I’m especially interested to know because part of the controversy over Matt Collins is his public refusal to shake hands with bailout voter, Zach Wamp. And if you examine the public records of Lee Beaman’s donations, you’ll find a trail of money that leads to “Friends of Zach Wamp.”

Please bear in mind that I am not making an accusation here, but asking a legitimate and earnest question. I would really like to know. Is Lee Beaman of Beaman Automotive playing a role in the ousting of Matt Collins? Has he been advising Chairwoman Starnes to purge the County Party of Matt Collins and other “Ron Paul” Republicans? What does he think about all of this?

“Looks like those restaurant owners in the suit just lawsuited themselves to stricter regulations coming next legislative session.” Could be, you know. Restaurant owners could opt out of this law very easily, yet still chose to file suit against it. Could it be that they should’ve left well enough alone?

In an era of judicial legislating and the “imperial presidency,” it would be tempting to assume more power to the people would be the solution. Speaking from a conservative point of view, democracy sometimes furthers our ends (i.e. the passage of Prop 8 over the designs of California’s legislature and courts), but it’s less clear in other cases. For instance, if we did not have the less-democratic Senate, we would clearly have Obamacare by now. According to Tocqueville, more democracy would lead to more concern for equality and less respect for liberty, especially the right to property. So conservatives who rail against “elites” in the name of democracy are often entirely justified, but they are playing with a dangerous fire indeed, one that could burn them in the end.

“I am happy that common sense as well as the rule of law has won the day. I have always believed in the second amendment and will continue to fight to protect it but I fought against allowing guns in bars in the senate because alcohol and firearms do not mix. In the Wild West days of Dodge City you had to check your guns at the town limit so you would think in the twenty-first century common sense would tell us we should not allow guns in bars. I hope my colleagues in both parties in the legislature will once again find their common sense and focus on moving Tennessee forward not jumping to the beat of a special interest with short sighted agenda.”

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke says he is not interested in becoming the next Metro Parks director when the position opens Dec. 31.

The USPS pared its list to 241, 35 percent fewer than the last potential closure list which included 371 offices. The three Nashville locations — Donelson, Northeast and Glenview — were not among the 130 saved.

The left is terrified of Sarah Palin, because she redefines what it means to be a modern woman. While I’m certainly not her biggest fan, Palin manages a household and managed the state of Alaska. She’s dealt with the struggle of teen pregnancy and the complications of caring for a child with special needs, and she’s worked with a state legislature to balance a budget and provide services for people in harsh living conditions.

She – and the Palin family as a whole – is a representation of everyday Americans. The father who works 40+ hours a week to provide for his children; the mother who balances a professional life and raising a family; the teenage son or daughter who copes with the difficulties of high school and social issues.

Students at Tennessee’s public colleges and universities could be facing a 5 percent tuition increase.

Tennessee Higher Education Commission executive director Richard Rhoda told Gov. Phil Bredesen at budget hearings Thursday that the tuition recommendation has been passed along to the administrators of the University of Tennessee system and the Board of Regents schools.

As the nation’s military academies try to recruit more minorities, they aren’t getting much help from members of Congress from big-city districts with large numbers of blacks, Hispanics and Asians.

From New York to Chicago to Los Angeles, lawmakers from heavily minority areas rank at or near the bottom in the number of students they have nominated for appointment to West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy or the U.S. Air Force Academy, according to an Associated Press review of records from the past five years.

The Memphis Area Women’s Council and others are hosting a conversation with the candidates session on Saturday from 5 to 6 p.m.

Democrat Adrienne Pakis-Gillon, who is running for the State Senate District 31 seat formerly held by Paul Stanley, will be there to answer questions, but not her Republican opposition.

“We invited Brian Kelsey but through his campaign manager he said he has a family obligation with his nephew’s birthday party in Cordova. We asked if he wanted to send a stand-in or a surrogate but he has not responded,” said Deborah M. Clubb, the council’s executive director.

Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman ruled this afternoon that the state’s guns-in-bars legislation unconstitutional on the basis that it is too vague.

The state’s regulatory framework has different classifications for restaurants and bars. It would be too difficult for the public and handgun carry permit holders to recognize the difference between a restaurant and bar, she said.

Because of the classification framework, an establishment’s status “cannot be easily known and may never be known by a patron,” Bonnyman said.

SEE ALSO:
Walls of the City
Says Uncle

A Utah State Senator on discrimination against gays:

I meet with the gays here and there. They were in my house two weeks ago. I don’t mind gays. But I don’t want ‘em stuffing it down my throat all the time. Certainly not in my kid’s face.

John Duncan, one of Jimmy Duncan’s four children, woke up early and made his intentions clear.

Friday was the first day for candidates in Knox County to pick up petitions to run.

John Duncan picked up his petition at 8 a.m. and filed it a short time later.

“Bush may not have been perfect but at least he took a stand for us. He knew the difference between good and evil. Obama wants everyone to be his friend. With some people and groups that does not work. Obama could be the worst president for Israel since Jimmy Carter. ”

” How so?” I asked

“Carter did not support the Shaw of Iran. When he fell, the radical extremists took over. They now fund almost all the worlds terrorism. He was a disaster for Israel! Now Obama is sending the same messages”

I mentioned to him that in America most Jewish people are Democrat. He said they must be crazy or have no clue as to what is going on in the world. “The American Democrats will end Israel” “That is if they don’t end America first.”

General Sessions Judge Aaron Holt has dismissed the harassment charge filed against country singer John Rich.

Former Nashville Star contestant Jared Ashley had claimed that Sebastian Bach and John Rich left a harassing voice mail on Ashley’s phone.

Former Huckabee presidential campaign manager Chip Saltzman, whose candidate won the Iowa caucuses in 2008, defended the role of the traditional early states.

“I think it’s very important and crucial to have Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina early on in the process,” he said.

Saltzman said that he has seen during his experiences in Iowa from previous campaigns “just how seriously folks in those states take the process. Not that the other 47 states don’t. It’s an opportunity for any candidate, no matter how rich, no matter how poor, no matter how new, and no matter who’s been running for eight years.”

“This is making our candidates better candidates,” Saltzman added.

The campaigns all agreed that regardless of what the calendar eventually looks like, it will be important to lock in the schedule early so that candidates can plan and strategize accordingly. In 2008, both the Republican and Democratic primary calendars were thrown into disarray when Michigan and Florida moved their contests earlier in the process to challenge the early positioning of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

“This is something that I don’t know if there’s a perfect solution, but there needs to be a solution,” said Saltzman. “Set the rules. Set them fair. Let [the presidential campaigns] know what they are. And set them in a way that don’t change.”