February 5, 2010
Volunteer Doppelgängers
While some have compared Tennessee Congressman Marsha Blackburn, and her would-be U.S. House colleague, Robin Smith, to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, others have a different Tennessee political stalwart in mind. While Sarah Palin...Posted by joe lance on 7:59 AM
January 3, 2010
Precocious Predictions for Twenty Tenn.
Veteran political reporter and columnist Tom Humphrey consulted with a mysterious source over the New Year's holiday, and has presented her predictions for Tennessee politics in 2010. Bill Haslam will wind up as the...Posted by joe lance on 1:18 PM
November 26, 2009
A couple of real turkeys
Tennessee Third District candidate Art Rhodes is celebrating Thanksgiving in a very special way this year: according to Facebook, it is his birthday. That he managed to calculate his date of arrival on the...Posted by joe lance on 8:39 AM
November 24, 2009
How the GOP will win in 2012
If they can just get all of these people to agree after the primary, they will have more than the number of votes they'll need. (HT: Kleinheider)...Posted by joe lance on 1:43 PM
October 13, 2009
Rejected House 62 Special Election Headlines
As you know, the special election held today in the 62nd District of the Tennessee House of Representatives has been unofficially won by Republican Pat Marsh. To help him celebrate his victory, I have...Posted by joe lance on 9:06 PM
October 9, 2009
Open Thread on the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
I'll get it started: if (and I'm just assuming here) the spirit behind awarding President Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize was that an Obama presidency, by itself, significantly increases the prospect of "improved...Posted by joe lance on 10:05 AM
August 31, 2009
An Endorsement in the Race for Tennessee Governor
Betsy "Aunt B." Phillips has decided on her gubernatorial candidate. Trouble is, it's not anyone that's currently running....Posted by joe lance on 9:19 PM
October 24, 2008
Bob Tuke for Attorney General?
You heard it here first. ;-) But truthfully, and I'm a little ashamed of myself, I just made that up to pique some Internet curiosity. I was trying to think of a title to...Posted by joe lance on 2:26 PM
Pat Buchanan gets his wish
Yesterday, Patrick J. Buchanan asked, "What if 'SNL' mocked Michelle Obama?" Today, Gothamist reports that the live sketch comedy show plans to do just that, and will bring back former cast member Maya ("It's...Posted by joe lance on 2:04 PM
July 10, 2008
As I bleat in protest
An "only in Tennessee" story that has appeared on a number of news sites and blogs simultaneously sparks alternative-fuel hope and puts a damper on an innovative overgrowth control program. [Doug] Mizell's spent the...Posted by joe lance on 8:06 PM
July 3, 2008
Hot local rumor (updated)
I've just gotten a tip that Billy Blades has been outed and silenced. The tipster is of dubious credibility (to put it mildly), so nothing is definite yet. Stay tuned. I'll post updates related...Posted by joe lance on 10:59 AM
May 13, 2008
The silly season
Although I join those who regularly criticize the media for their failure to really focus on the real issues in this election season, sometimes something comes along that is just plain funny. Before the...Posted by joe lance on 2:19 PM
May 7, 2008
Quotes from primary coverage
Gems from last night, and ongoing: Hillary's assertion that Indiana "broke the tie" in the PA-NC-IN trifecta is quite possibly the most pathetically unconvincing piece of election-night spin since Joe Lieberman's "three-way split decision...Posted by joe lance on 9:27 AM
March 7, 2008
His enthusiasm is duly curbed
Via Sean Braisted, Larry David has a funny piece about the "red phone" ad on Huffington Post. (What's the over/under on how many bloggers used a title very, very similar to mine when linking...Posted by joe lance on 12:42 PM
February 3, 2008
This is too funny to pass up
In today's Chattanooga paper, Metro section, in the "Reporter's Notebook" section (that, by the way, I consider a weekly must-read), we find this: …Sheriff Billy Long has agreed to take some Hamilton County students...Posted by joe lance on 10:23 AM
January 31, 2008
Quote of the day
I continue to hear and read a lot of complaints that GOP Senator John McCain is not a Republican. But Republican voters seem to think he's jes' fine. Does that mean the real complaint...Posted by joe lance on 1:07 PM
January 21, 2008
A name for February 5
I'm a little bored with "Super Duper," "Mega," and other outsized modifiers for the day when parties in so many states hold their primary contests. I am here to suggest a new name for...Posted by joe lance on 7:54 AM
January 20, 2008
Quote of the day, yesterday
"[I]t’s starting to look like Fox News has a political agenda." -- Stephen Gordon, Ron Paul supporter, writing at Third Party Watch on the fact that the cable news outlet displayed a trio of...Posted by joe lance on 12:41 PM
January 19, 2008
Hint: his name's not on the dollar
I found this funny story involving mistaken identity in the halls of power on the blog Cato-at-liberty: Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur [(D-Ohio)] came to a House committee hearing on Thursday prepared to ask U.S. Treasury...Posted by joe lance on 9:45 AM
January 1, 2008
The tech vote
I just voted in, then viewed current results for, an online primary at TechCrunch. Can we just limit the voting this year to the tech-minded? (I'm kidding, of course.) But check it out: Democrats:...Posted by joe lance on 10:10 PM
November 22, 2007
Redneck is Relative
The psychological and cultural milieu that is "redneckdom" isn't only inhabited by teeth-missing, bass-fishing rural Southerners. There is a spectrum, on which pretty much everybody falls somewhere, even people whom the likes of David...Posted by joe lance on 11:57 AM
October 10, 2007
Lewis Black tells us what not to think about
"I'm not comfortable with any issue that can't be expressed through men's jewelry." I hope I captured that correctly. I was laughing pretty hard through Lewis Black's whole segment on the Daily Show. Black...Posted by joe lance on 12:04 AM
September 23, 2007
Because comedy and tragedy are siblings
Me: "Marcel Marceau died." Her: "Did he have any final words?" We'll be here all week. Disclaimer: our sincere condolences go out to those touched by the loss of this wonderful person and great...Posted by joe lance on 8:55 AM
September 9, 2007
Wisdom in accidental spelling
I got an IM at work the other day from a colleague whose remark inadvertently revealed a major aspect of what we in project work put up with: She said that she wanted to...Posted by joe lance on 10:40 PM
September 7, 2007
The BerMarti Triangle
Just to keep readers up to speed, I whipped together this handy map of the Rutherford residences. If/as more moves occur, I will make a new map. Note: the Sweetbriar address may or may...Posted by joe lance on 1:55 PM
August 20, 2007
Exercises in Hypocrisy (updated)
This one is a real workout, so make sure you're stretched and hydrated. Wes Comer gives "Evangelicals for Mitt" the third degree about supporting a Mormon for national executive office (uh, that's of the...Posted by joe lance on 11:29 PM
July 23, 2007
Soundtrack for Tonight's Democratic Candidate Debate?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=FWPzxVMQU8g...Posted by joe lance on 5:30 PM
June 28, 2007
Eagle Bluff
So, the Bald Eagle has been removed from the Endangered Species list. In related news, Canada called, and they would like their eagles back. (They asked very nicely.)...Posted by joe lance on 7:42 PM