Well, Shoot, I Didn’t Get a Sticker Today Either

I told myself I wasn’t going to talk about the election because I’m tired of it all, but since I had to stand in line for nearly an hour and 45 minutes this morning to vote, I must say I am VERY grateful to the nice young lady in front of me in line who filled me in on the 411 on the charter referendums we had here to vote on that were AS BIG AND LONG AS THE ENTIRE STATE OF TENNESSEE (!!!).  Since I have my head stuck in the ground most of the time and don’t have time to read much but hometown newspapers anymore.

And the conversation throughout our wait also distracted me from the nerve injury in my leg, which all of a sudden decided to start acting up bigtime FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MONTHS about ten minutes into standing in line, so I was even more grateful.

This will no doubt disappoint many to hear, but I have it on good authority that always-close-to-100% Democrat Benton County looks to be majority voting for McCain this year, including some of the biggest lifelong Democrats in the county.  Shocking to me but, given that, I suspect I know how most of the numbers in West Tennessee are going to turn out outside of Shelby and Madison Counties.

I noted Newscoma’s Political Boyfriend on the ballot and hope he wins (I’m sure he will).  That’s one person I wouldn’t care if he were a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or Martian.  He’s a damn fine statesman.

And the one time I had a major issue that bugged me enough to get off my lazy butt and write my local legislators about, now quite some years ago, he was the ONLY one who responded and wrote back.  Little things like that go a long way, and that’s why he’s still actively in office, and the rest of those folks’ names are long forgotten in this town.  Thanks, Steve.

PS – And no, they were not handing out “I Voted” stickers for free donuts or whatever here today.  Boo.

Collectively Broken?

I know most of you probably read or heard about the church shooting in Knoxville this past Sunday. I’ve been trying to find the words to comment on it all week, but it’s really been difficult to put thoughts into words in this case.

Different people I have discussed it with have been most struck by different things about it. One was horrified that such a thing happened when children were on stage performing a play. Another has not been able to get the thought of the child who was covered in his mother’s blood out of her head. I was particularly disturbed by the irony that one of the victims wasn’t a member of the church, but of another church in the community, and had come to the church that day to see the kids’ play, and the fact that some of the other victims were visitors from out of town (I heard anyway).

And I guess one of the most disturbing things of all to many people is the fact that obviously you can’t even be sure you can feel safe in church anymore. Of all places.

I think of the church I grew up in – a small town church, but there are many big churches with large memberships in town and the town’s not all THAT small anyway – however, the church I grew up in was pretty small compared to most. Even with a full house, someone with a gun could have taken out the entire congregation and any visitors in a matter of minutes. That just makes my blood run cold and sends shivers down my spine.

As a kid, I spent literally hours in that church, and quite often by myself – with an adult on the grounds, yes, but not necessarily in the general vicinity where I was or even in the same building. But who wouldn’t have thought that wasn’t safe?

I also lived my entire life until I went off to college in houses that were never locked – not my home, not my grandparents’ – unless you went out of town on vacation, and maybe not even then, because it really didn’t matter. From around the second or third grade on, I walked home from school to a home that had been empty and unlocked all day long, and usually spent another two or three hours alone in the house until my parents got home from work. We didn’t lock our cars; we didn’t have to.

And nobody would have thought twice about the fact that I spent countless hours walking or bicycling around the neighborhood or all the way to downtown by myself, also from a pretty young age. Even when 8-year-old Cary Ann Medlin’s body was found raped and mutilated in the woods in a nearby town when I was 13 – a tragedy that Newscoma, my age and growing up in the next town over at the time, referred to the other day in her own thoughts about the Knoxville shootings – still I continued to hoof it around town by myself all the time, albeit with probably some stronger cautionary words about being careful and watching out for myself. Heck, at 13 years old, that was prime time for me walking downtown every week to spend my allowance at the music shop on records and that week’s issue of Rolling Stone.

But you really didn’t HAVE to worry about not being safe, not then, not there, and not even all that much even in the bigger cities. In 18 years, there was the Medlin case, there was the Marcia Trimble abduction and murder in Nashville that was such unusual and big news that, I guarantee you, every single native Tennesseean still alive that’s over the age of 40 not only remembers her name, but can probably tell you exactly what she looked like. Because stuff like that just didn’t happen, not as a rule.

And people in small towns didn’t go around killing each other. I recall one big nasty murder in the county when I was a child, and one when I was in high school. One was killed by someone who had previously worked for him, the other was shot and killed by a man he knew over some argument. Two – TWO – murders in two counties in 18 years.

And now there’ve been more murders than I can count in both those counties over the last ten, fifteen years – not every day, no, but far, far more than two in 18 years, and many of them seemingly arbitrary or random. Kids get abducted and sometimes wind up dead, and it’s still shocking, sure, but not like it once was. Another school shooting happens and you’re appropriately horrified, but no longer all that surprised.

And now people are walking into churches on Sunday mornings and shooting and killing people. If you can’t be sure you’re safe in school, or in church – where, then, can you feel safe?

Of course, now I live in a city where murders happen every week and I hear gunshots pretty much every day just about now, so I’m even more numbed and jaded by the constant influx of violence and crime. But that’s why the horrible things that keep happening back home – and even in Knoxville, which is not crime free, of course, but nowhere near the percentage Memphis is – that’s why these things bother me even more. Stuff happens here that’s not supposed to happen up there, or there.

Would the church shooting have been as shocking and people so horrified if it had happened in Memphis? Sure, of course it would have. But I don’t know that many would have been all that surprised, sad to say, especially the rest of our fellow Tennesseans. People from up yonder where I’m from, other than a very small handful, they don’t come to Memphis to shop or to see doctors or for entertainment like they used to. They go to Nashville instead, or even just to Jackson. It’s really pretty sad.

I am grateful that nobody I knew was at the church the other day in Knoxville, but plenty of folks I’m acquainted with did have friends or family that were there, and even one or two that are members that weren’t there that day. That doesn’t make it any less disturbing or sad.

And when I heard from someone in Knoxville about a comment someone they know made – someone who is a member of a large Baptist church in West Knoxville, and quite possibly the same one my future mother-in-law attends every Sunday – the comment being something along the lines of well, you know those people in that church practice witchcraft – I just felt sick.

My future mother-in-law – the Baptist churchgoer – used to be involved in programs that were held at the TVUU church weekly, and had just been telling me on the phone the day before what a nice church it was, and how lovely and wonderful all the people she knew there always had been. In fact, it turns out one of her other sons – one of my future brothers-in-law – used to be a member of that very church.  Maybe still is technically and still on their rolls, though he doesn’t really go anymore.

Witchcraft. I mean, please. Granted, it wasn’t the Baptists or the Methodists or the Presbyterians or a super well-known sect, and it wasn’t even the Catholics, who goodness knows have been accused of lots of whacked out things in thousands of years. But witchcraft? Don’t be stupid. Google before you go shooting off at the mouth. I mean, Wikipedia’s right there.

The ignorance in this country seems to be at an overall all-time high, and safety’s at a premium, obviously. If you can even say safety exists anymore, when you can’t be safe in church on Sunday.

People are having to choose between buying groceries and putting gas in their car, and at the same time, people are getting laid off from their jobs left and right, businesses are closing, and not too many that still have jobs are reporting that their salaries are going up along with the cost of everything else that’s going up.

When does it all end? Where does it stop?

There’s an election coming up, but is anybody who could really change things really going to do something about it all?

I wonder. Something’s got to give. When things break, you fix them. Are we, collectively, broken enough yet?

It’s Tornado Time in Tennessee

So did Super Tuesday actually happen yesterday? Because there was no talk of anything on the news here yesterday except this tornado, that tornado, the next tornado, and the one after that, and etc., etc., etc. Starting about 4:30 pm and well after midnight, on at least one local station that was virtually it.

Living in the center of the city, I’m usually protected ‘cos the main danger zones in the Metro Memphis area tend to be out in the ‘burbs. Still, I didn’t sleep last night because nowadays, when the sirens start going off, my adrenalin rush just gets out of this world (and if you’ve never been here before or have forgotten, this is why).

There was some damage not too far away though, out in the airport area; lots of damage out in the eastern suburbs and across the state line in DeSoto County, Mississippi; and probably the most stunning, for here, was the 50-foot chunk of wall taken out of Hickory Ridge Mall down in Southeast Memphis. Kid sister and her hubby lived not too far from there, just south of Germantown, until they moved a couple of years ago, so for once, I was actually happy they are now living in Nebraska. Otherwise last night would have been even more horrifying and frightening.

Though there was plenty going on here last night to freak out about, I found myself much more affected by the news of the tornado that blitzed the north part of Jackson, Tennessee, about an hour northeast. The damage was huge in many spots up there, most notably the demolition of a/some dormitory building(s) at Union University.

Why would that affect me so much more than what was happening right here in my own back yard? Because when I got caught on the road in my car during the 2003 tornado that hit Jackson, I was pretty much right there by Union University. No matter that I was basically safe at home an hour away, last night in my little house in front of the computer, listening to and watching the live stream of the continuing weather update on one of the local stations. When they said a tornado had touched down in Jackson and said where, I knew exactly what it looked like up there at that moment, ‘cos I’d been there, right there in it.

I guess I’m always gonna be a little more freaked out by bad storms and the sirens, but for a moment or two, that really, really bothered me last night. Glad I wasn’t out in it all, here nor there, but just hearing about them now in places I know – and especially that one twister in particular, striking right there where I was that night in 2003 – it’s just kinda bone-chilling.

On another note, thanks to everyone who stopped by and left such kind words about Rocky yesterday, including some I haven’t heard from in years and years. Very much appreciated, all of you. I left out one little part yesterday I meant to throw in there, so bear with me a sec and I’ll stop talking about it soon enough.

Like most of my zoo, Rocky was a foundling. My neighbor who lived here for years came home from work one day a little over ten years ago, and when he got out of the car, there was this little tiny orange kitten in the small tree right above the driveway mewing at him. So of course he immediately knocked on my door, orange ball of fur in hand.

And because there is an invisible sign on my forehead that only cats and dogs can see that says “SUCKER”, the little orange furball never left. Seems like only yesterday, and when he was so sick and old and leaving us, that’s really all I kept thinking about, that day years ago.

Well, that’s it for the moment, I’m so tired I’m about to drop dead, so I’m off for now. Tomorrow maybe I’ll write about my Christmas adventures. It’s not a pretty tale.

P.S. Again on tornadoes – does Knuck have the right idea? ‘Cos what if the tornado hits your house, but doesn’t really blow it up and just does some damage but nothing fatal to you or the house, and then you ARE wandering like that, and then you’re, like, this naked guy wandering around Nashville post-tornado, and…

It’s really still too early in the morning for me to ponder this. Smiley will have the punchline I’m too exhausted to come up with right now, I just know it.

In Which I Do the Happy Dance & Get Ready in 2008 to Get Physical… I Mean, Political

Oh hey, remember my Roger Abramson Watch?

He’s baaaaaaaack! I guess I can take it down now (or soon). I know my fellow Rogerettes are thrilled as well!

Unfortunately not on WordPress, but on Blogger (heavy sigh). I still cannot leave comments successfully on any Blogger blogs and haven’t been able to in months (exasperated) – but that’s okay! He’s baaaaaaack!

(And so too recently, I note, is Sean! Woo! Watch me get all excited about politics and current events in 2008 now, this should be fun, huh?!?!!!!) :D

Not Just Almost Famous

I got nothing today, but in flitting around the Great Internet Void today I notice that my friend Travis L. Harmon and his comedy partner, Jonathan Shockley – these days known as the guys from Red State Update – were the cover story of the Nashville Scene a couple of weeks ago.

Travis and I hung in the same crowd back in my old college days in the ‘Boro, and I have on my bookshelves a VHS copy of an early video comedy effort he and some mutual friends made back when they were still in high school, so it’s been a big kick to watch his progression to now becoming nationally known. I wrote here on the Zone a while back about how our initial meeting way back in 1987 didn’t go so well, but in recent years we have caught up and chatted off and on and a nicer and more pleasant guy you couldn’t meet, so I’m doubly thrilled for his success. It’s awesome when good things happen to good people.

The Red State Update bits (all of which can be found on YouTube and the guys’ site) are what’s made them so famous now, but I leave you with one of my favorite Travis and Jonathan bits, Travis and Satchel, which both makes me laugh and creeps me out a little ‘cos Satchel both looks and sounds a little bit like one of my older male relatives (and dummies kinda freak me out anyway). Enjoy…

And Furthermore, Your Website Really Sucks

I am so woefully behind after only a week of ignoring my feed reader and trying to catch up in bits and pieces, I may never catch up. In my mostly absence from the blogosphere the past week, there’s been a bit of a dustup going on around some of my main haunts, now reported in Nashville’s City Paper, that’s the type of thing I normally wouldn’t pay much attention to or have much of a public opinion on, but in this case I kinda do. A couple, actually.

Nashville is Talking and Volunteer Voters – the two WKRN blogs involved and from whence this whole thing started with contributing WKRN news analyst Steve Gill basically calling for their jobs on a live radio show yesterday – both have a good roundup of links to the various discussions all over the past two days. Some of the commentary that resonated most with me and shouldn’t be missed came from my fellow bloggers Slartibartfast, Ginger, and Katherine Coble, among many others. The initial flames on the fire were apparently due to some remarks Gill took exception to, made by Carter about our military.

Slartibartfast fairly well summed up most of my own thoughts on the matter, aside from the fact I do not generally listen to or read Steve Gill. But I agree with what Slarti said both on his blog and in some comment discussion around various NIT-involved blogs, and will go a step or two further here.

For one thing, regarding Carter’s statements about our military – in the course of all the other discussions going on elsewhere, I have read some statements about our military which I’m sure are well-meant and with good intentions, but are just a little too unrealistic. While I might not exactly put things quite the way Carter did, he’s still basically right. Military service is an honorable profession, and the human beings serving in the military are worthy of honor and respect, but not beyond reproach.

