Don't know about y'all, but I'm being deluged by emails and communiques from friends near and far asking how they can help folks affected by the recent disaster. From Tennessean.com...

Link...

Most of my money's probably going to Second Harvest and the Community Foundation of Middle TN.

I'm no Obama fan, but it makes my stomach hurt thinking about the lengths to which Republicans may be preparing to go in order to tear the country apart once again down various race, gender and class lines...

Link...

CHATTANOOGA

Hamilton County Election Night Watch Party
Sugar’s Ribs
2450 15th Avenue
Chattanooga, TN 37404
Tuesday, February 5th
Join Hillary supporters after 8:00pm to watch the results come in!
To RSVP, email Dan at dmorrocco@hillaryclinton.com or call 615-254-2200.

Chattanooga for Hillary will join the Hamilton County Democratic Party to watch the results come in from Tennessee and around the country.

KNOXVILLE

Knox County Election Night Watch Party
Calhoun's on Bearden Hill
6515 Kingston Pike
Knoxville, TN 37919
Join Hillary supporters after 8:00pm to watch the results come in!
To RSVP, email Lindsey at lwalters@hillaryclinton.com or call 615-254-2200.

Knoxville for Hillary will join the Knox County Democratic Party to watch the results come in from Tennessee and around the country.

(Memphis & Nashville after the jump)

In attempt to remind folks that either Democratic frontrunner would be vastly preferable to anything the GOP has to offer, I thought I'd start doing a series of explorations into Republican positions on various issues.

In contrast to the media's saintly image of Republican Senator John McCain, his voting record is that of a Reagan-era, deregulation-happy extremist. While he's cast horrific votes on a number of issues near and dear to progressives, Democrats, and liberals of all stripes, I decided to spend a portion of today digging into his votes on environmental issues.

Link...

McCain would repeal Clinton’s recent executive order banning roads in more than 50 million acres of pristine wilderness. McCain did not oppose protecting the national forest preserve. Rather he objected to taking the action through an executive order, even though the order set off a rule-making process that includes public comment. “The idea that Washington knows best and that local residents cannot be trusted to do what’s right in their own backyard is the epitome of federal arrogance,” he said.

Same link as above...

New post-SC poll shows HRC up eleven points in Tennessee (link includes interesting analysis of election dynamics)

Hillary wins Florida decisively, showing a lack of momentum from SC for Obama...Everybody was on the ballot this time, to boot...

[xposted to Knoxviews] For those not in the know: Kathleen K. Townsend is Bobby's daughter and the former LG of Maryland; Kerry is Bobby Jr.'s daughter...

Link...

Los Angeles Times
Kennedys for Clinton

She stands for Democrats and for the nation, these family members say.

By Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kerry Kennedy
January 29, 2008

This is a wonderful year for Democrats. Our party is blessed with the most impressive array of primary candidates in modern history. All would make superb presidents.

By now you may have read or heard that our cousin, Caroline Kennedy, and our uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, have come out in favor of Sen. Barack Obama. We, however, are supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton because we believe that she is the strongest candidate for our party and our country.

While talk of unity and compromise are inspiring to a nation wary of divisiveness, America stands at a historic crossroads where real issues divide our political landscapes. Democrats believe that America should not be torturing people, eavesdropping on our citizens or imprisoning them without habeas corpus or other constitutional rights. We should not be an imperial power. We need healthcare for all and a clean, safe environment.

The loftiest poetry will not solve these issues. We need a president willing to engage in a fistfight to safeguard and restore our national virtues.

We have worked with Hillary Clinton for 15 years (and in Kathleen's case, 25 years) and witnessed the power and depth of her convictions firsthand. We've seen her formidable work ethic, courage in the face of adversity and her dignity and clear head in crisis. We've also seen her two-fisted willingness to enter the brawl when America's principles are challenged. Her measured rhetoric, political savvy and pragmatism shield the heart of our nation's most determined and most democratic warrior.

Link...

Democrats are outnumbering Republicans by almost 4-to-1 on the first morning of turnout for early voting for Tennessee's presidential primary.

Early voting began at 8 a.m. and by noon 534 Democrats had come in to Davidson County's eight early voting stations, compared to 161 Republicans. Early voting will continue through Jan. 31, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays.

Here's hoping the trend holds out...

Here's a link to my earlier diary on the subject: Link...

Rumor now has it that supporters of the bill are going to try to circumvent the Public Health and Family Assistance Subcommittee of the House Health and Human Resources Committee and get the legislation straight to the floor in the House. The Senate vote is 9 AM tomorrow; House should follow shortly thereafter. More info as it develops. (Note: a "no" vote on the part of many Progressive Senators on the rape and incest exceptions could well be an attempt to force this issue to the fore, and paint SJ127 supporters for what they are: totally unreasonable on this issue. I suspect their next attempt may well be something like legislation to force felony murder charges for both doctors and women having abortions in TN...)

CALL THOSE LEGISLATORS and urge for a No vote! The *last* thing we need is Ron Ramsey catapulted into the Governor's mansion in 2010, after he's had a chance to be out on the stump demagogueing on this issue for the last couple of years.

Link...

Quotes from the article linked below.

I'm posting this because, in a nutshell, it's a major reason why I'm supporting Clinton. I wonder if Obama has any idea what's waiting for him should he win this election. 1.) In addition to hiring literally thousands of people to staff the Office of the President, he's going to have to staff up an Office of Presidential Personnel. This is going to comprise a major portion of his personal staff, and is going to work with the White House Counsel's Office to find jobs for literally thousands of the folks who are appointed by the President to run the bureaucracy. This is going to be difficult because 2.) He's going to have to decide between literally thousands of people who helped on his campaign, all of whom are going to use every iota of political clout they have to get these jobs, and he'll wind up needing to choose between people who volunteered for his campaign vs. people who gave gigantic piles of money to his effort.

He'll also probably want to set up several outreach offices as in Clinton 1 (women's issues, issues of faith, LBGT) but since he's one person, he's going to have to delegate the day to day management and operation of these offices. Does he have any idea who he's going to pick to manage this operation? I'd like to hear some nuts and bolts about it. How will he decide who calls the shots, out of many groups that will probably have a legitimate claim on issues of influence?

Link...

As of 9:47 PM CST:

President - Dem Primary
Michigan - 4258 of 5385 Precincts Reporting - 79%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Clinton , Hillary Dem 252,458 57%
Uncommitted Dem 171,087 38%
Kucinich , Dennis Dem 17,215 4%
Dodd , Chris Dem 3,043 1%
Gravel , Mike Dem 1,872 0%

Sorry for the double post this AM...lots happening this Monday...

(From later in the post, and the main point I'm trying to make: You'd think Dems would have learned from 2006, when many folks think the gay-marriage Constitutional amendment most likely cost Tennessee a Senate seat and the chance to elect the first Black Senator from the South since Reconstruction. It's disappointing to see Tennessee Democrats line up to support a lightning-rod social issue Constitutional amendment that will virtually guarantee a flood of right-wingers to the polls in 2010, the year Tennessee will elect its next Governor.)

This afternoon, SJ127, a measure designed to prevent the TN Constitution from protecting the right to abortion, will rear its ugly head on the floor of the Tennessee Senate once again. As is traditionally the case, it will be cosponsored by a passel of Republicans but also a couple of notable Tennessee Democrats, Sens. Tommy Kilby and Doug Henry. Again this year, it will be opposed by virtually all of the elected women Democratic Senators, including DavCo Sen. Thelma Harper, Memphis Sen. Beverly Marrero and Senate Speaker Pro Tem Rosalind Kurita, who gave a barnburner speech on her personal experiences as an OR nurse on the Senate floor last year. (Unfortunately Sen. Ford, who opposed SJ127 in 2007, is in the hospital and will be unable to cast her vote.)

