Metro Arts director Daniel Singh agrees to Resign. Gets Paid $200,000.

by CHAR DASTON, WPLN News,  MAY 24, 2024 - Metro Arts director Daniel Singh has agreed to resign after less than two years on the job. Singh presided over a chaotic grant funding cycle where artists and arts nonprofits waited months to receive the money they were promised.

Singh’s resignation was approved by the Metro Arts Commission at a specially-called meeting on Friday. In return, he’ll receive a $200,000 settlement payment from the city government.

That settlement will prevent Singh from suing Nashville, Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz said during the meeting. link

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The Tennessean: Metro Arts board votes to approve director's resignation settlement; new lawsuit filed link

Rod's Comment: This is good news, but it is a shame that we had to pay someone $200,00 to resign when he deserves to be fired. I am betting that this will not end the drama. For more on the drama, death threats, lawsuits, ethics complaints, resignations, controversies, disfunction, and chaos occurring at the Metro Arts Commission, follow this link. 

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Did Metro's denial of the Morgan Wallen sign violate the First Amendment?

 by Rod Williams, May 24, 2024- At this week's Council meeting, the Council voted to deny a sign to a new downtown bar for no other reason than they do not approve of the name of the person on the sign.

There are a whole host of bars downtown carrying the names of County artist. This bar would have been an addition to those carrying the name of Garth Brooks, John Rich, Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Blake Sheldon, Alan Jackson, Kid Rock and others.

Every time a sign overhangs a public right of way, the sign has to be approved by the Metro Council by resolution. This is such a routine action that I have viewed these resolutions as a waste of time and have thought that instead of requiring legislative action, that approvals of signs overhanging the right of way should be done by an agency of Metro, as a matter of course, just like getting many other kinds of government permissions. 

The sign in question had been approved by the appropriate government agencies such as codes and the sign carried the necessary insurance. The sign resolution had the approval of the Planning Commission, the Planning and Zoning Committee, and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. This should have been routine. The only problem with this sign is that it carried the name of Morgan Wallen.

Morgan Wallen, a few weeks earlier, had been drunk in a downtown bar and threw a chair off of a balcony. This bad behavior should be punished and likely will be. He could have injured or possibly killed someone. He was arrested on three felony charges of reckless endangerment and is awaiting trial. However, that incident has nothing to do with approval of a sign bearing his name but that was cited as one of the reasons for not approving.

Another reason for denial was that back in 2021, he was caught using the word "nigger." Again, he was drunk, and he says he used it playfully when with friends who were all drunk and rowdy. He apologized, appeared on various news shows saying how sorry he was, and said that he had an epiphany that to use that term was harmful. He went to 72 hours of rehab and gave money to a Black music organization.  I don't know if his mea clupa was sincere or not but he did all he could do to make amends. 

I get it. Morgan Wallen has a drinking problem and may not be a very nice person. He may be a bigot. He certainly is not a role model. Then again, many Rock and County artist and certainly Rap artist are not role models. When Metro Council approves a sign, I never thought of it as an approval of the character of the person whose name is on the sign. I assumed it was to ensure that the sign was safe. 

If we start making the approval of a sign to signify approval of the organization or person whose name is one the sign, where does this end? Will the Council approve the sign of churches that perform gay marriage but disapprove the signs of churches that condemn homosexuality as a sin? What if rapper Carti B who sang about "wet ass pussy," wanted to open a bar with a sign overhanging the sidewalk. Would the Council approve the sign? If so, it that an endorsement of the lewd lyrics of her song? Or what if any number of Rap artist who have criminal records and who use the word "nigga" in their lyrics wanted to open a bar? Would approval of a sign bearing their name, imply approval of this variation of the word "nigger?" What if a gun store wanted a sign overhanging a sidewalk? Could we disapprove the sign because many in Nashville do not like guns? What if former president Trump wanted to open a hotel in Nashville? Could Nashville deny the hotel a permit because most Nashvillians do not approve of Trump?

I am not an attorney, but it sure seems to me that basing government permission to engage in advertising based on approval of the message or the messenger or the legal product is a violation of the first amendment. I wish a civil liberties organization would sue Nashville over this. I would contribute to the organization. 

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The phony outrage generated by the upside-down American flag and the Appeal to Heaven flag flown at Justice Alito's home.

by Rod Williams, May 24, 2024- Danielle Pletka, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, appeared on Meet the Press yesterday as part of the panel and passionately disputed the argument that an American flag briefly flown upside down at Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's home and the Appeal to Heaven Revolutionary War era flag flown at his beach house should require him to recuse himself from any ruling on cases involving Donald Trump. Apparently, the upside-down flag was briefly flown by Alito's wife as part of a dispute with a neighbor who called Ms Alito the obscene "C-word." 