Carter said yesterday:

When we say over and over that “the troops” are a breed apart and require our unquestioning and automatic support and reverence, what happens is that whatever these soldiers are ordered to do, right, wrong or indifferent, is, by virtue of the soldiers involvement, beyond reproach. Critics of this war thus precede with trepidation and equivocation.

Well, I’m not gonna do it. Do I respect the troops and their service? You bet I do. But I am not going to sit and talk to whomever happens upon this blog like a child on Christmas morning.

I hate to tell you this, my friends, there is no Santa Claus. There is no Santa Claus and the military is comprised of human beings who are worthy of honor — but not beyond reproach.

The military men and women I know are tough enough to withstand my words. They will hear them and either consider them, dismiss them or take them to heart just like anyone else.

He’s right, and bottom line, those serving in our military are just that – human beings. Not saints who are infallible, not superheroes. Human beings. Worthy of respect and honor, but human beings all the same.

My grandfather served in the Navy in World War II. More topically to this discussion, my young cousin, now in his twenties, went straight from high school into the Marines and was in Afghanistan shortly after 9/11, and later in Iraq. He finished out his time and came home, and I am thankful for that. And no matter what I think about the war itself – I haven’t said, now have I? – I am proud of him. He did what he was supposed to, and he did a good job of what he was supposed to.

They were/are both good men, but again, just men. Not superheroes with magical superpowers. They are heroes to me because I love them and because of who they are, but they were/are still just men and human beings like everyone else.

As Slarti said in his post to Steve Gill:

What you are doing is not what our soldiers fight and die for.

And he’s absolutely right. My beloved grandfather, my cousin, and millions of others fought, and sometimes died, for freedom of speech and the right to have an opinion in this country, among other things.

And that doesn’t mean just Steve Gill’s opinion and only other opinions like it.

In short, Steve Gill, you should be ashamed of yourself. All this hoopla is little but total grandstanding BS, and calling for people’s jobs over a difference of opinion is a sissy thing to do and deserving of NO respect or honor. (I’m pretty sure my grandfather would agree that it’s a sissy thing to do, if not have said it himself. My young cousin is a good kid but has a bit of a mouth on him, and would probably just say you need to get yourself a hot, steaming cup of shut the f*ck up.)

And – my other opinion, on an entirely unrelated note – Steve Gill, your website is much too busy with junk all over it, nearly impossible to read without getting a headache, and is simply technically and graphically horrific. Even if I wanted to read it regularly, I don’t think I could because there’s so much crap all over the page it’d be sending me into seizures, and your post text is simply awful. Take a cue from the tech gods behind Nashville is Talking and Volunteer Voters, or Bob Krumm, and clean it up. Jeez, what a terrible mess your blog is. Ugh. Seriously.

How NOT To Blog While In Elected Office

Watching the ongoing trainwreck that is Stacey Campfield blogging himself out of elected office has been mildly interesting the last several weeks, to say the least. Especially for someone who generally has as little interest in politics as yours truly. I think a central focus in politics should be trying to sway moderate and apolitical opinion (such as my own) your way, not totally disgust and turn those folks off… but hey, that’s just my opinion.

I don’t “do” politics as a general rule. Anyone who knows me knows this to be true, and even though many of my friends are very into that sort of thing, they like me the way I am; I’m fine with what they’re into; it works out. I have just never been the sort to comment on and discuss much, online or off, political issues or anything remotely political – not on my blog nor much of anywhere else.

Before all his recent circus stunts, the ONLY reason I knew who Campfield was in the first place is because of a tacky and done in very poor taste, snarky and attention-grabbing stunt on his blog a while back, the resulting fallout of which led me to the conclusion that if you ask him the age-old question what color the sky is in his world, the answer is probably going to be fuschia or chartreuse, or some color no one in the whole entire world (not even the Department of Defense!) has ever heard of.

I’ll not bore you all with the story in its entirety, but I do think that if you’re an elected public servant, and you’re made aware that your blogging behavior leads a registered voter who really has little interest in politics (key words there) – and who also will likely be a resident of the general locale you represent (more key words) in the not-too-far-away future – to not only express disgust and horror over such behavior, but to state in no implicit terms that they (the registered voter) will now make a POINT (key word!) in the future of working for the other side in hopes of seeing you defeated in any future election endeavors…

Well, I’m just saying that maybe it’d be a good idea to step back and take a good hard look at and review one’s judgment, behavior, and actions, in such a case. Maybe even admit one used poor judgment and bad taste, but you know – whatever. Campfield’s pretty much exhibited a history of dropping bombs and then running away from them, not responding to the opinions and viewpoints he doesn’t like, sulking like a spoiled child or crying foul in the face of opposing or negative public opinion, and especially not apologizing when an apology is due (or way overdue), so I don’t expect much from him when I see he’s pulled another one of his stunts.

