Salon.com > Tennessee

Tennessee: Ayn Rand’s vision of paradise

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:14:00 +0000

If you're worried about where America is heading, look no further than Tennessee. Its lush mountains and verdant rolling countryside belie a mean-spirited public policy that only makes sense if you believe deeply in the anti-collectivist, anti-altruist philosophy of Ayn Rand. It's what you get when you combine hatred for government with disgust for poor people.

Tennessee starves what little government it has, ranking dead last in per capita tax revenue. To fund its minimalist public sector, it makes sure that low-income residents pay as much as possible through heavily regressive sales taxes, which rank 10th highest among all states as a percent of total tax revenues. (For more detailed data see here.)

As you would expect, this translates into hard times for its public school systems, which rank 48th in school revenues per student and 45th in teacher salaries. The failure to invest in education also corresponds with poverty: the state has the 40th worst poverty rate (15%) and the 13th highest state percentage of poor children (26%).

“KKK out of Memphis”

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:48:00 +0000

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — “Here they come,” someone shouted, standing in the rain in the fenced-in and heavily guarded protest area set up here more than 100 yards from where the Ku Klux Klan was beginning its controversial rally Saturday on the steps of the Shelby County Courthouse.

“I can’t see them,” someone else said, climbing on his tiptoes. “They’re too many cops in the way.”

The police presence was indeed overwhelming and the rain steady as the Klan arrived at the courthouse steps at 2:15, about 45 minutes late on the day before Easter. But from the city-designated protest area it was impossible to hear them and nearly impossible to see them except for the tops of their pointy white hoods.

As soon as they arrived, the multiracial crowd of about 400 anti-Klan demonstrators and onlookers — who were kept in the Best Park parking lot, behind a 6-foot high fence and a phalanx of police officers on foot and horseback — began chanting, “KKK out of Memphis.”

Republicans still fundraising for Scott DesJarlais

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:29:00 +0000

Tennessee Rep. Scott DesJarlais was the center of a controversy some months ago when it came to light that the social conservative, anti-abortion Republican once pressured a mistress to get an abortion. But, luckily for DesJarlais, national Republicans are still helping him fundraise.

The National Journal reports:

But unlike some other scandal-wracked politicians like Anthony Weiner, Eric Massa, or Eliot Spitzer, DesJarlais hasn’t become an outcast at all. Republican leaders haven’t punished him. He still holds positions on the Agriculture and, yes, the Oversight and Government Reform committees. Even more glaring: He’s getting fundraising assistance on Tuesday from six influential colleagues, including three committee chairmen (GOP Reps. Darrell Issa of California, John Kline of Minnesota, and Frank Lucas of Oklahoma) and two potential Senate candidates (Kline and Rep. Tom Price of Georgia).

Tennessee police chief uses polygraph to screen for racist applicants

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 13:18:00 +0000

COOPERTOWN, Tenn. (AP) — A police chief hired to rebuild a tiny Tennessee department dismantled by scandal is using a lie-detector test to keep racists off his force.

Coopertown Police Chief Shane Sullivan took over the department in November, becoming the 11th chief in as many years. He was hired on the heels of a series of police scandals that for a few months left Coopertown with no police at all. Years before that, a mayor was voted out of office after the local prosecutor accused him of racism and running a notorious speed trap.

Law enforcement experts say Sullivan's polygraph approach is unusual, though some departments use the devices for other purposes during the application process. Others try to root out bias in other ways. One polygraph expert warned that lie detectors can't accurately predict racism for reasons that include people's inability to recognize their own racism.

Sullivan said he doubts racists will even apply for the force if they know about the tests.

"I think the polygraph will definitely keep these people from applying," the 39-year-old chief said.

And he believes the policy is working, because he says it's already discouraged some applicants. "I've told a couple of ones about the polygraph who have not called me back."

Radical right: “We’ll start killing people” if Obama enacts gun control

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 17:51:00 +0000

When Tennessee weapons instructor James Yeager threatened Wednesday to “start killing people” if President Obama moved ahead on gun control, his infuriated rant went national, with dozens of media outlets and blogs expressing amazement.