Tennessee poverty rate rises more quickly than U.S. rate
Rutherford County rate rises fastest in Nashville area

By CLAY CAREY, Staff Writer
for the Tennessean

[edit]

The latest U.S. Census numbers show Tennessee's poverty rate rising more quickly than the national rate. Economics experts say things have probably gotten worse since these figures were tallied in 2005.
The trend shown by the 2005 figures is not as bad in most Nashville-area counties as it is statewide. But those who deal with poverty every day — researchers, charity operators and the poor themselves — say they've only seen more need.

Link...

Sheez. I just got this in the email, from our friends at Democracy for America:

URGENT: Help Tennessee save the planet

You can help stop one of the greatest environmental polluters in the world -- Tennessee.

The United States is the greatest producer of greenhouse gases in the world and Tennessee has the highest individual consumption of electricity in the country. Tennessee is also the greatest average monthly consumer of industrial electricity, using more than twice as much power as much larger states such as Texas and California.

It's downright shocking. Anyone know where they got these numbers? There's more on the email, and what DFA wants us to do about it (support a Bredesen energy proposal) after the jump.

A worthy read, from Guerrilla Women and the New York Times:

Link...

Definitely worth considering, in a state where 14% of our state legislature is female and we've elected all of one woman to Congress in the modern era (right-winger Marsha Blackburn). Also, Tennessee is often listed at the top of the "Worst States for Women" lists, based on things like lack of access to health care, not much support for working families and moribund economic opportunities.

(True confession: I've often thought Sen. Rosalind Kurita would be called things like "courageous" and "maverick" instead of "traitor" and "witch" had she been born Richard Kurita.)

From our friends at VoteSafeTN.org:

Immediate Request for Action 1/6/08

If you want to support our efforts to make our elections more secure and verifiable before November '08, please call and email the legislators who will be meeting on January 10 to make a decision about the Voter Confidence Act.

EMAIL or call members of the Joint Legislative Committee on Voter Confidence before their next meeting on Thursday, January 10.

The legislators commented on the hundreds of emails and phone calls they received before the last meeting! This had a big impact in moving our issue forward. They need to hear from you again -- or for the first time.

Southern Beale's actually got an excellent breakdown of this linked below, but I can still scarcely believe this: Someone steals computers with the entire county voter file out of Metro Davidson's Election Commission - over the Christmas holiday, when there's not much media coverage, at the beginning of what's sure to be a contentious Presidential election year, in the most reliably Democratic county in the state - and there's no official response?

Ray Barrett is usually a standup guy, but there's no "Gosh, I'm committed to make sure that neither political party uses this list for monkeyshines?" Here's hoping this isn't the last we're going to hear out of this story.

Combined with the documented flaws in the ESS systems used by Davidson County, I'd say your vote is now worth less than the $1.29 you pay for a cheeseburger you get at McDonald's - and you actually get a receipt for that, unlike the [zero] you get when you vote on Election Day.

Link...

Saturday, 12/29/07
Computer heist puts voter IDs in danger
Davidson will issue identity theft alert to all county voters

By JENNIFER BROOKS
and COLBY SLEDGE
Staff Writers

The names, addresses and complete Social Security numbers of more than 337,000 Davidson County voters may be in the hands of thieves, Metro election officials said Friday.

Cause I'm feeling linky today.

Link...

ORME, Tenn. (AP) — As twilight falls over this Tennessee town, Mayor Tony Reames drives up a dusty dirt road to the community's towering water tank and begins his nightly ritual in front of a rusty metal valve.

With a twist of the wrist, he releases the tank's meager water supply, and suddenly this sleepy town is alive with activity. Washing machines whir, kitchen sinks fill and showers run.

About three hours later, Reames will return and reverse the process, cutting off water to the town's 145 residents.

The severe drought tightening like a vise across the Southeast has threatened the water supply of cities large and small, sending politicians scrambling for solutions. But Orme, about 40 miles west of Chattanooga and 150 miles northwest of Atlanta, is a town where the worst-case scenario has already come to pass: The water has run out.

Link...

It'll be interesting to see whether SC Democratic officials take him seriously...