I think also, if I read correctly, that I’ve even been banned from posting further comments on his blog. I hope that’s true, at least that’s the way I read it.

Yes, me! Banned from commenting on someone else’s blog! Really!! Can you believe it? Isn’t that hilarious? Everyone that knows me in the online blogging community is seriously having a heart attack right now. (There’s probably a lesson to be learned there, too – I think it’s kinda like banning Shirley Temple as opposed to, oh, banning Charles Manson or Bin Laden or Hitler or something – but it’ll go over his head like most everything else.) I think it’s a kick, and I honestly couldn’t be happier about it, if it’s indeed true – that the only person Stacey Campfield has ever banned from commenting on his blog is a 5’2″, blonde, WASP as they come, totally apolitical chick who’s a product of some of the most conservative Republican families in West Tennessee, with more ties to the same in East Tennessee; who doesn’t even write about politics or social issues but writes about music and Jolly Ranchers and Sweet Tarts and cats and dogs! Is that not a total hoot?!?!?

I just think it’s a riot. Not to mention that Campfield himself may well have created a monster he’d rather not have due to his poor judgment, since suffice it to say I am becoming decidedly a little less apolitical and apathetic about such things as the Campfield Carnival goes on.

It’s kind of a shame, really. The initial issue Campy and I butted heads on could have well been put aside and in the past, if he’d done the right thing and admitted he’d probably made a mistake and an error in judgment, and we could have all moved on and I’d have forgotten about him soon enough. Even worse, dozens of other folks on both sides of the left and right were telling him, or commenting elsewhere in the community, the very same thing I did – he had done something that was in very poor taste for anyone to have done, and it just wasn’t cool. I initially relatively respectfully requested he do the right thing and remove it from his blog. I got snarky patented Campfield response in return and a refusal to do so, so you know, whatever. If you can’t be a man and own up to mistakes and poor judgment when, not only someone you don’t care to hear it from, but dozens of others in the community are saying the same – AND gotta get all snarky and sarcastic about it too? All bets are off and I don’t have to try to be tactful and attempt to politely request anymore. Be a gentleman or be a weasel; be a real elected official and respond to positive AND negative, rather than being a coward and editing and deleting and banning.

And it’s his blog, yep. But I think it’s probably his own worst enemy. I don’t think he understands that if he’d just said, “Nope, sorry,” then I probably would have just said, “Well, OK, sorry to hear that,” and moved on. It could have easily become a non-issue and mostly forgotten. It was everything ELSE he said in his response that was the problem… which I nowadays know is just par for the course with Campfield. He is a master at shooting himself in the foot; or, better yet when it comes to blogging, sticking his foot in his mouth. And the amazing thing is it’s like he goes out of way to stick his foot in his mouth when he really didn’t even have to go that far, time and time again! It’s just really and truly incredible.

Like I said – and I’m but one person and one instance out of what has probably been hundreds, maybe thousands, of really not-too-smart Campfield blogging and commenting and responding moves in the blogosphere – blogging and commenting his way right out of elected office, it seems. It’s kind of surreal, really.

So here’s a point – it’s those of us who don’t really give much of a flying you-know-what for the most part about politics that those in elected public service should probably be most concerned with. Bad judgment and poor behavior will likely not only send us voting on the other side, but if you act out bad enough and display poor enough taste that even the politically interested folks in your own community on BOTH sides of the liberal/conservative divide are saying what you did wasn’t cool – and then, us non-political folk not only making a point to vote against you now and in the future, but making a point of pledging to work to see you defeated from here on out? That’s just probably not a real great thing. No politician in his or her right mind would want their name attached to situations like that.

To illustrate even further just how much Campfield’s blogging behavior is akin to shooting himself in the foot time and time again: I may be personally rather apolitical myself but, again, I come from two West Tennessee families that have in the past been extremely active and supportive in the Republican party, have ties to a third such family in East Tennessee, AND my former longtime boss, whose family is like my own, is still currently very active in conservative Republican circles in Shelby County as are other members of that family. Certainly the name Stacey Campfield is going to get circulated among those circles… but likely not in the way he would probably hope.

Word of mouth can be the most fabulous publicity, but it can also be very dangerous publicity that can work against you. What you say, how you conduct yourself, and ESPECIALLY how you respond to others is SO important if you want to be a successful elected public official. I’m a private citizen with no public service aspirations, I can pretty much say what I want and do as I please on my blog and in dealing with other bloggers. But if I wasn’t? Whole other story.

Using good judgment in what he posts and how he responds to others is not Campfield’s forte, and he rather habitually offends probably the worst possible people to be offending, especially if he has political aspirations higher than the level where he is now. Like thousands of State of Tennessee employees. Or another blogger who, albeit unbeknownst to him at the time initially, has ties to some of the most influential members of his own party, not only statewide but in his own locale.

There’s where he makes mistakes. As a public official who has chosen to blog amongst that same public, every word and every response should be chosen more carefully, because to do otherwise, you know not who you might offend. Every poster and every respondent – unless they have made it clear they’re absolutely against you and on the other side – should be treated as a potential vote; or at least a potential person who might have ties to someone or someones you absolutely do not want to piss off, basically. To do otherwise and just keep jumping in feet first with your responses and blindly spouting off (or so very obviously avoiding responding to current discussions) without a thought of who might be on the other side of the monitor reading – that’s just dumb. And could be political suicide.

Even though I had no clue who he was prior to December 2006, I’ve read enough and talked with enough folks to know he’s a grandstander, specializing in stunt legislation, basically. It’s like he’s continually jumping up and down trying to get the attention on himself and the spotlight shined his way with all kinds of crazy ridiculous stunts that just wind up clogging the Tennessee state government works, and it just makes you want to say, “Sit down, Junior, you’ll get your spotlight one of these days likely when you do something to deserve it and don’t try to FORCE it on you.” Except I think all his grandstanding (and certainly his blogging) will send him out of office in due time, so the likelihood of that happening in the future seems kinda slim.

Ah, but the Campy carnival just keeps rolling along.

I slept for 15 hours on Saturday because I was exhausted and had a humongous headache, and woke up with an even bigger headache. After popping a couple of Tylenol and willing myself for another hour to either get better or die, I finally got around to blog- and feed-reading for the day to see what all I’d missed during my self-induced coma.

There was this, and then there was this real mess (my most recent response to Campfield being around the 3:51 a.m. 2/26 mark, unless Frank chooses to delete it). Which that whole comment thread was curious (on Sunday afternoon anyway), if for no other reason the lack of participation by the blog author and the multiple (read: constant and repeated) instances of I’m-blogging-and-commenting-my-way-right-out-of-public-office by “The Rep“.

This same “public servant” purposely started a firestorm a couple of weeks ago here, which bled over to here and resulted in the longest thread in NIT history, and failed to respond to any of it in a manner befitting an elected public official; in fact, his only direct response was a snarky “:)” emoticon posted in the milieu of discussion on NIT that afternoon. He also has not, to date and to my knowledge, issued a very necessary apology to another blogger towards whom Campfield made veiled threats against their job, simply because that blogger disagreed with the Campfield point of view. In the course of the blogging firestorm he laid in place and then basically ran and hid from and refused to respond further to, he actually had the chutzpah to state that a state employee doesn’t have a “real job”. I’m sure this is a viewpoint all of the thousands of State of Tennessee employees are going to be interested in hearing. Since I have a parent who is a longtime employee in state education of relatively high rank and since I was once a UT employee myself, I sure was interested in that statement. I think it might be my mission this year to see that every Tennessee state employee finds out who Stacey Campfield is and what he thinks of their jobs. Although I will say that a (now very overdue) apology from Campfield to the person who deserves it might make me change my mind.

Maybe. I don’t know, seems to me like the thousands of State of Tennessee employees there are should be aware of snarky insults that someone who is an elected state official made about their state jobs. Not to mention the fact that as an elected state representative… doesn’t that make The Rep himself a state employee? At least part-time?

In any case, I have pretty much said as much that without that overdue apology to the blogger he threatened, I will do what I can to make certain all Tennessee state employees learn who Stacey Campfield is as well as what he thinks of their jobs, not to mention seeing that every registered Republican I know that I’m related to, almost related to, will eventually be related to, or might as well be related to – and there’s a lot of them, and in East Tennessee as well as West! – gets the 411 on Stacey Campfield… what damage hasn’t already been done anyway.

But the thing is, really, I don’t really think I have to do anything anyway. Dude’s already well on the way to blogging himself out of office; past it, in fact, it would appear. Somebody close to him that cares shoulda taken the blogging steering wheel out of his hands a while ago, ‘cos he’s just driving himself right on off the cliff right back into the private sector, at least that’s how it looks from here. And from the looks of probably several hundred other blogs (not to mention other modes of information), I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one that thinks so.

Even before all that melee with his purposely set firestorms and state employee insulting began, though, there was the matter of his recently posted “rules for comments” on his blog, which is further incredibly laughable. Look, if one can’t take any heat – i.e., if one only wants to hear what they want to hear, and not ALL feedback – then one should get out of the elected public servant kitchen, because one is NOT serving the public.

And one should probably get out of the blogging kitchen too… which is really what this all comes down to.