In thousands of comments about Yeager’s YouTube video and another video the unrepentant Tactical Response CEO posted yesterday, Americans wondered if Yeager was breaking the law, or mentally ill, or a perfect example of the need for gun control. “Amazing, really,” wrote a commenter on the Hatewatch blog. “Simply amazing. These people are certifiably insane.” Said another, “These are the words of a real terrorist.” And a third wondered, “Can’t he be arrested for this?”

Tennessee GOPer floats return to the gold standard

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:08:00 +0000

Rep. John Duncan Jr. believes that the U.S. should return to the gold standard in order to "protect our money" from the threat of inflation.

Appearing on "The Mike Church Show," Duncan, R-Tenn., responded to Church's question about the relationship between the fiscal cliff and the Federal Reserve. "Isn’t the fiscal cliff and our fiscal malaise at least partly to blame on the Federal Reserve and our reckless monetary policy?" Church asked. "Wouldn’t it be prudent for Republicans to gently begin urging their fellow citizens to return to gold?"

"Yes, I agree with you completely," Duncan responded. He continued: "The best way to protect our money and keep us from facing things like I mentioned a few minutes ago about our pensions and so forth becoming almost worthless is to return to a gold standard or non-inflationary policies."

Ethics watchdog files complaint against antiabortion GOPer

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 14:01:00 +0000

The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint against Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., on Tuesday, asking Congress to investigate whether he lied when confronted about having a relationship with a patient.

DesJarlais, who easily won his reelection campaign, is an antiabortion Tea Partyer, and has been embroiled in a controversy after the Huffington Post obtained a transcript of a phone call from 2000 in which DesJarlais pressured his mistress, also a patient, to have an abortion.

HuffPo reports:

After The Huffington Post reported the transcript of that recording -- which was included in filings from DesJarlais' three-year divorce proceeding -- the congressman declared that it was made without his knowledge. However, the later release of his full trial transcript showed that DesJarlais was fully involved in the recording.

Glenn Beck: Beware of squirrel-worshiping socialists!

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 21:17:00 +0000

America’s favorite far-right entertainer, Glenn Beck, has always got the scoop on the coming End of the World and how to protect yourself from it. When he’s not urging fans to buy guns and gold, he’s telling them to build bunkers and stock up on food.

Now, just in time for the holidays, the fear-mongering eschatologist is shilling for a new prophecy of doom – one that comes wrapped in a neat dust jacket, ready to stuff in your loved one’s stocking.

Released on Nov. 20, Beck’s latest contribution to the American literary scene is Agenda 21, a dystopian novel set in a not-too-distant future in which America has been taken over by radical socialist environmentalist atheistic technocrats who steal babies and control all citizens with an iron fist, watching and reporting on everything they do.

Conservatives pressure Tennessee GOPer to step down

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 21:09:00 +0000

The Tennessee Conservative Union, the biggest conservative organization in the state, is pressuring pro-life Republican Rep. Scott DesJarlais to step down, after a recording revealed that he had pressured his mistress to get an abortion several years ago.

Lloyd Daugherty, who chairs the group, told the New York Times that he thinks DesJarlais should resign: “In 2010, he ran on two issues: ‘I’m going to end Obamacare,’ not ‘I’m going to help end Obamacare’ but ‘I’m going to do it personally,’ and that he would be a pro-life Republican on every issue,” Daugherty said. “He got elected on the same issue that he obviously does not have the same personal commitment to. It’s the hypocrisy.”

“We just think he ought to do the honorable thing and resign without us having to ask,” he said.

Anti-abortion GOPer pressured mistress to terminate pregnancy

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:43:00 +0000

Rep. Scott DesJarlais, a pro-life, Tea Party Republican who represents Tennessee, pressured his mistress and patient into getting an abortion, according to audio of a phone call obtained by the Huffington Post.

During November, 2000 divorce proceedings, Desjarlais' ex-wife accused him of "dry firing a gun outside the Plaintiff’s locked bedroom door, admission of suicidal ideation, holding a gun in his mouth for three hours, an incident of physical intimidation at the hospital; and previous threatening behavior … i.e. shoving, tripping, pushing down, etc.” The case was brought up during Desjarlais' campaign against Dem Rep. Lincoln Davis in 2010.

Michael McAuliff of HuffPo writes that the newly unearthed phone call took place in September, 2000, when Desjarlais was trying to save his marriage: