ClanJamFry

As I referenced earlier, I have a passion for Scottish and Irish Music. This Saturday, you have an opportunity to come and see what I am talking about at ClanJamFry, the Memphis Scottish Festival at Evergreen Presbyterian Church, located at University & Tutwiler, near Rhodes College.

We will have a solid lineup of music and dance; here's the schedule for the Scottish Faire:

10:00 AM - 6:00 PM--Faire. A whole day of fun, games, music, and dancing! Activities include Scottish vendors, food (local and Scottish), a children's area, contests and games for older youth and adults, sheep herding demos, Scottish Clans and societies in full regalia, a Bonniest Knees contest, a Most Dour Scot contest, a Parade of Clans, bagpipes, dog rescue groups, a falconry exhibit, Scottish Games demos, a Heritage Tent, and more bagpipes. Also, during the Faire, Clanjamfry will host music and dance venues with performances held throughout the day, plus a Highland dance competition! The schedules for music and dance are...

Music Stage:
10:00-10:45 AM - Fiddlers Four
10:45-11:15 AM - 5K Run awards
11:15 AM-12:00 PM - Peggy Loyd
12:00-12:30 PM - Opening Ceremony, Parade of Tartans
12:30-1:15 PM - Fiddlers Four
1:15-2:00 PM - Peggy Loyd
2:00-2:30 PM - Bonniest Knees contest, Honored Clan presentation
2:30-3:30 PM - Kula (Steve's note: these are the folks from Selmer!)
3:45-4:30 PM - The Border Collies
4:30-4:45 PM - Announcement of Contest Winners
4:45-5:30 The Border Collies
5:30 PM - Closing Benediction

Dance Stage
9:30 AM - (Morning competition check-in)
10:00-11:30 AM - Highland Dance Competition, Pre-Premier
11:30 AM-12:00 PM - Evergreen Bonnie Dancers "Won't You Join the Dance?"
12:00-12:30 PM - Opening Ceremonies
12:30 PM - (Afternoon competition check-in)
12:30-1:30 PM - WindDance "Celtic Freestyle"
1:30-2:45 PM - Highland Dance Competition, Premier
2:45-3:00 PM - Highland Dance demo
3:00-3:30 PM - Memphis Scottish Country Dancers, demo
3:45-4:30 PM - Inis Acla School of Traditional Irish Step Dance
4:30-5:00 PM - Jazzercise demo, Evergreen Outreach Ministries
5:00-5:15 PM - Snowden School Elementary Chorus, directed by Kenleta Pokorski
5:15-5:30 PM - Evergreen Bonnie Dancers "Won't You Join the Dance?"
5:30 PM - Closing Benediction

Wolf River Pipe & Drums Performances
Noon - Opening Ceremonies, in front of church
1:00 PM - Presentation with Performance, church sanctuary
2:00 PM - Encore Presentation with Performance, church sanctuary
3:30 PM - afternoon march on, in front of church

For more infomation on performers on the Music Stage and Special Music Events, please go to the Music page. For more infomation on performances and competition on the Dance Stage, please go to the Dance page.

Ticket prices for the Faire on Saturday are:
Faire Tickets:
General Admission--$5
Senior Citizen--$4
Student (with ID)--$2
Military (in uniform or with ID) and family--$2 per person
Children, age 5 thru 12--$2
Children, age 4 and under--free

Afterwards, there will be a concert in the sanctuary featuring Enoch Kent and Brian McNeill, legendary founder of the Battlefield Band (and someone who makes me look right-wing by comparison! This will cost $20, but it is worth it once you hear his fiddling and his songs.

I hope to see you Saturday.....

The Ford Party

The Democratic Party has a situation on its hands that it refuses to deal with, to their peril. That is to say, they apparently do not have a Senate candidate in Tennessee.

Oh, sure, he won the primary and appeared with a former President that very night. However, nowhere in his ads does it say he is a Democrat or that he supports Democratic ideals. Why?

Hell, he doesn't even endorse the Democratic nominee that the voters of the 9th District selected to replace him. Why? Because his little brother is in the race, supposedly to increase turnout in November.

What good will it do if it increases Republican turnout in Shelby County, if for no other reason than to ensure that no one named Ford occupies the 9th district seat? And, you can bet it won't be Harold's button they push when they vote in the Senate race. Also, how many Democrats, angered at Ford's rejection of Steve Cohen, will either overlook the Senate race or vote for another candidate?

So, I can guess that we can assume that Harold and his younger brother (poor guy, he doesn't have a clue of what's about to happen) are running on their OWN party.

Thanks to Bob at 55-40, we can even offer them a logo for the Ford Party:



Be careful what you wish for, Senior and Junior; you just may get it.

Pam ain't playin'!

Responding to both the Freedonian and Space Ninja posts referenced below, Pam cuts right to the chase at the Freedonian site.

Here's a sample:

Many of the people that have contributed to Jr.’s campaign are also supporters of Steve Cohen. When they donated to Jr., they did not do so with the intention of financing his little brother’s campaign as well. Had they known that this scenario, many would have more likely withhold their wallets as well as their votes, and Jr. should know better. And, if Jr.’s supporters wish to donate to Jake’s campaign as well, they should follow proper and legitimate channels as established by law and give to Jake’s campaign directly.

Ok, go read the rest!

I had hoped it would not come to this.....

Freedonian has a post that saddens my heart, as it appears that Asshead can't even open his OWN campaign headquarters, but is operating out of his brother's HQ at Park and Ridgeway.

I am not even sure if this is legal by FEC standards, as while one might expect a central Party HQ where multiple candidates could operate, as this involves an "independent" and a "Democrat" (if Junior is going to help his brother over Cohen, he's no Democrat).

How am I supposed to aid and endorse all Democratic Nominees when the Senate nominee refuses to do the same? I'm not asking Junior to give Asshead the Fredo Treatment, but support your own party, Ace, or don't ask me for mine.

We're done. It's on now, baby.

UPDATE: The Space Ninja weighs in with a VERY interesting take on Freedonian's post.

The River City Mud Bugle is BACK!

The mighty Autoegocrat has resurrected and refurbished the River City Mud Bugle, and he starts off with a bang, by enlightening us as to who's behind the evil crookedcohen.org slanderous website, first discovered by the Space Ninja.

Here's a choice cut:

A reverse name lookup for jakefordforcongress.com and crookedcohen.org reveals that the two websites have exactly the same IP address:

$ nslookup www.crookedcohen.org

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: crookedcohen.org
Address: 65.254.39.146
Aliases: www.crookedcohen.org

$ nslookup www.jakefordforcongress.com

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: jakefordforcongress.com
Address: 65.254.39.146
Aliases: www.jakefordforcongress.com

Hat tip to the lovely Pam at Freedonian!

A sad ending to an era....

Once upon a time, in a land long ago and far away, there was a bright young man who got elected to Congress. He stood for progressive ideals and was as great a champion of the underdog, the oppressed and the poor as anyone this town had ever seen. He spoke truth to power, caused people to love him and despise him, sometimes in the same week.

He was attacked and prosecuted for crimes he did not commit, and the case was so bad that 12 white folks from rural West Tennessee saw through them and acquitted him. He would occasionally say something that angered his district, but since he helped one and all, no matter whether they lived in his district or not, he was usually quickly forgiven by all but the most rabid haters.

The day came when he presented his eldest son and said, this is who I want to succeed me, and the district agreed, and, for a while, the eldest son showed promise, even though his party was no longer in power.

Then, things began to change. The eldest son, bearing the name of the father, attacked the President of HIS OWN PARTY due to the President's personal failings. Then he began to act as if he had been raised in East Tennessee, not South Memphis. The father, once the champion of the land, moved east and south and began to disappear while his namesake sounded more Republican than those who had dared to challenge his father. The namesake even praised the new President, of the OTHER Party, who had led this country to disaster after disaster, and seemed ashamed of the party of his birth.

The namesake sought to run for higher office, and the father, once the champion of the poor and the oppressed, came home from parts unknown to help his eldest son, and then to have his youngest son keep the seat in the hands of the family, even if it meant opposing the party that had brought he and his children wealth and fame.

The old champion, now a shell of himself, began organizing ministers in the black community as if it were somehow 1974 all over again, but things were now different. People in that community, people who had been with him for years, asked, WHY? We have a new champion, and he may not look like you do but he sures VOTES like you did, and he is the nominee of our party. You've been away for so long and you really don't know how things are any more. Enough is enough, they said, stop this.

However, like Willie Mays stumbling in the 1973 World Series, the old warrior kept on, not realizing that in his efforts to continue the legacy, he was endangering the eldest son in his own back yard. The rival chieftain smacked down the old warrior and proved to most that the old warrior was now a stranger in his hometown, and all was being lost.

The moral of our story, for which the final chapter has yet to be written, will still be that one should never take anything for granted, and that things always change, whether we want them to or not.

WREG-TV up for sale

The Grey Lady is getting out of the TV business, selling nine stations, located in eight cities: Oklahoma City (2), Des Moines, Fort Smith, Memphis (WREG), Moline, IL, Huntsville, and Scranton, PA. Apparently all of the stations are profitable, but they claim they want to focus on the paper itself, along with its digital businesses.

This comes at an interesting time for NewsChannel 3, having finally caught their long-time rivals at WMC-TV 5 in the 10 PM news ratings, and running neck-and-neck in the 5 and 6 PM slots.

I hope that the new owners, whoever they will be, will keep a local focus at 3; this, along with the return of Richard Ransom and the revitalized Claudia Barr, is what has led them to this point, IMO.

Hat tip to Mike Brester for the breaking news....

I am starting a project..

that will lead to another blog, non-political in nature.

As you may have noted, I have come to love Scottish and irish folk music in my middle years, which is why I hit CelticFest in Jackson and the North Texas Irish Festival in Dallas every year.

I am also fortunate to be able to stage-manage at ClanJamFry, the Memphis Scottish Festival for four of the last five years, with the assistance of Lauren, without whom I would have dissolved into a pool of water years ago.

As a result, with the help of some Cue members in the formatting of the site, I will be debuting within the month, a Celtic blog for the Mid-South, so that people who are like-minded can know what's going on in the vast Celtoworld that exists.

One might be surprised at how many great AMERICAN-based Celtic acts exists, and it will be the mission of this blog to highlight them and let people know about them.

Sure, I love Altan as much as anyone, but have you heard Kula yet? They are from SELMER, for heaven's sake, but you'd swear from their music that they just got off the boat from County Cork!

No, I'm not backing off the Cracker or the Cue for even a second, but we want people to know about this wonderful music of the isles and give it a listen. Without it, there's no bluegrass or country, which means no Rock N Roll, either!

OK, enough for now, I will let you know when we are up and running...

Keith Olbermann is all we have left now...

As the Big Three networks, Fox News and CNN fight over who can give the best verbal fellatio to the Bush Administration, leave it to Keith Olbermann to provide the only truth in televised news these days. Here are his comments from Ground Zero on the fifth anniversary of the American equivalent of the burning of the Reichstag:

Half a lifetime ago, I worked in this now-empty space. And for 40 days after the attacks, I worked here again, trying to make sense of what happened, and was yet to happen, as a reporter.

All the time, I knew that the very air I breathed contained the remains of thousands of people, including four of my friends, two in the planes and -- as I discovered from those "missing posters" seared still into my soul -- two more in the Towers.

And I knew too, that this was the pyre for hundreds of New York policemen and firemen, of whom my family can claim half a dozen or more, as our ancestors.

I belabor this to emphasize that, for me this was, and is, and always shall be, personal.

And anyone who claims that I and others like me are "soft,"or have "forgotten" the lessons of what happened here is at best a grasping, opportunistic, dilettante and at worst, an idiot whether he is a commentator, or a Vice President, or a President.

However, of all the things those of us who were here five years ago could have forecast -- of all the nightmares that unfolded before our eyes, and the others that unfolded only in our minds -- none of us could have predicted this.

Five years later this space is still empty.

Five years later there is no memorial to the dead.

Five years later there is no building rising to show with proud defiance that we would not have our America wrung from us, by cowards and criminals.

Five years later this country's wound is still open.

Five years later this country's mass grave is still unmarked.

Five years later this is still just a background for a photo-op.

It is beyond shameful.

At the dedication of the Gettysburg Memorial -- barely four months after the last soldier staggered from another Pennsylvania field -- Mr. Lincoln said, "we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract."

Lincoln used those words to immortalize their sacrifice.

Today our leaders could use those same words to rationalize their reprehensible inaction. "We cannot dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground." So we won't.

Instead they bicker and buck pass. They thwart private efforts, and jostle to claim credit for initiatives that go nowhere. They spend the money on irrelevant wars, and elaborate self-congratulations, and buying off columnists to write how good a job they're doing instead of doing any job at all.

Five years later, Mr. Bush, we are still fighting the terrorists on these streets. And look carefully, sir, on these 16 empty acres. The terrorists are clearly, still winning.

And, in a crime against every victim here and every patriotic sentiment you mouthed but did not enact, you have done nothing about it.

And there is something worse still than this vast gaping hole in this city, and in the fabric of our nation. There is its symbolism of the promise unfulfilled, the urgent oath, reduced to lazy execution.

The only positive on 9/11 and the days and weeks that so slowly and painfully followed it was the unanimous humanity, here, and throughout the country. The government, the President in particular, was given every possible measure of support.

Those who did not belong to his party -- tabled that.

Those who doubted the mechanics of his election -- ignored that.

Those who wondered of his qualifications -- forgot that.

History teaches us that nearly unanimous support of a government cannot be taken away from that government by its critics. It can only be squandered by those who use it not to heal a nation's wounds, but to take political advantage.

Terrorists did not come and steal our newly-regained sense of being American first, and political, fiftieth. Nor did the Democrats. Nor did the media. Nor did the people.

The President -- and those around him -- did that.

They promised bi-partisanship, and then showed that to them, "bi-partisanship" meant that their party would rule and the rest would have to follow, or be branded, with ever-escalating hysteria, as morally or intellectually confused, as appeasers, as those who, in the Vice President's words yesterday, "validate the strategy of the terrorists."

They promised protection, and then showed that to them "protection" meant going to war against a despot whose hand they had once shaken, a despot who we now learn from our own Senate Intelligence Committee, hated al-Qaida as much as we did.

The polite phrase for how so many of us were duped into supporting a war, on the false premise that it had 'something to do' with 9/11 is "lying by implication."

The impolite phrase is "impeachable offense."

Not once in now five years has this President ever offered to assume responsibility for the failures that led to this empty space, and to this, the current, curdled, version of our beloved country.

Still, there is a last snapping flame from a final candle of respect and fairness: even his most virulent critics have never suggested he alone bears the full brunt of the blame for 9/11.

Half the time, in fact, this President has been so gently treated, that he has seemed not even to be the man most responsible for anything in his own administration.

Yet what is happening this very night?

A mini-series, created, influenced -- possibly financed by -- the most radical and cold of domestic political Machiavellis, continues to be televised into our homes.

The documented truths of the last fifteen years are replaced by bald-faced lies; the talking points of the current regime parroted; the whole sorry story blurred, by spin, to make the party out of office seem vacillating and impotent, and the party in office, seem like the only option.

How dare you, Mr. President, after taking cynical advantage of the unanimity and love, and transmuting it into fraudulent war and needless death, after monstrously transforming it into fear and suspicion and turning that fear into the campaign slogan of three elections? How dare you -- or those around you -- ever "spin" 9/11?

Just as the terrorists have succeeded -- are still succeeding -- as long as there is no memorial and no construction here at Ground Zero.

So, too, have they succeeded, and are still succeeding as long as this government uses 9/11 as a wedge to pit Americans against Americans.

This is an odd point to cite a television program, especially one from March of 1960. But as Disney's continuing sell-out of the truth (and this country) suggests, even television programs can be powerful things.

And long ago, a series called "The Twilight Zone" broadcast a riveting episode entitled "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street."

In brief: a meteor sparks rumors of an invasion by extra-terrestrials disguised as humans. The electricity goes out. A neighbor pleads for calm. Suddenly his car -- and only his car -- starts. Someone suggests he must be the alien. Then another man's lights go on. As charges and suspicion and panic overtake the street, guns are inevitably produced. An "alien" is shot -- but he turns out to be just another neighbor, returning from going for help. The camera pulls back to a near-by hill, where two extra-terrestrials are seen manipulating a small device that can jam electricity. The veteran tells his novice that there's no need to actually attack, that you just turn off a few of the human machines and then, "they pick the most dangerous enemy they can find, and it's themselves."

And then, in perhaps his finest piece of writing, Rod Serling sums it up with words of remarkable prescience, given where we find ourselves tonight: "The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men.

"For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own -- for the children, and the children yet unborn."

When those who dissent are told time and time again -- as we will be, if not tonight by the President, then tomorrow by his portable public chorus -- that he is preserving our freedom, but that if we use any of it, we are somehow un-American...When we are scolded, that if we merely question, we have "forgotten the lessons of 9/11"... look into this empty space behind me and the bi-partisanship upon which this administration also did not build, and tell me:

Who has left this hole in the ground?

We have not forgotten, Mr. President.

You have.

May this country forgive you.

Five years..

Five years ago today, I was awakened with a call from my friend Janetta to tell me that a place had crashed into the World Trade Center. I got up, turned on the Today show just in time to see another plane crash into it. Rachel Hurley gives us a frightening look at what it was like to live in Manhattan on that day; it's a must read.

Five years later, we sit here, our lives lost STILL not avenged because of the worst president in the history of the Republic refuses to go after the man who masterminded this horror, Osama Bin Ladin.

You know, the man that Saddam Hussein hated as a threat to HIS country. Yet, we invaded IRAQ for NO GOOD REASON other than he threatened George Bush's daddy.

I fear that if we don't at least get Congress back from the Goopers this year, the Republic may not last. Yes, I am sober, but I fear what Bush has done to this country and COULD continue to do to it if we don't get control of our government back from this war criminal, this traitor to everything our founders held dear.

Once their term ends, Bush, Cheney, Rice and Rumsfeld should be shipped to the Hague for War Crimes trials; if found guilty, they should be executed.

Period.

Never forget September 11.

Do you like the music of Scotland and Ireland?

Well, I do, and if you do as well, why not take a short three-hour drive to Jackson, MS this weekend for CelticFest Mississippi?

Headliners include The Fuchsia Band, along with Randal Bays and Daithi Sproule. Among the regional acts are Rose Creek Village, TN's own Kula, who are also bringing their great dance troupe WindDance. Rose Creek Village is just outside Selmer, in WTL's old backyard.

There will be music, dance, food, drink, and a session or two, so come on down and join us for a good time in Jackson this weekend!

Bravo to the Mayors

for doing what the Congressman refused to do, endorsing Steve Cohen for Congress.

While I am as far from putting a Re-Elect Herenton sign in my yard as you can get, I have to hand it to him for seizing the day with his remarks on what's left of the "Ford machine". He did what needed to be done, and stood up for the Democratic nominee; given his past history, this was unexpected and appreciated.

I'm not going to go as far as Polar Donkey and say he's unbeatable, but he has absolutely claimed the local party for himself with this act, at least for the time being.

Freedonian notes that Herenton "drove a wedge between those who support Cohen and those who support Harold Ford Jr.", and that may well be true.

The fact of the matter is that, since The Don took his lobbying business to DC and Miami, he has lost what pull he has in this town, and I wonder if he has any influence at all on his sons any more, since all of them seem to be making stupid mistakes. Junior runs away from Memphis as he were ashamed to be from here, and Jake continues a campaign that, in the long run, will not get him elected to Congress, but could keep his brother from getting to the Senate.

With this vacuum, Willie Herenton has stepped up to the mantle and said to the Fords, "This is MY town now, boys, you only live here". What changes that will bring have yet to be seen, but it will make for an interesting rest of 2006 and all of 2007.

District 33 Convention to select new Senate nominee

WTL reports that The Shelby County Democratic Party will hold a Convention consisting of ExecCom members who represent House districts that have at least one precinct in District 33. These districts are 83-87, 90-92, and 95, and their reps will decide who will represent the party on the November ballot.

This will take place on September 14 at Cummings Street Baptist Church, 794 East Raines Road, at 7 PM. 1st Vice Chair Cherry Davis will serve as Co-Chair of this special convention.

Given that this is a HEAVILY Democratic district, the nominee is more than likely going to be the next Senator, so the lobbying will hot and heavy. Steve Webster has some support, but he is hardly a shoo-in. This could get interesting, so to quote Bette Davis in ALL ABOUT EVE, "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"

Kathyrn Bowers is going to fight!

According to this CA article, Kathyrn Bowers has decided NOT to plead out on bribery charges and will instead go to trial, which will be sometime this spring. Bravo for Kathryn!

Call me too idealistic, call me naive, whatever you want, but I am rooting for her. These charges are a stain on what has otherwise been a sterling career of public service, and I hope she is acquitted. After all that's happened to her recently, it's a good sign that she still has the stamina to fight.

OK, break's over; everybody back on your head!

