LeftWingCracker

Well, it's not feel good Friday, but.....

2010-01-08T09:26:00.001-06:00

I wanted to put this up today for Lauren, as she loved Ed Miller and this rendition of the old ballad Crooked Jack.

Information on the services for Lauren Hesse

2010-01-06T17:36:00.003-06:00

Visitation for Lauren Hesse will be held from 5-7 PM on Friday, January 8 at Canale Funeral Directors at 2700 Union Avenue Extended.

Her funeral will be on Saturday, January 9 at St. Anne's Catholic Church at 706 South Highland at 10:30 A.M.

In lieu of flowers, our family asks that donations be made either to the Center for Southern Folklore or the Church Health Center.

Our deepest thanks to all of you

2010-01-05T23:50:00.002-06:00

As Patrick updated on Facebook earlier today, we learned late Monday night that our Lauren no longer had function of her brain, the very thing that made her her. We have kept her going so that her father could see her tonight, as well as her Aunt Cherie and Uncle John.

In the morning, she will begin saving the lives of other people ...as her organs are taken for transplant, and tonight, we said goodbye to her for the last time.

While we have not been able to respond as we would have liked, know that your outpourings of love and prayers and support mean more to our family (and not just those related by blood) that we can ever express. She gave us so much that she is always with us, in spirit if not in body, and by doing those things we do of which she was such a major part, her memory shall never leave us.

This will be my last update for a while, please go to our friend Trace Sharp's website, www.newscoma.com, for more updates.

We as a family need a little bit of time to prepare for the celebration of her life, and we will make sure that you know when and where these will take place.

On behalf of the family, thank you for all you have done for us, it will never be forgotten.

Steve

we thank you from the bottom of our hearts

2010-01-04T10:27:00.003-06:00

as you may know, my Lauren is fighting for her life at St. Francis Hospital, i sit here in the waiting room typing this on Rick Maynard's laptop. The support you have all given us means more than I can ever say. I will be doing most updates on Twitter and facebook, but when I can, I will post here. Thank you so very much.

We begin 2010 with the loss of a giant

2010-01-01T09:19:00.003-06:00

Sadly, WMC and the Nashville Post are both reporting this morning that former Lt. Governor John S. Wilder passed away shortly after midnight at Baptist-East at the age of 88.

Wilder served as Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate for 36 years, longer than any person has ever served as the presiding officer of ANY legislature in this country. He was a kind, gentle and courtly man, but one who was never afraid to use the massive power that he accumulated over those years. He used to say, "The Senate is the Senate", and, as goofy as it may have sounded, everyone knew what he meant.

He was stunned in 2007 when former Senator Rosalind Kurita, who had VOTED FOR HIM in the Caucus election, then turned around and voted for Republican Ron Ramsey of Blountville for Speaker, a position Ramsey has held ever since. This aided Ramsey in building a 19-14 GOP edge in the Senate. It also would cost Kurita her Senate seat.

John S. Wilder was a giant in Tennessee politics, and he will be deeply missed, especially by the people of his district.

See Also:

Commercial Appeal
WREG

Happy New Year

2009-12-31T15:18:00.001-06:00

Wow, our birthdays are coming up, and if I won a boat trip, I would take Lauren.....

and T-Pain!

Yeah, yeah, I know

2009-12-29T12:10:00.002-06:00

I haven't written anything lately. It's the freakin' HOLIDAYS, folks, you should go read our beloved Newscoma or River City Mu d, they are en fuego these days.

We've got New Year's coming up and of course, the holiest of days, January 5. Why so, you ask? that is my birthday (1959) and that of the Lovely Lauren (19??). I will post periodically, but we are in a holiday mood right now.

Oh, and how about those BEARS last night, eh? BWAHAHAHA.

Enjoy!

Here's your Christmas Feel Good Friday

2009-12-25T06:00:00.001-06:00

My friends Ann & Pete love this song, and I do, too. Janetta reminded me of this, so have a Merry Christmas and enjoy the Pogues with Kirsty McColl with Fairytale of New York!

Well, I'm closing out Christmas Eve with the best

2009-12-24T17:05:00.001-06:00

It's MY favorite rendition of my favorite Christmas song, which just turned 65. Here's a nice story on how this came to be in 1944, in the middle of SUMMER!

Here's Nat, Merry Christmas everyone, and check back tomorrow for a nice Feel Good Friday!

One more for Christmas!

2009-12-24T13:25:00.002-06:00

The Lovely Lauren has been bombarding me with YouTubes of the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, and this was too good to pass up.

Here's a version of The Little Drummer Boy that you've never heard before, I assure you.

Enjoy.

Now, it's time for Santa to YODEL!

2009-12-24T11:16:00.001-06:00

Oh, I'm not done yet, not a bit.

2009-12-24T10:16:00.002-06:00

From the remarkable Christmas playlist of Chris Davis comes the heartwarming rendition of Jingle Bells from the Sex Pistols. More coming later!

A very soulful Christmas

2009-12-24T09:42:00.001-06:00

What says Christmas more than James Brown, except maybe THIS?

And MORE Christmas!

2009-12-23T18:04:00.000-06:00

here's Robert Earl Keen!

Now, THIS is Christmas!

2009-12-23T17:53:00.000-06:00

Ah, the reason for the season!