The flag incident has been seized by libs to denigrate and diminish the court and sow distrust of the institution. They have described both the upside-down flag and the Appeal to Heaven flag as symbols of the "stop the steal" movement. I consume a lot of news including conservative and Trumpist media outlets and know a lot of Trumpinistas and if the upside-down flag or the Appeal to Heaven flag were well-known symbol of the "stop the steal" movement, I somehow missed it. 

AEI is a scholarly organization and a pre-Trump mainstream conservative organization. I have watched Pletka appear on Meet the Press and other news shows many times. She is not prone to displays of disgust and emotion. She unloads, and rightly so, at the phony outrage generated by the flags controversy. Among other points she makes is that husbands are no longer responsible for the actions of their wife and that these flags are not well-known "stop the steal" symbols. 

Here is the clip. Worth watching. 

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Andy Ogles only has $100,000 Campaign Cash on hand, not the $400,000 he claimed to have.

by Rod Williams, May 24, 2024- In addition to correcting his campaign financial report to show that he only loaned his campaign $20,000, and not the $320,000 he had previously claimed, 5th District Congressman Andy Ogles' most recent financial report shows he has less than $100,000 in his campaign coffers and not $450,000 has he had previously claimed. (1)

With much less cash on hand, this should make Ogles much more vulnerable to the challenge he faces from conservative Republican Metro Council member Courtney Johnston in the Aug. 1 GOP primary. Now, would be a good time to contribute to Johnston's campaign, follow this link. 

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Congressman Andy Ogles admits his claims to have loaned $320,000 to his campaign was a lie.

by Rod Williams, May 24, 2024- As reported by News Channel 5, Congressman Andy Ogles admitted to falsifying claims about loaning $320,000 to his campaign, correcting the amount to only $20,000. Ogles filed 11 amendments to his campaign finance reports correcting the amount of loan to his campaign to $20,000. 

This should be a big deal. This is not misremembering or faulty record keeping or a rounding error. This is a bald face lie. Ogles excuse is that he reported $300,000 which he intended to loan to his campaign as actually loaned. 

The reason a candidate would do this is to show that he has the resources to win and a election and scare off potential competitors from entering the race.

This is not the first time Ogles has had trouble telling the truth. He inflated his resume, and he had the children's burial garden scandal. For more on the campaign finance story, follow this link. 

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The Trump Mar-a-Lago lethal force claim is just stupid. But it's par for the course

 By Andrew McCarthy, National Review, May 23, 2024- Having been at the Trump trial in Manhattan for the last couple of days, I cannot say I’m surprised at former president Trump’s inane claim that President Biden authorized the use of lethal force in connection with the FBI’s execution of a court-authorized search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

The claim is political red meat for conspiracy theorists.

.... All search warrants involve the possibility of forced entry. All of them involve police seizures of property, which can subject the personnel involved to legal risks as well as safety risks. The cops or federal agents usually do a good job of identifying themselves during the process of seeking or forcing entry; yet there are tragic instances in which people inside the premises mistakenly believe violent criminals, rather than cops, are trying to get in, resulting in physical confrontations including, sometimes, exchanges of gunfire. ... As a result, and as a matter of common sense, the FBI always has an operational plan for carrying out a court-authorized search. That plan customarily involves reminding the search teams of the FBI’s use-of-force policies. Those policies, of course, include a refresher on the conditions under which lethal force may be used. (read it all)

Rod's Comment: This is just maddening. No matter how rational the explanation, no matter how simple you make it, you cannot convince a Trump true believer that something they want to believe is simply incorrect. I have known a certain kind of religious person who cannot be convinced that the earth is any older than 6,000 years. I have encountered people who do not believe than man has actually gone to the moon. Arguing with them is sort of like arguing with a Trump supporter. Being a true Trumpinista is kind of like having irrational faith. It is sort of like being in a cult. it is hard to argue with a delusional person. I just hope that some who are not in too deep can be saved from being totally delusional. 

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Senator Heidi Cambpell Thinks Tennessee is a Totalitarian State.

Heidi Cambpell

by Rod Williams, May 20, 2024- Nashville Tennessee State Senator Heidi Cambpell thinks Tennessee is a "totalitarian state."  She is quoted in the Scene saying so: “In case anyone hasn’t noticed, the controlling party can do whatever they want without Democratic votes. It’s part of living in a totalitarian state.” 

Isn't that a little strong? I know being in the minority in the legislature where your party could caucus in an elevator or mop closet must be frustrating. I hope that frustration of being in the minority does not cause minority members to lose touch with reality. 

We are a state dominated by one party. Republicans control the governor's office, the House and the Senate. However, we got to this point by people exercising their right to vote. The government we have reflexes the preferences of the people. Tennessee is not that unusual. There are 37 states where one party dominates, controlling both houses of the legislature and the governor's office. Republicans control 23 states and Democrats control 14. If I lived in California or one of the other 13 states dominated by Democrats, could I whine that I lived in a totalitarian state? I, of course could, but I wouldn't, and it would not be justified if I did. 