Summer's over, the Tigers were upset by Mississippi, Steve Irwin (the Crocodile Hunter) gets too close to a stingray and is killed, and I had a great Festival weekend. Jerry Lewis keeps rolling on, even though Ed McMahon, bless his heart, looks as if he has EMT close by at all times.

Now, the campaigns go 90-to-nothing from here on out, and I will as well, except for this weekend while I go to Jackson, MS for CelticFest 2006 (the schedule is UP).

I will, however, do my best to provide more content here, as one of my loyal readers gently (and CORRECTLY) upbraided me this weekend for not being more regular in posting.

Will do!

2006 Memphis Music & Heritage Festival

MEMPHIS MUSIC & HERITAGE FESTIVAL

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

THIS WEEKEND Y'ALL

FRIDAY. SATURDAY. SUNDAY

FESTIVAL WEEKEND EVENTS

September 1st: Millennium Maddness &

Memphis Music & Heritage Festival's

DRILL A RAMA 2006 DRUMLINE COMPETITION

(over 20 teams from across the U.S. !)

Memphis Cook Convention Center

Competition begins @ 6:00PM

Doors open @ 3:30, Pre Show @ 4:00

Tickets Available @ The Center

$7.00 Advance; $10.00 Day of Show.

Tickets available at Center for Southern Folklore

Millennium Maddness Drill Team

and the Center for Southern Folklore

welcome the following teams

who will participate in the

DRILL A RAMA.

Bay Area Steppers Richmond CA

New Generation Chicago,Illinois

Invincible Regulating Striders Drill Team Dayton,Ohio

Isiserettes Drill Team-Drum Squad Des Moines, Iowa

Sophisticated Sound & Steppers Hythorn,Ca

Johnny High Steppers Los Angeles,CA

Crump Elementary Majorettes Memphis,TN

Shining Stars Memphis, TN
Golden High Steppers Memphis,TN

Wolf Pack Drum Squad Memphis, TN

Mighty Marchers Majorettes Memphis, TN

UNL Drill Performing Arts Minneapolis,Mn

Mighty High Dreamers Oakland, CA

Goodlett Elementary Majorettes Memphis,TN

American Way Middle School Memphis,TN

M-Town Image Dancers Memphis, TN

Dynamic Diamonds Memphis,TN

Yo!Memphis Memphis, TN

M-Town Divas Memphis, Tn

***Friday Night,September 1st, Folklore Store.

Daddy Mack Blues Band will be playing in the Center's Folklore Store7:30 to 10:00. Put on your dancing shows and come on down!

Strut Your Stuff Festival Parade & Competition
Saturday Morning @ 10:30
Main & Peabody Place
FREE!

MEMPHIS MUSIC & HERITAGE FESTIVAL

Main Street between Gayoso and Peabody Place

September 2-3rd 11:00 to 11:00 Daily

FREE!***

Saturday, September 2nd

Verizon Wireless Stage (Peabody Place @ Main Street)
2:00 p.m. Billy Gibson & David Bowen Blues
3:00 p.m. Mellow Tones Gospel
4:00 p.m. Brown Sugar Blues Band
5:00 p.m. Sons of Thunder, Rock
6:00 p.m. FreeWorld w/ Herman Green Jazz
7:00 p.m. River City Tanlines Rock
8:00 p.m. Golden Keys Gospel
9:00 p.m. Kattawar Brothers Boogie Woogie
10:00 p.m.Nathaniel Kent & Exodus Reggae

Trolley Stop Stage

1:30 p. m. Johnny Lowebow, One Man Band
2:30 p.m. Jimmy Crosthwait Puppeteer
3:30 p.m. Greg Hisky & His Dixie Whiskey Flyers Country
4:15 p.m. New Generation Drill Team
4:30 p.m. Memphis Area Square & Western Dancers
5:30 p.m. Choctaw Social Dancers
6:15 p.m. Salsa Memphis Dancing
6:30 p.m. Ekpe Abioto, African Drumming
7:15 p.m. Invincible Regulating Striders Drill Team
7:45 p.m. Rap Show -

Kavious
Willie Firecracker
Iron Mic Coalition
9:15 p.m. Domingo Montez & Los Cantadores
10:15 p.m. Sir Charles & The Memphis Soul Express

Folklore Store
1:15p.m. Nancy Apple, Folk
2:15 p.m. Brad Webb & Johnny Holiday Blues
3:15 p.m. Barbara Blue Blues
4:15 p.m. Big George Brock, Blues
5:15 p.m. Roy Harper/Gene Bush Country
6:15 p.m. Renardo Ward and The Promise Jazz
7:15 p.m. Jackie Johnson Soul/Gospel
8:15 p.m. Randal Morton & Grassfire Bluegrass
9:15 p.m. Charlie Wood Blues and Jazz
10:15 p.m. John Kilzer Rock

Folklore Hall
1:45 p.m. TBA
2:45 p.m. Moments of Joy, Gospel
3:45 p.m. Eddie Bond Country Music Show
4:45 p.m. Gary Topper Quartet Jazz
5:45 p.m. Gospel Jubilees
6:45 p.m. JM Van Eaton and Billy Swan Rockabilly
7:45 p.m. Kate Campbell Folk
9::00 p.m. Joyce Cobb Blues and Jazz
10:00 p.m. Daddy Mack Blues Band
***
Sunday, September 3rd
Verizon Wireless Stage (Peabody Place & Main)

1:00 p.m. The Agitators, Blues Rock
2:00 p.m. Dan Montgomery, Rock
3:00 p.m. Don McMinn Trio Blues
4:00 p.m. Charles Johnson and Kwest Jazz
5:00 p.m. Sensational 6 Gospel
6:00 p.m. Sonny Burgess & The Pacers Rockabilly
7:00 p.m. Will Graves & Soul Featuring MeNefer Neo Soul, Pop
8:00 p.m. Darrell Petties & SIP, Gospel
9:00 p.m. The Bo-Keys Soul
10:00 p.m. Jason D. Williams Rockabilly/Boogie

Trolley Stop Stage
12:30 p.m. Greater Memphis United Chinese Association Presents Chinese Dances
1:30 p.m. Goin Home Bluegrass
2:30 p.m. Jimmy Crosthwait Puppeteer
3:15 p.m. Mighty High Dreamers Drill Team
3:30 p.m. Smoochie Smith & Hooch MorganRockabilly, Country
4:30 p.m. Desert Rose Dancers
5:15 p.m. Sophisticated Sound & Steppers
5:30 p.m. Choctaw Dancers
6:30 p.m. Millennium Maddness Drill Team
7:30 p.m. Chad White and Delta GroveRevolution Soul
8:30 p.m. Elmo & The Shades R&B
9:45 p.m. Felix Hernandez and Symbiosis Latin Jazz

Folklore Store
1:15 p.m. TBA
2:15 p.m. Roy Harper Gene Bush Country
3:15 p.m. Lalonie Hayes, Soul, Gospel
4:15 p.m. Valerie June Folk
5:15 p.m. Sandy Carroll Blues
6:15 p.m. David Evans & Robert Thomas Blues
7:15 p.m. Peter Hyrka & the Gyspy HombresJazz
8:15 p.m. William Lee Ellis Blues
9:15 p.m. Eden Brent, Blues
10:15 p.m. Blind Mississippi Morris & Brad Webb Blues

