Ten-uh-see Politicin'

More Bipartisanship - but of a different sort

One of my most favorite blogs in the whole wide world is Liberal Values. Come on, you gotta love a blog that has "liberal" in the title. The owner, Ron Chusid, is an internist in one of those states up above the Mason-Dixon line. Hey, not all yankees are bad or dumb. In fact, this guy's pretty damn smart and is always putting up some darn good material. Recently he wrote a piece about "God and Science." Whew! Talk about a chain reaction. Thunder roared out of my speakers and lightening singed my keys. Seventy-seven comments at last count.

An astute fellow who goes by the name of Greg Forest ends his post discussing the above deep subject with a comment about a Texas legislator that sounds soooo much like our own Tin-uh-see legislators. ". . . . believe it or not, we have a sitting legislator who 'knows' that all modern astronomy/cosmology is a ruse of Satan. It says a great deal about the discerning tastes and inquisitive minds of his constituencies."

Sounds just like home, doesn't it. Even the Nashville Tennessean's editorial writers scratched their collective heads while observing: "A casual observer might . . . . conclude that the 2009 legislature . . . . was one of difficult but intelligent decision-making, civility and fairness." "Sadly," bemoans the Tennessean in the next graph, "the casual observer would be mistaken."

And here's where the bipartisanship thing comes in. Most of the dim Demos were just as stupid as the repugnant Repubs when they joined hands to allow guns in bars, restaurants and - get this - in parks across this beautiful, beautiful state. Well, the park departments and forest services won't have to worry too much about budget cuts because most people with any sense will simply stay home.

The Tennessean goes on to admonish, "Those legislators who voted to allow loaded guns where adults drink and children play should have a heavy conscience. . . ." This is good, but the trouble is that to have a conscience you have to have a brain and a heart. These neanderthals have neither. And before the animal killers jump on my parade shouting some gibberish about second amendment rights, don't.

Besides eroding the right of a woman to choose, once again trying to legislate a woman's womb, this star studded cast of fools tabled a bill to outlaw wearing pants below the waistline when it exposes the underwear or, horrors, the bare butt. I'm not a fan of this fashion but, hey, it's just a fad. And really, don't you fools have anything more important to worry about? Like education, crime, health-care, unemployment?

This reminds me of living in Houston in the 60s, a city that had one of the highest murder rates in the country - may still have but I escaped. Guys with long hair were plucked off the streets by Houston's finest and hauled off to jail. Guess what was happening a few blocks away. Bingo! See, you're smarter than a Tennessee legislator.

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