What Stacey Campfield should probably do:

1. Hire a good publicist who is neutral and doesn’t have any real partisan leanings in any direction.
2. Listen to that publicist when told to stop “traditional blogging” because it’s turning into his own political suicide.
3. Put up a website of his own that is not a blog and write all he wants about whatever without the necessity of (or the expectation that he will be) interacting with the public, as would be with traditional blogging. Because man, he’s just bad at it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Or do none of the above and just keep blogging himself right out of elected office. That’s okay with me. I kind of find it an interesting trainwreck to witness.

Am I picking on Stacey Campfield? Maybe, probably. Didn’t really care to post like this until recently.

And the truth is, this post in particular could well have been avoided. Stacey Campfield knows I think he owes two people a very big, and very sincere apology, and that there’s something on his blog akin to little better than sensational tabloid journalism that has no business being there if one claims to be an upright and decent gentleman and human being, or is not a judge in a court of law. Frankly, I’d settle for the most recently necessitated single apology, but I have some doubts that it’s ever gonna happen. Most of the rest of us live in a world where there’s a right thing to do and a wrong thing to do, and Stacey Campfield just doesn’t seem to live in that world or truly understand either.

I should probably state, too, in light of the more recent discussions – I really don’t have any quarrel with, or very strong opinion at this time, on Terry Frank, and I say that because I just have not read enough to form any big strong opinion. But just from reading recent comments over there, as with his own self sticking in his foot in his mouth time and again, I will say that Stacey Campfield’s rather overtly large presence in her current situation and his comments and responses and postings look to me to be hurting her case much more than they are any help.

So, can I just remind everybody one more time? I DON’T DO POLITICS. Nor do I profess to be a writer about much of anything except music, hard and sour candy, BBQ, ex-boyfriends, dogs & cats, and a few other nonessential, totally mediocre subjects that really probably aren’t important to anyone but myself and maybe a handful of others, many of whom have known me for over half my life. I didn’t start a blog ten years ago to make important social statements; I started a blog so I wouldn’t have to e-mail forty or fifty or sixty people the same thing over and over again about whatever was going on with me on any given day.

If I’m not to be taken seriously because I usually write about music and goofy stuff, hey, that’s your call. I’d have to guess, though, that most people that read the more politically-related blogs already have their minds made up to begin with. It’s the people that don’t read political and social issue-related blogs that might not have their minds made up, though, the kind of folks who might read blogs like mine. Something to think about, right?

And it’s wild and ironic, too, that I am even in a position where I can even influence some pretty hardcore serious Republican and conservative registered Tennessee voters, as well as others, against Campfield’s cause simply because of who I happen to be related to or have other ties to. But that just goes to kinda show you that one should look before they leap, think before they speak, and be careful of jumping into potentially hot and sticky pots feet first. There’s a lesson to be learned there, but I’m pretty sure such things go over Campfield’s head as most things seem to.

Anyway, I know my more politically-minded and interested friends are just overjoyed right now that I’m even the least bit interested in writing about such things. This is all insanely ironic and crazy and I can’t believe I’m even writing about some fruit loop politician.

But – it’s important. Because I’m usually mostly uninterested, and probably so are some of you, too. Or, like me, you’re one of those that politicians and their people usually don’t try very hard to reach – when really we’re the ones they should be trying hardest to reach. Or at least certainly not offending, and/or making themselves look ridiculous, right off the bat.

So as long as you have read this – whoever you are and whatever your opinion is, and even if you’re not in Tennessee – if you’ve read this and will remember the name Stacey Campfield now and in the future? I’ve done most of what needed to be done already. The rest is up to y’all.

So, Campfield supporters, go forth and multiply… well, if you can. The rest of y’all – you know what to do (or not to do).

Time will tell if I’m right or not, but I really do sincerely believe Stacey Campfield is blogging himself right smack out of public office. I guess we’ll see, and there’s also probably a really good reason other legislators don’t do such as he does. (Among other things, they probably have publicity people that very smartly tell them NOT to.)

But whether or not he indeed does blog himself out of office, the carnival/slash/freak show is still something to see. Pass the popcorn, I got a trainwreck to watch.

.

Postscript: For more reading on the Carnival That Is Stacey Campfield’s Career and his multitude of grandstanding stunt legislation attempts, I found this yesterday while reading around the tubes. It’s wonderful, hilarious (though you almost really wish it wasn’t since, after all, he IS supposed to be an elected representative in the state in which I have lived my entire life, sigh) – AND there’s lots of excellent back past links as well. Enjoy!

Clueless Doesn’t Even Begin to Scratch the Surface

My response to an e-mail a little while ago:

“You know what? I haven’t got a(n) f’ing clue what Nashville Is Talking about today other than one thing, because I haven’t been anywhere else all day!”

