
From our "No S**t, Sherlock" Dept., Esquire Magazine calls the TN Legislature "stupid"...
The hills are alive with the sound of stupid these days, so let’s start in Tennessee, where they’re drawing a line against the imminent Antifa invasion of Dollywood. Or something. From the Tennessean:
There was also back-and-forth between the chambers on how harshly to punish protesters for camping overnight on state property. While the final version ultimately made the offense a felony, the Senate at first passed the bill with an amendment that kept it a misdemeanor. Democrats largely resisted the legislation, and some Republicans raised questions and concerns about repercussions for people who aren't actually protesting, such as families having a picnic or a person taking a midday nap on War Memorial Plaza.
Felony snoozing? Really? You’ll take my midday naps when you pry them from my cold, dead, lazy-ass fingers, dammit.
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Eco warriors and politics
- New TNJ edition alert: Ready or not, here comes the fight over premixed cockails (TN Journal)
- Teachers would get $60K minimum salary under bill in Congress making grants to states (TN Lookout)
- Stockard on the Stump: Criminal Court judge balks at state’s supervision plan (TN Lookout)
- Democrats in Congress condemn Biden administration expansion of Title 42 (TN Lookout)
- National Dems give New Hampshire, Georgia more time to change 2024 primary dates (TN Lookout)
- Fair criticism does not equal incivility (TN Lookout)
- GOP senators sent message to interim correction commissioner on Community Corrections (TN Lookout)
- Juvenile justice recommendations from legislature lean heavily on institutions (TN Lookout)
- Health commissioner declines to answer reporters’ questions on HIV funds (TN Lookout)
- Environmental activist Pearson wins race to succeed the late Rep. Barbara Cooper (TN Journal)
- Read Gov. Bill Lee’s remarks on the occasion of his second inaugural (TN Journal)
- New TNJ edition alert: Party executive panels could face cuts, Lee readies roads push (TN Journal)
- Here are the Senate committee assignments for the upcoming session (TN Journal)
- Find your local House member’s committee assignments (TN Journal)
- New TNJ edition alert: GOP flexes on Nashville, new House rules to limit speechifying on floor (TN Journal)
- Sexton announces steps to make amendment language more transparent (TN Journal)
Science and stuff
- Prairie voles can find partners just fine without the ‘love hormone’ oxytocin (Science News Daily)
- Mysterious marks on Ice Age cave art may have been a form of record keeping (Science News Daily)
- It’s possible to reach net-zero carbon emissions. Here’s how (Science News Daily)
- Birds that dive may be at greater risk of extinction (Science News Daily)
- Fossils suggest early primates lived in a once-swampy Arctic (Science News Daily)
- These shape-shifting devices melt and re-form thanks to magnetic fields (Science News Daily)
- Procrastination may harm your health. Here’s what you can do (Science News Daily)
- Lots of Tatooine-like planets around binary stars may be habitable (Science News Daily)
- A bird with a T. rex head may help reveal how dinosaurs became birds (Science News Daily)
- Some young sea spiders can regrow their rear ends (Science News Daily)
Discussing
- TN GOP Congressman Stands with George Santos in Refusing to File Legally Required Fedral Financial Disclosure DocumentsFederal (1 reply)
- About Danged Time! (1 reply)
- Former GOP Speaker of the House Arrested Facing 20 years (1 reply)
- Why the Allman Brothers Band is the greatest Southern Jam Band of All Time or...Why Cher Married Gregg (1 reply)
- Dan Tyminski at the South West Point Ampitheater tonight...FREE (1 reply)
- Toons (1 reply)
- Democrats Propose Better Congressional Redistricting Map That Keeps Communities Together (1 reply)
- Try to Save Children's Lives and Get Fired By Governor Lee (1 reply)
- Trump Losing Streak Continues (1 reply)
- Sometime Today Roane County Will Record Its 80th Covid Death (1 reply)
- We are Dying Here! (2 replies)
- TN Legislature Passes Bill Making a Snooze at the Capital a Felony (1 reply)
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Candidates:
Steve, Well, I'm back from
Steve,
Well, I'm back from Special Session and I have to admit, it wasn't very special, at least not for hard working Tennessee families. It was pretty special for corporate special interests and private prisons, yet we didn't do anything to benefit hard working Tennesseans. The telehealth bill was not a bad bill, but the Governor could have extended that through January under his State of Emergency, he did not have to spend over $100,000 taxpayer dollars to make it happen.
Here's the truth, we went back to pass a liability bill that does nothing but level the playing field for bad actors. The vast majority of businesses are doing everything right during the pandemic and we already have laws on the books to protect them. Now they have protected the bad actors like private prisons and less than 1% of businesses who aren't trying to keep workers and customers safe. They will tell you it was to protect schools and non-profits and that's just not true, they are already protected. They have removed access to the justice system from those who need it most.
They also increased penalties for protesting-targeting peaceful protestors who have been at the Capitol for 60 days wanting to speak with the Governor about racial justice and the KKK Grand Wizard bust in a place of honor in our Capitol, wanting just to be heard.
They made it a felony to camp on state property, punishable by a 1-6 year sentence and up to a $3000 fine--and a loss of voting rights. All the while, adding up to $1.3 million to our budget each year. For perspective, here are some crimes in Tennessee that are misdemeanors: false imprisonment, sexual contact with a minor by an authority figure, a public official using position to make money, and child abuse and neglect of a child over 9 years of age.
This is not about vandalism, we have laws on the books for that, this is about silencing the voices of non-violent protestors who just want to be heard, because they also want and deserve to feel safe in Tennessee.
Now let's think about the Special Session Tennessee familes deserved. We could have expanded Medicaid at no cost to our state, so that all Tennesseans have access to affordable healthcare and a rural hospital when they need it during a pandemic. We could have fixed our broken unemployment system so folks aren't waiting months for a check. We could have made sure our schools were ready to open by public health metrics and science and not a rush to give the appearance that all is well, endangering our kids and school staff. We could have developed a comprehensive plan for rapid testing, contact tracing, and a mask mandate to help contain the virus so we could begin to bring back the economy.
Yet the Republican supermajority had to punish protesters and do the bidding of the special interests to be sure they would get their campaign donations at election time. I'm pretty sure those guys won't be sending me checks, I voted for Tennessee families instead of them;-) That's why I am asking you to chip in if you can, because they will be coming for me and I need to be ready to fight back with all I have. Chip in here if you can, to send me back to Nashville to fight for you and our real Tennessee values!
Rep. Gloria Johnson