Being dominated by one party is not the same as a one-party state system. One-party systems are a common trait of communist Marxist-Leninist and fascist political philosophies. Under these systems, other parties may even be allowed to exist, but they have to accept the dominance of the controlling party. Tennesse is not a one-party state nor are we totalitarian. As long as we have our constitution, we cannot be a one-party system, nor totalitarian, or even authoritarian. 

There are degrees of totalitarian systems. The most severe totalitarian systems in modern history would have to be Mao's China, Stalin's Russia, and Hitler's Germany. In an extreme totalitarian state such as those, not only does a political party control the government and the economy but exercises extreme thought control and dominates every facet of one's life. To own the wrong art book, or the wrong phonograph record, or even wearing eyeglasses can get you sent to a slave labor or "reeducation" camp. Does Heidi Cambpell think we are that kind of totalitarian state?

Of course, there are lesser degrees of totalitarianism where if you do not make waves and engage in protest and keeps a low profile, life is tolerable. And, then there are varying degrees of authoritarianism. Does Heidi Cambpell know any of this? I wish the Scene reporter would have asked her to elaborate and explain to what degree we are a totalitarian state.

Surely, Heidi Campbell knows the difference between being in the minority in the state legislature and living in a totalitarian system.  Maybe, she added the "it’s part of living in a totalitarian state" comment as hyperbole. Maybe she said it tongue-in-cheek. Sometimes what is reflected in print comes across differently than when one hears what is said. Facial expressions and change in tone of voice may reflect that she was not serious. If that is the case, then the Scene reporter did a bad job and did not communicate that.

If, however, Heidi Campbell really thinks Tennessee is a totalitarian state, maybe she should visit North Korea to learn the difference. 

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Shame on Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley

by Rod Williams, May 23, 2024- I am deeply disappointed in Nikki Haley. I am also surprised. I thought she was made of stronger stuff and had a principled opposition to Donald Trump. She said some strong stuff condemning Trump during her campaign for the nomination. Now, she has kissed the ring.  She apparently is like many other Republican elected officials who believe their own political survival is more important than the threat to our democracy posed by Donald Trump.

In making her announcement that she would be voting for Trump, she said, "Trump has not been perfect on these policies, but Biden has been a catastrophe, so I will be voting for Trump." 

If I were just looking at issues, I would agree with Haley and conclude that I prefer Trump policies to Biden policies and I would vote for Trump. However, for me, this election is not just about normal issues. It is not about the economy, or immigration, or student loan forgiveness, or Title IX, or tax cuts, or the status of access to abortion, or tariffs. 

Trump attempted a coup. He tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. He continues to claim the 2020 election was stolen. He talks of the possibility of suspending the constitution. He expresses admiration for authoritarian world leaders. He associates with and welcomes the support of weird conspiracy theorist, white supremist, and extremist. 

Trump is danger to American democracy. He is an existential treat.  I think Nicki Haley knows it. Shame on her for her cowardness and lack of the courage of her conflictions. 

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Conservative Republican Courtney Johnston Responds to Andy Ogles’ Dishonest Campaign Finance Reports

Courtney Johnston

Nashville, Tenn., May 23, 2024 – Today, Conservative Metro Councilwoman Courtney Johnston responded to the updated Federal Election Commission filings from Andy Ogles. These 11 amended filings show hundreds of thousands of dollars in discrepancies between what he has claimed to have
raised versus what he actually has.

“Andy Ogles lied to the federal government and got caught. Normal folks get in big trouble for
lying to the feds about money, but Andy is a politician who thinks he deserves a free pass and
two more years of a taxpayer salary. If Andy Ogles is willing to lie about his own money, what
won’t he lie about?” said Johnston. “Voters in Middle Tennessee deserve a Member of Congress
they can trust. That’s why I’m running.”

Before serving on the Council, Johnston was a small business owner and took on the
bureaucracy and ran against an incumbent after her home was broken into. She saw first-hand
the need for better representation, crime reduction, and fiscal responsibility.

During her first term on Metro Council, Johnston fought to fully fund law enforcement, voted
against property tax hikes, and delivered real results for her district. As an experienced small
business owner, she’s a political outsider who wants to drain the swamp and get rid of career
politicians.

For more information about Courtney and her campaign, please visit JohnstonForCongress.com.
 