Folklore Hall
1:45 p.m. TBA
2:45 p.m. Michaelyn Oby Trio, Jazz
3:45 p.m. Jumpin Chi Chis Jazz
4:45 p.m. Anointed Cowans Singers Gospel
5:45 p.m. Jim Dickinson with Killers from Space Rock
6:45 p.m. Big Dan Taylor and the SouthernJubilees Gospel
7:45 p.m. Orange Mound Jazz Messengers
8:45 p.m. Susan Marshall Pop
9:45 p.m. Billy Lee Riley Rockabilly, Blues

Talker’s Corner
Baseball. Joe Scott
Riverlife . Lil Bukewicz, Annie McDaniel
Netmaking . Jim Young
Quilting.Hattie Childress
Choctaw Crafts.Minnie Bell, Jessie & Claudia Thompson
Trains and Music .Roy Harper
Music and words .Kate Campbell
Hair Art . Barbara Love
Nail Art. Akira Moore
Folk art. Great food. Awesome music!

The festival is a free family friendly event.
--------------------------------------------
NEW THIS YEAR
PURCHASE A SEAT AND
SUPPORT THE PREMIER

MEMPHIS FREE FESTIVAL
Got a favorite performer?
This year, you can reserve a front row seat

for their show in the Folklore Hall.
Call us to reserve a seat for the show

of your choice for just $20.00 per show.
Want a better deal?
Become a Friend of the Festival for $50.00

and enjoy our Friend’s Oasis filled with

cool AC, chairs, and camaraderie,

free soft drink and snacks for the run of the Festival.

Plus, you receive a 2006 Festival Poster,

one free reserved seat in the Folklore Hall

and options to purchase additional seats for $10.00 each.
A great deal for a Great Festival
Must reserve your seat by September 1st!

Call 525-3655 or email us Lauren@southernfolklore.org

Freedonian and Polar Donkey are on FIRE!

Heh. You think I'M pissed at Junior for his voting record and his campaign?

First, go chcck out the Freedonian regarding Junior and his refusal to support Democratic nominees. Then, PD is brutal on Junior and his addiction to corporate money.

Just go read BOTH of them!

You MUST watch this.

Keith Olbermann is spectacular. Period. I'll put the Festival up top for the weekend, but right now, this is more important.

We have to do WHAT?

Well, not me, but the SCDP Executive Committee is now tasked with the role of selecting a new Democratic Nominee for State Senate District 33 in the wake of Kathryn Bowers' resignation, effective Friday.

As this is a massively Democratic district, the nominee will probably wind up being the new Senator.

For those of you who have been around a while, this happened in 1982 when the ExecCom had to select a candidate to replace Jim White in District 30, when he stepped down to take a judgeship. That led to an epic meeting, where Steve Cohen was selected over Dan Norwood; the rest. as they say, is history.

This has to happen prior to September 28, per Sen. Jim Kyle. So, who gets picked?

There will no doubt be plenty of people jockeying for a position that was held by only three people from 1971-2005: Gabriel Talarico, Ed Davis, and Roscoe Dixon. Now, since Dixon's resignation to work for Mayor Wharton, Sidney Chism's interim term, and Bowers' brief term, the new Senator will be the fourth in two years.

I believe that not all of the ExecCom will vote on this; only those who represent House districts that overlap precincts with Senate 33 will have that opportunity. (If I am wrong, please email me and I will correct this!) Then, the lobbying begins in earnest for a job that barely pays a living wage, even with per diem.

Happy hand grenades, ExecCommers!

It is the right thing to do.

In the end, she said it was for "medical reasons", but State Senator Kathryn Bowers' resignation from the General Assembly was the right thing to do. It is a sad ending to a career in public service that was outstanding, except for her apparent involvement in the Tennessee Waltz scandal.

What hurts even more about this scandal is to see the clout we have lost in Nashville with the Waltz-related departures of John Ford, Roscoe Dixon and Bowers, all heavyweights at the Capitol for Big Shelby. (Yes, I remember that Roscoe was working for AC at the time of the indictments). It's bad enough that the rest of the state detests Big Shelby for the fact that it is everything the rest of the state is NOT, now they can come at us on the Hill and we have little protection.

Yet, as I pointed out earlier, just because the government tossed out the bait, not one of them had to take it. Now, we are all the poorer, because they DID.

Welcome to the Blogosphere

We have a new member of the liberal blogsophere in Big Shelby, from the Space Ninja at REMIXX WORLD, seen down and to the right on the blogroll. Also contributing is former 9th District congressional candidate Joe Ford, Jr.; I look forward to his thoughts on local politics!

polar donkey: The "C", Banks, and the African American Community

polar donkey: The "C", Banks, and the African American Community

Frank has a terrific post about how the lack of financial institutions hurts the ability of people in low-income areas to build wealth and resources; he even has a map showing the areas where there are and AREN'T banks.

Redlining is evil, and Frank has had a series of posts about this, please read this one to start!

What a weasel....

If you ever had any doubts that the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate was a weasel, I am about to eliminate them.

According to this Memphis Flyer article from Jackson Baker, Harold Ford Jr told Steve Cohen the following:

"I can support you, but I won't endorse you."

WTF? Look, I know that his little brother is in the race, BUT HE SHOULD NOT BE. What about the fact that this tightrope-walking act is pissing off Democrats all over the state, and making them uneasy about getting on the Junior bandwagon? If Junior hasn't grasped this yet, then maybe he should have stayed where he was and just pissed off Democrats in Memphis.

THIS WILL HURT HIM AMONG HIS BASE. PERIOD.

Is making sure Daddy has a base of operations for his lobbying firm worth losing a US Senate seat? I would think not.

As Jackson points out, this also allows him the ability to refuse to take a stand on the Lamont-Lieberman race (gee, three guesses who he's REALLY for there?), so he never has to take a stand about anything except God & apple pie (which, apparently, he's for both).

This is the type of cowardly politician that we are trying to RUN OUT of this party, the weasel who refuses to take stands then sells out to the highest bidder upon election. (See Lieberman, Joe).

I do not want to read ever again that "well, that's the best we can do in Tennessee. BULLSHIT. Ever hear of Estes Kefauver? Al Gore, pere et fils? Hell, Jim Sasser looks like FDR compared to Junior! There ARE progressives who can win in Tennessee, like Steve Cohen; we just have to support them.

As long as Junior tries to walk the tightrope, I have no reason to do anything for him. If you can't trust some one to do the right thing, why vote for them?

The Kibitzer on Mr. Ford the Younger...

It seems that the Kibitzer is taking issue (albeit, good-humoredly) with the Cracker's agreement with Steve Gilliard's assertion that Mr. Ford has a "blackness" problem that will prevent his election to the US Senate. He had sent part of this in an email to me earlier.

You need to read it all, but I will provide an excerpt:

Cosmetically (and characteriologically, to many), John Ford is Count Dracula. Harold Jr. is Justin Timberlake spiked with Derek Jeter. Open your eyes and look! Nobody is going to confuse the two.