2009-12-23T11:01:00.000-06:00

Welcome back to River City Mud

2009-12-20T09:51:00.002-06:00

On THE Endless Blogroll, and now found here, I hope that you will add River City Mud to your feeds and bookmarks as well. This is a terrific blog, and we are glad DMH is up and writing again!

Watch Kos punk Chris Matthews on the Ed Show

2009-12-18T18:13:00.001-06:00

Lance Mannion explains it all

2009-12-18T15:41:00.001-06:00

He understands the problem with this Administration and the Senate Democrats, go read him now.

H/T to Janetta.

Christmas FGF - Tom Waits

2009-12-18T10:59:00.001-06:00

with thanks to @WillT83 and @MightyOCD from Twitter, I present the legendary Tom Waits with Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis.

Gmail is at it again

2009-12-17T08:19:00.002-06:00

If you are on my email list and you wondered why they stopped coming, Gmail is trying once again to force me into Google Groups and has shut me down. I believe it's because i'm sending liberal-oriented pieces.

More on this as it develops.

Woe is us!!!

2009-12-15T16:15:00.001-06:00

Ross is viciously funny today, go read him!

YO! Tennessee Democrats! There's a Gubernatorial poll up at KnoxViews!

2009-12-15T15:12:00.001-06:00

Go over there and vote for your candidate, I know I did.

More thoughts on Bart Gordon abandoning ship

2009-12-14T23:05:00.004-06:00

But not so much from me.

First, Aunt B:

I don’t know how many times bloggers can say this, but if people want to vote for Republicans, they can vote for Republicans. If you’ve got George Dickel and and a whiskey that tastes like George Dickel sitting in front of you, you don’t go for the imitation.
The fact is that the conservatives in this state are fractured, too. And our running to the right has provided enough pressure that those fissures have stayed somewhat closed. But they’re there. The libertarian-inclined folks and the nutjob faction sit together very uneasily. You think libertarians, who usually pride themselves on being smart, feel comfortable with the kind of “we hate book-learnin’” stuff that goes on in the nutjob faction? Do you think folks who can smartly and astutely argue about what the implications of the presence or absence of a comma between “militia” and “being” is and who can rattle off all sides of a 200 year old argument have any respect for people who don’t have any intellectual curiosity?

Then, Mary Mancini:

Why is it really important for us to try and be “Democrats, actual Democrats, who stand for something other than being like the Republicans, but not?”

Because Democrats have been running ever-increasingly conservative candidates strictly on the social issues that divide Democrats. Because they’ve been supporting ever-increasingly conservative legislation on social issues that divide Democrats. And they’ve been losing.

The rational is that Tennessee is a “conservative” state. But whose definition of conservative are they using here? They’re using the extreme right-wing talk radio Conservative definition of conservative. And not only that, but they’re using the the extreme right-wing talk radio definition of the word and applying to every Tennessean instead of the 25-30% to whom it actually applies.

And, dude, let me tell ya, those twenty-five percenters ain’t never gonna vote for a candidate with a “D” beside their name anyhow. So what are you doing?

Preach it, sisters, preach it.

The canary in the coal mine is singing - LOUDLY

2009-12-14T11:33:00.004-06:00

Well, I didn't think much about it when John Tanner retired because I knew Roy Herron or someone like him would jump in and win the TN-08 seat. It's a rural Democratic seat that voted for McCain in 2008, much like AR-01 across the river.

However, Bart Gordon's stunning retirement this morning has sent shockwaves all over the state, and not good ones if you are a Democrat. His seat is a R +13 seat that has trended more Republican each year for the last decade. His outstanding constituent service kept him in office, and he will be missed.

I suspect, just as in Tanner's case, the prospect of a very tough but winnable race figured into his decision. The prospect that he would win in 2010 but be re-districted out in 2012 figured even more into his thought processes, I suspect.

Folks, we are in serious re-alignment in the South; Democrats may be soon as extinct here as Republicans are in the Northeast. Whether we realize it or not, the only way the Democratic Party in Tennessee has a chance to be saved is for Democrats to re-take the state House. If so, there is a reasonable chance that Congressional and General Assembly districts can be drawn so as not to heavily favor the GOP.

If not, it will soon be 7 Republicans and 2 Democrats representing Tennessee in the US House; not even the GOP could take away TN-09 from Cohen or TN-05 from Cooper (or any Democrat, for that matter).

However, if you love the idea of the Brian Kelseys of the world running the Tennessee General Assembly, passing more guns bills while the rest of the state crumbles around you, I guess you could sit back and let it happen.

I'd rather not see that happen. What I haven't seen, however, is a plan from the State House Democratic Caucus to prevent that from happening. All they have tried to do is stay just barely to the left of the GOP so as not to offend their preachers or cousins. I guess they have forgotten President Truman's message(found at the top of this blog), which is no less true today than it was when he uttered it.

Give people a CHOICE, not an echo, dammit! (Gee, how'd that Goldwater get in there? :)) Give them A REASON to vote Democratic and stop being so TIMID. Make this about money and not lifestyle, make this election about real ideas and stop trying to be nice to the very Republicans who would roast you over a spit if they got the chance.

This is a war for the soul of Tennessee, and I will admonish you of the House Democratic Caucus the way Spartan mothers used to send their sons into battle: come back WITH your shield, or ON it.