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Leave Them Broadway Signs Alone

By Davis Hunt, The Pamphleteer, 22 May 2024 •  View in browser

Photo by Drew Hays / Unsplash

Good afternoon, everyone. Fielding reader questions: “Is there a German word for lashing out at one trivial thing because you are impotent in another (more important) thing?” I don’t know the answer to this question, but if there is such a word, it would describe the Metro Council. Last night, a benign and routine resolution that would have permitted Morgan Wallen’s Broadway bar to put up signage was voted down with 30 nos, 3 yeses, and 4 abstentions. Councilmember Jacob Kupin, who represents the Broadway district, pulled the bill off the consent agenda—meaning that, instead of bundling it with a bunch of bills that would pass with a simple vote, it would be brought to the floor for discussion before going up for a vote. “This is a sign encroachment for Morgan Wallen’s new bar that crossed my desk right about the time that he decided to throw a chair off a rooftop, nearly hitting some first responders,” Kupin announced. “It struck me that we’re putting up a sign with someone’s name on it who has not been a good actor downtown.” Kupin spoke in favor of the resolution (and was one of the three yes votes), but opened the bill up to discussion which set the stage for what was to come. The subsequent discussion led to a series of moralizing soliloquies from a number of council members on why they’d be opposing the bill. “Is this the same Morgan Wallen that got in trouble for making racist comments and using the N-word?” Councilmember Porterfield asked rhetorically, before announcing her intention to vote “no” on the resolution. The council’s petulant display was clearly meant to send a message to Wallen, and more broadly, the culture of Broadway. You can see a highlight clip on our Twitter of some of their other comments, which I don’t want to dignify further in print (and I’m late getting this out). The whole discussion and ensuing vote ate up eight minutes of the three-hour meeting, constituting four percent of the time spent in session inside the chamber. Porterfield later tweeted, “We just voted down a resolution allowing an Aerial Encroachment with Morgan Wallen's name on it. Yes THAT Morgan Wallen. The one who throws chairs & uses racial slurs.” I’d fully expect this tweet to be used as evidence in a lawsuit that will cost the city at least a couple hundred thousand dollars, if not more. According to the Supreme Court ruling in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, local ordinances may regulate signs so long as the regulations are content-neutral, but not if the regulation is content-based.  Because the council members didn’t have any misgivings about the sign, aside from the fact that it contained the name of notorious outlaw Morgan Wallen, their vote against the resolution is likely a violation of the First Amendment and bound to end up in court. What an absolute waste of time, energy, and money.  # Nashville council rejects proposed sign for Morgan Wallen's new bar, decrying his behavior (msn.com)

Rod's Comment: It never ceases to amaze me how illiberal liberal can be. This sure seems like this should be First Amendment issue.

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Transgender Advocates Want Tennessee Law on Birth Certificates Declared Unconstitutional

 In federal appeals court, transgender citizens challenge Tennessee’s rule that denies the ability to change sex designation

Tennessee transgender birth certificate case in U.S. court - Nashville Banner

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Rolling Stone Interview: Drunk, Waving Guns, Belligerent, Charming, Provocative and Infuriating, Kid Rock tells his story and transition to Super MAGA Icon.

by Rod Willliams, May 21, 2024- The Kid Rock interview in Rolling Stone is a riot. I'm not sure how
much insight one will gain from the article, but it sure is entertaining. I'm not sure how much of what he says is sincere and how much is performance. I believe he is sincere, but he is mostly just in-you-face, I-don't-give-a-f.... Sometimes he seems to get serious and says he is part of the problem causing super partisan division in America. Other times he seems to love creating division. 

How Kid Rock Went From America’s Favorite Hard-Partying Rock Star to a MAGA Mouthpiece

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Bastiat Society, May 22 | “Improving the Fed: Less Regulation and Politics, More Market Focus” with Thomas Hogan

 

For more information and tickets, follow this link. 

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Nashville Conservatives Breakfast Club Meets Sat. May 25th

This Saturday!

The next Nashville Conservatives Breakfast Club, starting at 8am on May 25, will be a special one. Kristen Topping-Mekic from the team of 5th District Congressman Andy Ogles AND 6th District Congressman John Rose himself will be there. Don't miss this rare opportunity to hear direct reports from Washington and to find out more about how Nashville's new team in the U.S. House is working for us. Arrive and pay promptly at 8:00 to enjoy the breakfast feast, followed by the meeting program, at the Hermitage location of Golden Corral (315 Old Lebanon Dirt Road).

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Metro Arts Commission Drama Update: Metro HR Concludes Councilmember, Commission Director Intimidated City Employees

 Metro HR Concludes Councilmember, Commission Director Intimidated City Employees

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Zoning Regulations Empower Control Freaks—and Bigots

 Reason: Zoning Regulations Empower Control Freaks—and Bigots

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Sports Stadium Subsidies: Who pays, who benefits, the return on investment, Skyrocketing Subsidies, a Very Bad Deal for Taxpayers.

 The Dispatch: Sports Are Great, but Stadium Subsidies Stink

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