It only gets better from there.

Asking a question that we never wanted to ask

According to this article by Jackson Baker, it appears that State Senator Kathryn Bowers (D-33) may well be pleading guilty to bribery charges on the day after Labor Day, avoiding a trial.

With this, she will hae to resign her Senate seat, to be sure. It will also mean that she will have to resign as the Democratic nominee for re-election; as a convicted felon, this prevents her service in the Legislature.

If she waits until after the November election, there will have to be a special election called by the governor to fill her seat. However, would it not be true that if she resigned as the nominee at the same time she resigns her seat, that the ExecCom would choose the new nominee, effectively electing a new Senator?

If she is going to plead out and resign, she needs to do it all at one time so that they may choose her successor for the November elections.

I hate all of this, but you know, the government went fishing. Nothing said they had to bite.

On the subject of Mr. Larsha

Freedonian and WTL have terrific posts up about the Jake Ford saga and about the sad actions of someone I have worked with and respect, Mr. William Larsha.

Thaddeus Matthews has put up at his site an article by Mr. Larsha, who has written for the Tri-State Defender off and on for as long as I can remember. It essentially asks the SCDP Executive Committee to ignore the decision of the Democratic electorate with regards to the 9th District and endorse Fredo, er, Jake Ford for Congress.

Once upon a time in a land not so far away, a wise man co-wrote a bylaw that explicitly called for the removal of any member of the Executive Committee who worked against ANY Democratic nominee. He was forceful, and he was eloquent, and that convinced me to vote for this new bylaw. He was right on the money.

Sadly, that man was William Larsha, and he may well be expelled by that same body for doing what he argued against so many years ago, working against a Democratic nominee. Having worked with him for so long, it's almost enough to bring tears to my eyes.

He's doing this because he, like some others in the African-American community here, is petrified that the 9th District will be represented by someone who is NOT of color, despite the fact that the Democratic nominee, Steve Cohen, will represent that community better than Jake Ford could ever dream of doing.

What is even sadder about this than anything else is that Mr. Larsha is of an age when he remembers separate days for people of color at the Zoo, separate areas on the buses and trolleys, and I suspect he was called hideous and nasty things by white people in his life. He KNOWS, better than most, that the discrimination he calls for against Steve Cohen is wrong for the very reason it was wrong when he suffered discrimination lo those many years ago.

African-Americans hold the offices of City and County Mayor, make up a majority of the City Council and 6 of 13 County commission seats, as well they should. There is not a dearth of representation for people of color in this County, and it is not correct to suggest that there is.

Steve Cohen will provide a level of representation that the 9th District has not seen since Harold (Senior) left office. He will fight for everyone in the District; to suggest otherwise is as racist as separate drinking fountains, and I won't stand for it.

Mr. Larsha, you taught me a lot when we served together, and I have always respected you. Please do not do anything that could change this; I ask that you not place this resolution before the Committee. This is because it will only tear us apart as a party and force your expulsion, which is a horrible way to end your career in this party.

The future of the Democratic Party in this county depends upon it.

Alright already..

This Senate race seems out of Bizarro World. I was brought up in politics with the idea that the primary is where you solidified and won over your base, and that you chased independents (however many there were) and disaffected members of the other party in the General Election.

So far this year, we have watched the Goopers attack each other to the point where only now, AFTER the primary is over, that Gooper candidate Bob Corker is having to run around and shore up his base, and pray that they vote in November.

On the other side, after we were denied a primary by Chuck Schumer and his DSCC minions, Harold Ford continues to chase Republicans. It would appear that he acts as if his base was secured because he didn't have to go through one of those icky elections where he might have to campaign among his own people, FOR his own people's votes. After all, wasn't it bad enough that he had to represent Memphis, at least now he didn't have to reach out to them and MEET with them. Where did they have to go, anyway?

They really didn't have any choice, right? RIGHT?

Ford appears to have bought the DLC/DSCC bullshit that, despite polls that show 64% of Americans want us out of Iraq, well, YESTERDAY, that he has to show respect for the White House's horribly bungled position.

As Mr. R. Neal of Knoxville would have once said, OK then.

In an offyear election where, in every OTHER state in the union, you will have to win by turning out your base statewide, we have one candidate who is desperate to get his base to the polls, knowing that if they do, they will hold their nose and vote for him (Corker).

On the other side, we have a candidate who has run AWAY from his base as if they were the untouchables of India, praying that white people in East and Middle Tennessee who are publicly nice and civil to his face might actually vote for him if he makes them forget he's a Ford and he's from Memphis.

Kind of from Memphis, anyway.

He has to know, in his heart of hearts, if there is ANY South Memphis in him at all, that his only hope lies in the idea that the hard-core Bryant and Hilleary voters will continue their contempt for Corker and stay home. He's essentially trying to draw to an inside straight, and even HE knows it's not bloody likely.

So, what happens to Mr. Obama-before-Obama-arrived going to do if he is beaten in November? That may explain why he has refused to endorse anyone for his old 9th District Congressional seat.

Unless I have missed something major, Ford, the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate, has refused to endorse Steve Cohen, the Democratic nominee for his vacated seat. As we know, his ne-er-do-well brother Jake, who had to get a GED after leaving St. Albans, is running as an "independent Democrat" for that seat, as well.

Right, Jake, you and Joe Lieberman.

If Jake wins (not likely) and Harold loses (far more likely), what are the odds that Jake will have a mysterious reason for resigning a month or so into his term? Poppycock, you say, balderdash, you yell! Jake is his own man and would NEVER do that.

Is that why he still works for his father and lives in a house his father owns? I suggest that if enough race-baiting takes place and he pulls the upset, he gets told to step aside for big brother, and Harold returns to his old House seat without a whimper after a Bredesen appointment.

It's called a fail-safe for a reason, people.

Personally, I think that Cohen will win and win big, but I take Jake seriously, even though Jake's continued presence in the 9th District race is starting to hurt Harold around the Tennessee Democratic community already.

There are those in the African-American community, albeit a small minority, who are petrified that this seat could belong to a Caucasian, despite the fact that Cohen would be likely to fight for their interests much harder than the current Congressman has done in his decade-long career. While these folks are loud, I do not believe there are enough of them to make a difference.

If Harold Ford wants everyone to get behind his Senate campaign in the interest of unity and be a team player, he needs to set the example by endorsing the ENTIRE Democratic ticket, and do it soon.

Because, if he keeps running as if he is ABOVE the Democratic Party, he will find out that Republicans aren't the ONLY voters who can stay home Election Day.

Yeah, I'm still here...

While I am preparing a large piece for later, you should read Autoegocrat's comments on the 9th District race, which he nails, as usual.

Freedonian: Meet The New Ford, Same As the Old Ford...

Freedonian: Meet The New Ford, Same As the Old Ford...

Just read it, ok? You'll be glad you did...

Choice cut:

The other night, we held a retirement party for Joe Lieberman. Genuine progressives all around the country celebrated the victory of genuine progressive principles over the right wing, accomodationist wing of the party. Joe Lieberman was the symbol of all of that. Whether it was the war, or any range of social issues, he earned the coveted Zell Miller Award for Excellence in "What the Hell Party Am I In?"

