Nashville Is Talking

BEER MONEY: Joe Six Pack is so lucky to have a Tennessee Republican Party Spokesperson for a financial advisor.

Even though the stock market has lost 40 percent of its value since one year ago, as measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the stock market at the end of yesterday was still up 397 percent from its close on Oct. 10, 1988, at 2,158, twenty years ago today. If you had invested $1,000 in a broad-based mutual fund on Oct.10, 1988, and the fund had merely followed the performance of the DJIA, you would have $3,970 today.

KURITA BURRITA: One day your contribution to the Tennessee Democratic Party will go toward winning elections. Until then....

Attorney James Bopp criticized Democrats for claiming "carte blanche authority" to choose nominees any way party bosses see fit. He said the party executive committee violated Kurita's constitutional rights by tossing out her 19-vote primary victory over Tim Barnes.

"They want to claim now that votes in a primary mean nothing," Bopp said. "Instead of all votes counting, none of the votes count. Elections are about fulfilling the will of the people. The will of the people is that Senator Kurita be the nominee of the Democratic Party. She had the fruits of her victory, and they have been ripped away from her."

GUILTY: of one of the most wasteful uses of tax payer money in Tennessee state history.

Several weeks ago, the commission derailed Crafton's initial plan to put the issue on the Nov. 4 ballot on a technicality. The Metro charter can be changed by a vote only once every two years, and the Nov. 4 election fell three days shy of that two-year limit. The special election will cost taxpayers $350,000 to $500,000. Crafton appealed the commission's initial decision in court and lost.

Days make up years, and before you know it you're there.

Sometimes you arrive when and where you think you'd be, and sometimes you arrive when and where others wanted you to be.

What have I done? What happened to my week? When and where were the decisions made to get me here? Where's the map? Who are these people? Where is the reset button?

• Feel Good Friday: Sex On Fire -
  I am writing this after a long night of travel to and from Little Harry’s football game. I am dead tired and ready to hit the hay. I think tonight will be a sit at home kind of night. Tomorrow is our Goat Festival (actually it starts Friday and runs through Sunday), come out and visit. We will be there and then make a hop on the Trace as well. My FGF song for this week is one that I heard on Saturday Night Live the other week and cannot get out of my head. It is a track from local band Kings Of Leon.




• Feel Good Friday: You Shook Me All Night Long - GingerSnaps
  ‘Cause the walls were shaking
  The earth was quaking
  My mind was aching
  And we were making it and you -

  Shook me all night long…




• Feel Good Friday! - Sharon Cobb
  Given that yesterday was my birthday and John Lennnon's 68th had he lived, I decided to go with my favorite Lennon solo song. This song is "where I'm at," and is "my" song. It's about feeling good where you're at even if others don't like where you're at.




• Feel Good Friday--No More Edition - Silence Isn't GOlden
  Have you ever had a situation with a guy (or girl) where you want to tell them how you really feel, and that what they're doing is hurting you, and that you're going to end it if they don't stop; yet at the same time you're afraid to disrupt the status quo and lose that connection you once had?




• Feel Good Friday - "The Whole of the Moon" - chez béziat
  Thanks to Kirk, I know about The Waterboys, World Party, Luka Bloom, and Billy Bragg. He liked a lot of stuff, but it was very important to him that everyone know how great The Waterboys were. He was right. I was hooked from probably the first song I heard. Anyway, here they are singing "The Whole of the Moon." It's pretty awesome.

If alleged email hacker David Kernell is guilty of anything at this point it's of looking exactly like MAD TV's Michael McDonald. Were they separated at birth or something?

But seriously, depending on the outcome of the November election, Kernell could have single-handedly saved our nation from Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin chatting national security on AOL's AIM or selling the government's share of mortgage-backed securities on the eBay.

It's hard to believe this is the least of our nation's worries right now 26 days away from electing the next President of the United States, but it is.

Here's a look at some local reaction to Kernell's indictment on charges he "hacked" Palin's Yahoo email account.

• The Kid Who Broke Into Palin's Yahoo Account - The Wasted Space
  At the same time, the fact that the potential vice-leader of our great nation was duped by a 20-year-old with too much time on his hands... that to me is also unforgivable. I wouldn't say that my own mother would do any better given the situation, most people who were not born into a world of e-mail and Web sites would probably fall victim to this sort of compromised security.




• What A Hack - Left of the Dial
  Gee, thanks, David Kernell. You chose to hack into Sarah Palin’s Yahoo! email account when your skills would’ve actually been useful had you been able to get a hold of Georgia’s playbook for this Saturday.




• Local Obama Thuglet Finally Gets Indicted - Six Meat Buffet
  Hopefully he’ll get the help he needs. I’m sure he’s just a good kid who just happens to be a criminal that needs to do some time. Now that he’s made the Smoking Gun, he’s officially a celebrity.

Students at MTSU are evacuating campus after a series of suspicious fires and a credible threat. Classes are also cancelled tomorrow.

A message from MTSU President Sidney McPhee:

A credible threat to our campus has been made. As a result, as of noon today, classes will be cancelled for the remainder of the week. Campus Police, in cooperation with local and state law enforcement officials, are actively investigating the situation, which involves a series of threatening emails and suspicious fires.

During this time, campus security will be increased. University offices will maintain normal business hours and other campus events will go on as scheduled. Following our regularly scheduled fall break, classes will resume on Wednesday, October 15. Employees and students are encouraged to report any unusual or suspicious activity to Campus Police. More information will be provided on the MTSU home page as details become available.

One MTSU faculty and blogger speculates it's "mindless skinheads" targetting supporters of Barack Obama.

I don't know if this may be related but conservative thugs are not only stealing Obama yard signs in Murfreesboro, but they are spray painting people's houses and committing vandalism on cars and homes with Obama signs. This has happened to an MTSU administrator at his home. Mindless skinhead thugs I guess. You know what side they're on.

Here's what MTSU student and blogger Matthew Hurtt says came in an email to MTSU students and faculty:

On Wednesday, October 8, 2008, several campus e-mail clients received general but threatening e-mails. The author of the threat indicated that the unspecific action would take place on October 9. An Investigation is being conducted to locate the sender. Please report any suspicious activity to Campus Police. Anyone with any information is asked to contact the MTSU Police Department at 615-898-2424 or Crimestoppers at 615-893-7867.

UPDATE 1:17pm - Ever since the text message went out to campus about this situation around noon, MTSU's website has been down.

UPDATE 1:31pm - Here's some highlights of information being shared on Twitter:

• Kelliente: MTSU police parking lot is FULL of vehicles, some with trailers & equipment. 10 minutes ago
• j_rock: Bomb threat at MTSU... Class canceled till wednesday nxt week! Should I feel bad for being happy? 20 minutes ago
• AnalogKid: Since some dummy decided to play terrorist at MTSU I am officially on vacation till Wednesday. 39 minutes ago
• jscheel: Skinheads at MTSU campus terrorizing Obama supporters? Cmon... jeez, let's spread some FUD, that's what we need.

UPDATE 2:18pm - we're working to confirm that Murfreesboro Police have a suspect in custody.

UPDATE 3:53pm - We just concluded a live stream of a press conference at MTSU here on the NIT Sidebar. Police said there is no one in custody at this time.

If you follow "nitweet" on Twitter, you can get a heads up on when we plan to live stream breaking news events. Read more from our reporters here.

UPDATE 8:04pm - Murfreesboro Police have arrested Justin Jamal Davis on terrorism and arson charges.

Police arrested 19-year-old Justin Davis, a student at the school, at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, only a few hours after MTSU President Sidney McPhee sent an e-mail to faculty, staff and students, canceling classes for the remainder of the week.

Davis, who is from Antioch, is currently being held in the Rutherford County jail on terrorism and arson charges.

His bond has been set at $500,000.

Wikipedia describes the fog of war as: "a term used to describe the level of ambiguity in situational awareness experienced by participants in military operations.[1] The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding own capability, adversary capability and adversary intent during an engagement, operation or campaign."

26 days to go. Welcome to the fog of war.

• Comunity Organizer Group With Obama Ties Linked to Vote Fraud - Bill Hobbs
  The avalanche of voter registration fraud news involving ACORN should spur the media to examine more closely the true nature of the relationship between Obama, the former "community organizer," and ACORN. Should. But won't.




• And you want to be my 'Help America Vote Act of 2002'? - Salem's Lot
  According to the New York Times, officials in six states are so busy illegally purging the voter rolls that for every new voter registered in the past few months, two voters are removed. In three states - Colorado, Louisiana and Michigan - the number of voters removed from the rolls far exceed the number of voters who died or relocated. George Orwell would be SO proud.