And I always thought political stuff was boring. Go figure.

It’s a Hostile Two Party System

I’m not one to talk much politics, but as I mentioned over at Newscoma the other day, I am seriously ready for the upcoming elections to come and go. I have not been so pestered by the phone so much since before I signed up for every Do Not Call list that exists that I’m eligible for. I prefer for my phones to ring as little as possible and generally only when friends or family are trying to reach me. As far as dealing with companies, customer service and such, I do everything online that’s possible to do so, because I simply just really do NOT like being on the phone much at all. Period. Probably because being on the phone was such a large part of my job for so many years, and I got, like, phone burnout. But yeah, I’m almost obsessively anti-phone these days.

So all these political calls have been a great big thorn in my side. A few would have been sufficient, thank you. Four or five or six a day is overkill and way too much. I briefly entertained the thought of keeping track of who all I was getting calls for and not voting for any of them. But if I did that, there’d be nobody left to vote for.

What’s even more insane is WHO I’ve been getting calls on behalf of. In the past week or so, I got recorded calls from both Bill Clinton AND Rudy Giuliani (my mother only got one of the two). Yeah, I don’t know how that happened either. My e-mail box is exhibiting the same multiple personality disorder.

In any case, I think the politicos need to rethink this heavy-duty telephone campaigning thing. In my opinion, it’s really not encouraging voting if you’re pissing people off.

Speaking of the phone, my cell phone started making racket last night – which is always odd, especially in the evening, since nobody ever calls it but one of the companies I contract with and it was way after business hours.

So I look and it’s a text message from my kid sister. She and my brother-in-law moved to Nebraska a few months ago and I haven’t talked to her in several weeks. The text message said:

“Hey! (Hubby) & I are on a date! How cool is that?”

Aww. They’ve been married 11 years in December. Precious.

Pretty Tied Up

Didja think I’d blown town for the weekend? Ah, no such luck for Memphis and the Metro area, I’ve been here, just, um, occupied… first things first. No, I am not the ditz you think I am…

I knew full well that was a primary election for the governor’s race the other day, heck, I voted in it after all. I was just sleepy and thinking up things to type here and just plain basically forgot. However, I think it was still a pretty valid mistake, given that we all know who’s going to be elected governor come November anyway… the most boring, uneventful and predictable governor’s race in Tennessee in the (deleted number of) decades I’ve been on this planet. So anyway, yes, it just skipped my mind, that’s all… politics bore me to death anyway, so it was only a small faux pas in the basic scheme of Lynnster things. Thanks to someone, whose name just happens to rhyme with “egg white”, for making sure I knew I made a mistake. :P Wouldn’t ever wanna let an opportunity like that pass, wouldja… (sneer)

Well, anyway, so it’s been thunderstorming like a banshee here all weekend long, which has left my big fierce (ahem) Dobermans quaking in their little doggie feet (as opposed to boots). Sorry I didn’t get around to any updates Friday or Saturday, actually I was going to and then I got to working on some pages Saturday afternoon and never got around to the Wall, nor did I get those pages ready to go up, so online stuff has been mostly a futile effort this weekend.

Here’s something interesting… I was entering a contest online recently and was skimming the official rules of the contest (not that I generally do that, I just wanted to see if it could be entered more than once ‘cos it was for some really cool computer junk and god knows I love that)… anyhow, so I’m reading the official rules and I notice it says something like this: “Contest open to all natural persons in the U.S. age 18 and over”. HUH? Like, what is an unnatural person anyway? Does this mean people who’ve lost limbs and have been fitted with robotic technology and stuff like that can’t enter? I guess this means clones are out of the question… whew. Stuff just never ceases to amaze me.

Anyway… my buddy Hack is coming to town in the fall to partake of some of the supercool recording opportunities the Bluff City has to offer, yay ‘cos I get to go hang out in the studio… tho I must say it’s really beginning to bug me that I’m appearing, in some shape or form, in or on everybody else’s stuff, written or recorded, and never my own… sigh, this just may be my lot in life, I guess. Anyhow I’ll post stuff about the Hack deal as it progresses…

Oh, here’s something great – many know about, or have even heard with their very own ears either electronically or in person, the stupid car alarm in my neighborhood that goes off every single time there’s a thunderstorm… one night it went off around midnight and when I got up around eight in the morning, it was still going off. Well, seems that tonight’s thunderstorm set it off once again and… it’s all messed up! Making all these funky tweets and chirps and sounds like it’s pretty much dying… heh heh heh, I love it.

Finally, one last thing for now – thanks to John, Stef and Carol for being nice to me this week when half of everyone else was yelling at me… y’all, like, rock. I’m off, consider yourself now returned to your regularly scheduled surfing…