Here's the problem. He's not the worst offender. In fact, one of the worst is stinking up our own back yard.

The Drum Major Institute's most recent study of our Congressmen and whether or not they voted in the interests of middle class Americans was quite telling. Harold Ford got 38%. In case you need that score in perspective, let's put it this way: Joe Lieberman, the very symbol of treasonous Democrats, outscored him by 25%. When it came to voting for progressive values, Harold Ford finished in a dead heat with Mike DeWine, one of the most conservative people on Capitol Hill.

He doesn't represent black people any better. Harold Ford is consistently ranked dead last on the Congressional Black Caucus Report Card. His average score from them has been even lower than the Drum Major score--- He votes with the CBC a staggering 32.5% of the time. There are whites that vote the CBC position more often than he does.

When it comes to being progressive, Harold Ford could improve and still suck.

OK, go read the rest!

WTL lays the smackdown

about last night's re-election of Matt Kuhn, in which he spares no one, even Kuhn.

Go read it here, after you've read Jackson Baker's sterling coverage of the event.

Choice cut:

Last night Matt Kuhn won the chairmanship over Jay Bailey. The rest of the officers and steering committee were reelected as well. This committee has had its problems, but I for one am getting sick and tired of the whole "the new people are Republicans who don't do anything" narrative. I'll speak for myself for a moment. For the last 2 months, I've been working 5-6 days a week for several Democratic candidates. I've also voted in every single Democratic primary since I turned 18. I've given money to the party on a monthly basis, plus at every fundraiser we've had since I got elected. That's more than the party has gotten from Jay Bailey in the past year in donations. Many other committee members worked equally tirelessly in this past election. Others did not. The work ethic is both impressive and depressing across the factions.

Make A Decision

Thanks to Wintermute, I have this link to AC Kleinheider at VolunteerVoters.com who asks The Man Who Would Be Senator to make a decision on who he will support in the 9th District race.

Choice Cut:

Harry, you can't have it both ways there, chief. Either you support the Democratic nominee in the races or you don't. Especially in the case of the 9th District.

He can avoid and play politician with the Connecticut Race but in the 9th District, he has to vote. Are you voting for your brother or are you voting for Steve Cohen?

It is a simple question.

Harry? Oh well, it's the thought that counts.

UPDATE: Bob weighs in as well at 55-40!

Say hello to Bob at 55-40!

We have a new blogger in our midst at 55-40, and he has some interesting thing to say, so check him out already, willya?

Well, I guess it's on now...

Who am I to criticize intraparty battles after the sweet victory of Ned Lamont last night? Tomorrow night, live from the IBEW Hall, the annual SCDP officer elections will take place. As one need NOT be a member of the ExecCom to be chair, newly-elected TDP Committeeman of District 28 Javier M. "Jay" Bailey is offering himself to the Committee as a new Chair in place of Matt Kuhn.

I present, in its entirety, the email he sent to ExecCom members tonight:

Subject: I'M ASKING FOR YOUR VOTE FOR CHAIRMAN

Dear Executive Committee Member: On tomorrow you will have an opportunity to change the direction of our party. Your vote will determine if we will continue to lose county wide races, suffer from empty campaign funds, and fall prey to cross party endorsements by party leaders. I am offering my service to this party. I pledge my support for all Democratic nominees and I will be a strong Chairman, with the experience to properly take the helm of this party. The elections of last week prove that weak leadership will continue to result in our inability to take and hold various countywide offices. Lets change directions and put a new face on our party.

There are party leaders that seem to believe that smearing my character will be a deterence to my candidacy. This is the type of tactic is part and parcel of why our party stands divided and ineffective. It is also why we lost many of the judicial races. You and I will not allow any more division and mudslinging. *Join with me and lets create a party for which we can be proud. I am calling on you to put aside our fractional differences and look ahead toward the future of our party.

TOGETHER WE CAN DO IT. * *TOGETHER WE WILL PUT THIS SHIP BACK ON COURSE.* PLEASE OPEN THE ATTACHMENT!!!!!
-- JM Bailey

Well, he's obviously accusing Kuhn of malfeasance or nonfeasance here, but my question is this:

Mr. Bailey, what can you do differently? How can you fill the void that has been in the local party since Harold Senior moved to Miami? What would you have done differently had you been in Matt Kuhn's shoes, and I want specifics.

You know, all you have to do to know that I have had differences with Matt Kuhn is to go type his name in the blog search and read what I have written. All that aside, what has Mr. Bailey done to distinguish himself as a superior candidate?

I have one other question: why isn't David Upton, who is supporting Jay Bailey, running himself? I have worked with David in campaigns for years now, and he surely has as much or more experience in campaigns and fundraising as Jay Bailey, and surely he could articulate his own vision for where the party needs to go instead of asking someone else to run in his stead.

Well, I don't have a vote, and I've had problems with Matt Kuhn, but I am really going to have to be sold why we should change horses in mid-stream without sufficient reason, other than "He's NOT Matt Kuhn".

That smacks of "He's NOT George Bush", and we all know how well that worked for John Kerry.

Joe Lieberman is a gutless punk.

Despite the fact that the Democrats of Connecticut REJECTED him tonight, his concern for his own well-being outweighs that of the Party that he has claimed to represent for 18 years.

This neocon corporate whore announced to a crowd of Lieberkinds tonight that "this is just the first half" and "Team Connecticut" would roll to victory in November.

Cohen is my first priority, Ned Lamont is now my second.

Joe Lieberman CAN NOT and MUST NOT be rewarded for selling Connecticut, The Democratic Party and the USA down the river to George W. Bush.

As soon as I can get a Lamont button for the blogroll, I will get one and I hope that you can contribute to Ned, if possible. If you have friends in Connecticut, call them and ask them to join Ned on his quest to represent the Nutmeggers in the Senate.

Lieberman must be stopped for the good of the party and the country.

How Green is my Party?

Kos points out that not just the Pennsylvania Green Party, but the NATIONAL Green Party, has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Republican National Committee, who provided not only money, but FOOT SOLDIERS for these people of virtue.

Here's a choice cut, which Kos took from philly.com:

Six staffers on Sen. Rick Santorum's campaign - including an intern who tailed Democratic candidate Bob Casey Jr. in a duck costume - collected voter signatures to help place the Green Party on the fall ballot.

OOPS.

Auto says it better than I did....

Autoegocrat says why some of us are taking the pledge on Ford-Bashing for three months; if I had been this eloquent, we might not have had flame wars earlier today.

Here's a taste, but you should read the whole thing:

History shows that Democratic party values can win in Tennessee when the candidates actually embrace them, and Harold Ford Jr. will lose in November because he does not stand up for those same values. In spite of the racist, "Can a black man win?" media narrative surrounding his campaign, his November failure will serve as a monumental warning to all future would-be self-serving Tennessee Democratic candidates, and all the more so if "angry left" netroots fingerprints are nowhere nearby when it happens. He doesn't need our help to lose.