• Do Democrats want to destroy our democracy? - A Disgruntled Republican
  Dead people would vote. Illegal aliens would vote. Underage people would vote. Some people would go from polling place to polling place and vote again and again and again. With early voting, the same individual could vote literally dozens, if not hundreds, of times. Caravan of voter would travel from “safe” states to go to battleground states to vote. Massive numbers of people would be bussed from states with few electoral votes to states with large numbers of electoral votes to cast their vote. This would spell the end of our democracy. Do Democrats want to destroy our democracy?

They way some pundits are talking, the race for the White House is over. They cite state polls, our economic crisis and the challenge McCain has separating himself from the past eight years of President Bush's fiscal policy. But if this election has reminded us of one lesson often forgotten every four years, it's not to count your chickens 27 days before they roost.

Below is more reaction from some Nashville area bloggers about where the race stands after last night's Presidential town hall debate at Belmont. You can also read what Nashville area bloggers are saying about Barack Obama and John McCain.

• That One - Southern Beale
  John McCain's "offa my lawn" moment came when he referred to Barack Obama as "that one" while jabbing his thumb in his direction. It's all over but the snarling.




• President Obama. Get Used To Saying That - Sharon Cobb
  "The reformer" who wants government out of your lives wants you to sign your house over to the government to fix it? Fine. But don't tell me I can't trust the government to run health care when you're telling me to sign the deed of my home over to the government!




• Second Debate Wrap-up: Brokaw Gets an F - Crone Speaks
  If you have any doubt about McCain, last night should not have alleviated them, simply because of how he tottered around that stage, and rambled. Do you really think McCain gave answers that made sense?. Scary thought that he may not make it through 4 years. Scarier thought, Sarah Palin would be a heartbeat away from the presidency.




• Twelve hours later - Bob Krumm
  After reflecting overnight on the second presidential debate, I’ve concluded that it was a tactical draw, which because McCain has to change the momentum, was a strategic defeat for him.




• Debate - Phil Wilson
  To me, McCain seemed to attack more and Obama seemed to lie back some and then pounce here and there. I thought McCain's best moment was with the Naval Petty Officer, and Obama's was the one about his mother spending her last days fighting insurance companies.




• Yesterday in Politics - Tiny Cat PantsAt this point, I think the election is Obama’s to lose. McCain did just fine, I thought. Shoot, I don’t even think it’s worth arguing abot whether he won or not. His problem really was that he did just fine. I suspect that many undecideds came away thinking “Well, he’d be fine if this Obama thing doesn’t work out.” You cannot win if people think you’d be a fine second choice.

Belmont University did a fantastic job hosting last night's Presidential town hall debate. The presence of so many friendly volunteers projected a level of pride in Belmont and the city of Nashville. The return on investment for bringing to Nashville one of the most important events in the American political process will continue to pay dividends to our great state for years to come. Thanks Belmont!

Take a quick look at what people in the Nashville area are saying on Twitter about last night's debate. Nashville's conversation was so heavy, it was one of the top conversations on Twitter. Here's a quick look at what some Nashville area blogs are saying about last night's debate.

• McCain wins the Nashville Townhall debate. Bonus! Missing SNL Video resurfaces! - Serr8d
  Democrats cry about mudslinging...when that's all they've ever done. It's nice to see some mudslinging coming from the good guys for once. Obama, in this debate, slung first. And caught a face full on the return. But, John, where was the mention of Ayers, Wright, Rezko, the rest of the crooks, liars and black liberationists that Obama's collected in his short time in politics? (Sorry, I'm not counting his 'community organizing' stint as real political experience..that sort of Saul Alinsky gamesmanship is more radical than deserves the sobriquet 'political'.)




• Obama's Big Lie - Bill Hobbs
  Obama gives a good speech about change and what he would do if given the change to act. Well, the voters of Illinois gave him that chance four years ago to bring about change by sending him to the U.S. Senate. Instead, he wrote a letter. And gave a speech. And then did nothing.




• Presidential Debate #2: Initial Thoughts - Tennessee Free
  McCain needed a game-changer here, and he didn’t get it. Because of that, a tie here equals a win for Obama. But as I said above, I think Obama won outright, even if not overwhelmingly. That can’t be good news for the McCain camp.




