments about the role of the constitutional process in the Terri Schiavo case.

Trampling the Constitution in an earnest desire to do good in high-profile cases has been a hallmark of a certain sort of liberalism, and it's the sort of thing that I thought conservatives eschewed.

Bloggers Play Role in Tennessee Legislative Ethics Push

Today's Tennessean reports that the public is pushing the Tennessee legislature to adopt tougher ethics rules for legislators - and says bloggers are playing a role, too.

Republicans and Democrats in the state Capitol appear to have started a race to see who can pass new, thorough ethics rules to better police lawmakers.

The House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation yesterday that makes it a crime for members of the General Assembly to receive consulting fees, with the bill's sponsor fighting off efforts to delay approval. Hours earlier, Senate Democrats rolled out a package of ethics bills also designed to prohibit legislators from accepting consulting contracts.

Those moves came on the heels of a suite of ethics proposals crafted by Republicans that would toughen lobbyist disclosure rules and prohibit legislators from immediately taking a lobbying job after leaving office.

The push for more stringent ethics rules seems to have been spurred by a tsunami-size wave of public interest in ethics on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers have been flooded with calls, e-mails and letters, all of which have been amplified by bloggers on the Internet and the hosts of local talk-radio shows.

2. I'm glad to see the Tennessean has finally noticed the role bloggers are playing in shaping the public debate, but it would have been nice if the story actually detailed how - and which - bloggers are doing so in this case.

Related Items:
FEC Weighs Limited Internet Activity Rules - Washington Post, March 25
Blog Swarm Forced FEC's Would-be Political Speech Police to Back Off Aggressive First Draft - Mark Tapscott
The Coming War on Blogs - James D. Miller, TechCentralStation.com
Media Bloggers Association Offers Computer-Assisted Research and Reporting (CARR) Boot Camp at BlogNashville - Tapscott's Copy Desk

Feds Okay TennCare Cuts

Uncle Sam has okayed Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen's plan to axe 320,000 people from TennCare, the state's Medicaid-plus program for the poor, sick and elderly. Will Bredesen really go forward with a plan to deny healthcare coverage to a big chunk of the Democratic Party's base in Tennessee? Will Republicans nominate a gubernatorial candidate with a true market-based reform plan?

Photos from Iraq

Lance Frizzell has posted a nice photo essay from Iraq, showing American soldiers tending to an injured Iraqi. If I edited a daily newspaper, I'd be combing the blogosphere for photos like these taken by blogging soldiers who are from my newspaper's region, and for blog posts that tell the story of the war in the soldiers' own words, and then I'd be publishing a multi-page special section. And if I was a book publisher...

March 24, 2005

Corker's Sundquist Problem

Ed Bryant, declared candidate for the U.S. Senate from Tennessee, is trying to raise as much money as possible before the end of March, so it will show up on his first FEC disclosure. From his email:

We have just 8 days to go before the cutoff for our first report of financial contributions to our campaign is here. And, as you know, these reports are used by the media and political pundits to handicap the race.

Ouch. Poor Bob Corker. They're gonna hang Sundquist around his neck. Can a face-morphing ad be far behind?