I am somewhat surprised...

at the response to my post below, where I announced in the name of unity I would stop attacking Harold, because I didn't want backlash on Steve Cohen.

One might have thought by the responses that I had pledged loyalty, fealty and my first-born male child to the Ford campaign, all because I promised to stop calling him a bastard every other day.

What part of "I am not going to endorse him, neither will I oppose him at this time" is misunderstood here?

Letterman, Clinton, and Coulter....

Sharon Cobb had this up at her site, so I stole it!

A truce, of sorts..

I have just spent an enjoyable evening with several of my blogger brethren, and we have spent much time talking about the fall races.

It has led me to a conclusion: I have to respect the wishes of the Democratic electorate with regard to the United States Senate race.

Against my advice, they have selected Harold Ford Jr. (not, mind you, that they were given real choices) to be our nominee. I am not about to pull a Joe Lieberman and go off the reservation.

So, while I am not going to endorse him, neither will I oppose him at this time; I am declaring a moratorium on Junior attacks. If I expect people to vote for Steve Cohen for Congress and Mike Kernell for re-election to the state House, I have to accept that they are going to vote for Phil Bredesen and Harold Ford Jr as well.

This comes in light of some serious soul-searching about whether to just say, WTF, I'm going for Chris Lugo, the Green party candidate, or lay low on the subject.

I recently read that the Pennsylvania Green party sought and received almost 100% funding from the PA Republican Party, in order to derail Bob Casey's candidacy to defeat Rick "Man on Dog" Santorum. As you can imagine, though it's no fault of Chris Lugo's, that soured me on the Greens.

I will decide later what to do about the Senate, but I will not make it public. This is a time for Democratic unity, and I've been at this too long to throw a monkey-wrench into the works now.

If I have to take Junior in order to get Steve Cohen, then that is what I have to accept, whether I necessarily like it or not.

Mazel tov, Harold, go in peace. Just remember, if you win and you screw up, I'll be on your ass like a rabid badger every day of your Senate career.

We welcome to our blogroll...

the wonderful Sharon Cobb of Nashville, former MSNBC reporter and astute observer of politics and life in the Volunteer State.

She attended the big TDP Victory Party wingding at LP Field (that's what they're calling Adelphia Coliseum these days) that featured that guy running for Senate and the one, the only Big Dog his ownself, William Jefferson Clinton.

Sharon has graciously offered to share her pictures from the event, which include this shot of her with R&B crooner John Legend, who sang for the crowd.



As promised, here is the Big Dog listening to Son of Senior rev up the crowd...



Here's another shot of the dignitaries on stage..




For Junior, now comes reality in the form of Bob Corker, who carried the eastern two-thirds of the state in the Gooper primary. They will wait all of five minutes to attack Junior for being the second coming of George McGovern, despite his record that makes the DLC look leftist by comparison.

Thank you, Sharon, for these pictures and for linking to this "humble" blog!

From ecstasy to agony

I left home around 10:30 after monitoring the Election Commission site for victorious judicial candidate Lee Coffee and victorious County Commissioner-elect Steve Mulroy, delirious that not only had they won, so had Steve Cohen, and, even better, so it appeared that several Democratic candidates were on their way to victory.

Arriving at the Palm Court, we were all too busy celebrating with the other bloggers to notice what was happening on the screen showing the returns. Around midnight, we repaired to the deck of Bosco's in continued celebration until around 1, when I received a call from my godfather Mike Kernell, who was telling me that Shep Wilbun, Otis Jackson, Vernon Johnson and Sondra Becton were all about to lose.

I asked him to repeat it, thinking he was watching a rerun of the 10 PM news; but it was true, as I learned to my horror when I got home. All had led by around 2000 votes with 25 precincts to go, there's no way they could have lost.

But they did.

I am absolutely devastated for Sondra Becton in particular, who deserved a FAR better fate. She has worked tirelessly for this seat, and this was her third shot at it and maybe her last, best chance to win this seat.

I am also sad for Shep Wilbun, whose chance for redemption was maddeningly snatched away from him at the end. He is a good and decent man and deserves another opportunity to show what leadership skills he has.

In a nonpartisan race, I want to extend my condolences to Regina Morrison Newman; I am as shocked as anyone else that she did not win. She would have been a terrific judge, and I hope will be in the future.

Now, back to victory for a moment.

Despite the fact that Nikki Tinker spent half a million dollars, and EMILY's LIST spent a quarter-million, Steve Cohen's impeccable record of service to his community carried the day on Thursday, and I humbly ask all Democrats and independents to rally behind him for the November elections.

Now is a time to reflect on the just ended campaign, take a week off, and prepare for November. For Memphis and the 9th District, there is no more important act we can take than to ensure Steve Cohen's election to Congress.

Let us also reflect on the importance of Steve Mulroy's victory in County Commission District 5. For the first time in the modern, partisan era, The Democrats are in charge of the County. His unceasing efforts on the campaign trail turned this race around; even my godfather says Mulroy is now the king of door-to-door! That's saying something.

More later, it's time for rest and reflection now.

What a night.

What the hell, you waited until TODAY??????

All right, the Cracker is here to take care of you as always.

My Judicial recommendations are here.

My Charter Commission recommendations are here.

My County General Election recommendations are here.

Last but not least, My Democratic Primary recommendations are here.

So what are you waiting for, Festivus? Go vote already!

Paul Eells, 1935-2006

If you're not a Razorback fan, you may well want to skip this post.

31 years ago, at the top of his game, the Voice of the Razorbacks, the man who had called the infamous Arkansas-Texas Game of the Century (sorry, Husker and Sooner fans, this is the best one) in 1969, Bud Campbell, was killed in a car accident in west Little Rock. It sent Razorback Nation into a panic.

First, Dave Woodman was lured from KARK to call the Hogs, but that lasted all of one year. Then, someone named Sam Smith came and went in about the same length of time, and Hog fans grew impatient. Just because we weren't in the SEC then didn't mean that it was any less important to a devoted state.

Finally, it was announced in the summer of 1978, I believe, that Vanderbilt play-by-play anchor Paul Eells was hired to become the new Voice of the Razorbacks.

To everyone's delight, he fit like an old shoe, and Arkansans near and far fell in love with his smooth tones and his professionalism, even as he yelled "TOUCHDOWN ARKANSAS!" Through thick and thin, he was the soothing voice that made Hog radio broadcasts fun to listen to each game.

Over time, he became an institution throughout the state, as many had forgotten about Bud Campbell. Paul Eells was as much a part of Arkansas as Crowley's Ridge and the Boston Mountains.

Then, around 8 last night, on his way home from a Houston Nutt-sponsored golf tournament for charity, Paul Eells' vehicle inexplicably veered across Interstate 40 and smashed head-on into a car driven by Billie J. Burton of Dover, Arkansas. Neither survived.

Razorback Nation, which, despite my best efforts, I'm still a member in good standing, is in mourning today. Governor Huckabee has requested that all state flags be lowered to half-staff on the day of Paul's funeral, and I agree with that.

I never met Paul Eells; like most Hog fans, I knew of him what I heard, that smooth voice calling yet another Razorback touchdown.

Now, that will never be the same again, and neither will we.