• Who Won? - Sean Braisted
  Not to toot my own horn, but I think I was right in my earlier assessment of this notion that John McCain is somehow the Town Hall King; he is not. Yeah, he's done a lot of them in New Hampshire, and with moderate Republicans in a small state, that might have made the difference in a primary, but in a national debate, with someone to challenge him, John McCain did not rise above the process, he became a victim of it because Obama is much better at connecting with the public because of his demeanor, his youthfulness, and most importantly his message.




• Most. Boring. Debate. Ever. - Silence Isn't Golden
  What McCain needed to do, to recover any sort of ground, was to hit Obama hard on the reliable Republican fallback of "God, gays, and guns," plus maybe throw in Jeremiah Wright or Bill Ayres for good measure. But what we got instead was a debate about...real issues. About the economy and foreign policy. It wasn't the sort of debate where either candidate went for the jugular, it was actually quite civil. I found it boring, yet refreshing at the same time.




• Final Half of the Debate - Enclave
  In the end, I was struck by how much like the first debate this debate was. Both sides' statements and responses were pretty much exactly like those in St. Louis, except a little flatter. Again, I don't understand why the media hypes huge differences in these venues.

Barack Obama is "palling around with terrorists," and John McCain and the Keating Five stole your grandma's Social Security check. To the remaining undecided voters, the choices seem so tame, so alike. Is there anyone that can crank up the contrast on these two guys?

• GOP Cooking Up Mud Pie? - Pith In The Wind
  The presidential campaign has fallen into the mud hole since the Tennessee GOP was roundly condemned for putting out that Michelle Obama attack video. Those seem like sweet, innocent days by comparison. It'll take something really slimy to gain attention now. But we're sure Robin Smith and Bill Hobbs are up to the task.




• Sinking John McCain Flip Flops and Embraces TNGOP's Brand of Hatred - Enclave
  Well, John Sidney McCain lied in making that promise as he is now calling Barack Obama by his middle name, which is “Hussein,” in the same naked, shameless attempt that Bill Hobbs made to connect Obama to anti-Semitism and peel off pro-Israel votes. By the way, the Republican National Committee also scolded TNGOP for its prejudice. Let's hope they scold their nominee in the same manner.




• McCain and Obama, Do You Remember Saying This? - Sharon Cobb
  Tonight at the debate here in Nashville, if I have the chance, I will ask you (via Brokaw) if you remember saying these things and if you and your surrogates will pledge to stop the personal attacks and stick to the issues. My friends and I are drowning, and we don't care who you played with in the second grade or who or what you did 20 years ago.




• Bob Krumm Is Wrong. Bring Up Ayers Everyday, and Wright, and Pflegler, and Rezko, and God Knows What Other Scum Obama Runs With - Tennessee Free
  Folks, you are your associations. Due to his associations, Barack Obama could not even get enough security clearance to be an MP, and some are actually considering electing him Commander in chief?

Here's a look at Nashville's conversation on Twitter using #nashdebate:

The path to the White House runs through Nashville's Belmont University tomorrow night for the second 2008 Presidential townhall debate, and so does the slug trail of attacks.

• Criticize Obama Over Anything Makes You A... - Bill Hobbs
  racist. At least, that's what the Left-biased media allies of the Obama campaign would have people believe. Don't fall for it. Talking about Obama's relationship with the likes of unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers isn't racist




• Obama Campaign To Release 13 Minute Documentary Online Today About Keating 5/McCain - Sharon Cobb
  Today at noon EST, the Obama campaign is indeed releasing a 13 minute documentary on John McCain and his Keating economics. HERE is where you can watch it and get some info about it.




• Answering The "Elitist" Charge - Silence Isn't Golden
  Newsweek effectively sums up something that grates me about Palin, something that I've had trouble putting into words until now. It's not so much the way that she talks or the way that she winks and tries to flirt her way out of questions. It's the way that she embraces mediocrity and revels in her ignorance in the world around her. She truly is a female George W. Bush in that regard.




• Who Has Been Influenced By Domestic Terrorists? McCain, Thats Who! - Crone Speaks
  It is Palin that is giving the people massive misinformation, while negating her running-mates own criminal behavior and terrorist connections. The question folks should be asking themselves is what sort of influence did Bill Ayers have on Obama? It appears to be none. Hell, the conclusion has been the two are not even close, by any standard.