You Took The Scalp, Don’t Be Afraid To Claim It
Posted on June 17, 2009 at 12:53 pmRoger Abramson talks directly to those that drove the Sherri Goforth story:
We’ve been here before. Remember Bill Hobbs back in 2006? A big deal was made in the press about that goofy Muslim cartoon he put on the Internet, his employer (Belmont University) was mentioned in the articles (even though Belmont had nothing to do with that cartoon), putting Belmont in a position where it really had no choice but to save face publicly by giving Hobbs the heave-ho. I remember talking to some folks in the local press back then and getting this general reaction: “Well, that’s silly. They shouldn’t fire him.” As though the press accounts somehow had nothing to do with it; as though Belmont was just sitting around and just up and arbitrarily decided to can him. It’s like someone shooting a guy in the head and being surprised that they fall over dead. “Well, I’ll be damned. He died just like that. Huh. Never saw that coming.”
The probable outcome of this episode will be the termination (one way or the other) of Sherri Goforth. So, don’t act surprised. And don’t act like you had nothing to do with it. Own it. Hell, be proud of it, the “greater good” and all of that.
Forrester: Goforth And Can Her Ass
Posted on June 15, 2009 at 5:33 pmThe Tennessee Democratic Party Chair has called for the head of a legislative staffer who sent an incendiary email featuring some of that old-timey racism. The presser in full:
Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Chip Forrester denounced an email sent out by Republican staffer Sherri Goforth depicting Barack Obama as two eyes peering out of a black background.
“Is this indicative of what Senate Republicans think about our Commander-in-Chief?” Forrester asked. “This email is reprehensible, insults the office of the President, and is embarrassing to all Tennesseans regardless of political party.”
Sen. Diane Black’s staffer sent an email with an attached collage of traditional presidential portraits, except that President Obama was depicted as two eyes peering from a black background.”When I ran for Chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party, I said that no longer would our Party sit idly by and allow Republicans to make bigoted attacks on Democrats in our state and our country. Well, once again, a Tennessee Republican has earned national attention for a racist, hate-filled attack on our President,” Forrester said.
Unfortunately, Sherri Goforth’s email joins the list of shameful episodes by Tennessee Republicans, from the infamous “Birds of a Feather” (PDF) direct mail piece that featured black crows with the heads of Barack Obama and Rep. Nathan Vaughn (who is also African-American), to the “Barack the Magic Negro” song that former Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chip Saltsman sent to RNC members during his failed campaign for RNC chair.
Since her aide’s email has come to light, Sen. Black, the chair of the House Republican Caucus, has merely reprimanded Goforth.
“I am calling on Sen. Black to reject this racist smear and fire this staffer who, on state government time, on state government computers, using a state government email account, launched this bigoted attack on our president,” Forrester said. “Keeping her on the staff would send the message that this type of behavior is condoned by the House Republican Caucus.”
“Ms. Goforth does not seem to understand what she did wrong. She has apologized for ’sending [the email] to the wrong list of people.’ I believe that any list of people would have recognized this email as offensive and hateful. The fact that a state employee would not understand that indicates that she is not fit for employment by the state of Tennessee.”
“We have hundreds of state employees facing the possibility of losing their jobs due to the budget deficit and no fault of their own. I think we could save at least one of those jobs by firing Sherri Goforth.”
MORE ON THIS DEVELOPING STORY:
Newscoma
Silence
Hannan
Grantham
Humphrey
Cracker
GoldnI
Atlantic
Wonkette
Sandy
Mancini
FirestormPlausible Deniability
Posted on September 24, 2008 at 1:41 pmDavid Oatney wonders why David Kernell, accused Sarah Palin email hacker and son of state Rep. Mike Kernell, was not a member of the College Democrats.
The UT Democrats’ rush to distance themselves from this situation begs the question: Why wasn’t David Kernell, the son of a Democratic State Representative, involved in the College Democrats at the University of Tennessee? If this young man is as interested in politics as this kind of activity would seem to indicate, he should have actively sought out the College Democrats. Because his father is a State Representative, Kernell very likely would have been placed on a leadership track in the organization very quickly. He had a wonderful opportunity to really become a “Big Man On Campus.” Yet he apparently chose instead to hack into Sarah Palin’s e-mail.
SERVED: State Representative’s Son Gets A Visit From The Feds
Posted on September 21, 2008 at 4:22 pmBecky Simmons reporting:
A person who identified himself as a witness tells 10 News that agents with the FBI served a federal search warrant at the Fort Sanders residence of David Kernell early Sunday morning. Kernell lives in the Commons apartment complex at 1115 Highland Ave.
David Kernell is the son of Mike Kernell, a Democratic state representative from Memphis.
SEE ALSO:
Terry Frank
Jawa Report
The Other McCainSome Expensive Emails
Posted on May 27, 2008 at 7:35 amDrew Johnson of the Tennessee Center For Policy Research is once again knee deep in a controversy over open records requests:
Revenue officials gave Mr. Johnson a choice. Department employees could go through the e-mails themselves for free, or the state’s Office for Information Resources could do it at a cost of $3,201 for each day of correspondence, they said.
“The issue here, of course is that if someone has an embarrassing term … on their computer, they’re not going to just turn it over. They would delete the e-mail,” said Mr. Johnson, who heads up the Nashville-based anti-tax group. “The only way to have an external person check e-mails to ensure that every e-mail is actually turned over is through an electronic master tape.”
Sophie Moery, a spokeswoman for the Revenue Department, said the Office for Information Resources sets the price. She said officials made sure to offer Mr. Johnson the option of getting information for free.
“We certainly would not want to leave him with the only option of an expensive search,” she said.
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