Shut The Buck Up

By Kleinheider Posted on July 21, 2008 at 7:31 am

Retiring Rep. Frank Buck insists he told Governor Bredesen about rumors of malfeasance by Senator John Ford in 2003:

Asked about Buck’s assertion before the trial, Bredesen said he had no knowledge of Ford’s financial ties to the contractors. He reiterated that during the trial, when he testified about a conversation with Ford over entrusting care of more TennCare recipients to one of the companies Ford was consulting for.

In his testimony, Bredesen said he would have reported Ford to the authorities had he known that the former senator was benefiting financially from the TennCare contractor.

Asked in an e-mail Friday about Buck’s claims, Bredesen spokeswoman Lydia Lenker responded that “the governor has said what he knows.”

“He has said all he is going to say on this matter,” Lenker wrote.

Buck remains adamant about telling the governor, saying that Bredesen got “jailhouse religion” about ethics only after the Tennessee Waltz scandal broke.

“He got religion after the scandal hit,” he said.

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Tags: Frank Buck, John Ford, Phil Bredesen, Tennessee Waltz  

Right, Wrong and Popular Opinion On Animal Abuse

By Kleinheider Posted on April 21, 2008 at 6:40 am

Known progressive Katie Allison Granju counsels her urban compatriots not to be so quick to judge rural Tennesseans conceptions of what is and what is not animal abuse:

I also wonder whether the folks who seem to want to stigmatize the way farmers handle livestock ever eat meat or wear leather. Because if you really have a problem with “animal abuse,” the best place to focus your efforts on ending it would be the horrific large-scale, factory farming practices that are quickly replacing the small farm approach to livestock management that Tennessee’s rural communities have had as part of their culture for several centuries.

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Tags: animal abuse, factory farms, Frank Buck, rural, urban  

Post Politics: 17 April 2008

By Kleinheider Posted on April 17, 2008 at 11:44 am

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has released its annual crime statistics.

Knoxville’s Metro Pulse runs down the national political contributions of the Haslam political dynasty.

The Associated Press strives to achieve a more flexible business model.

Retiring State Rep. Frank Buck bequeaths his trademark vest to a colleague.

Females snagged in an immigration raid of the Pilgrim’s Pride Chicken processing plant in Chattanooga will be held in Nashville.

A Knoxville reporter follows a group concerned about healthcare issues to Washington, D.C., as they meet with Tennessee Congressional delegation members. Read more

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Tags: Frank Buck, Jim Haslam, Mayhill Fowler, Phillip Pinion  

Post Politics: 11 April 2008 - Afternoon Edition

By Kleinheider Posted on April 11, 2008 at 3:09 pm

The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports this morning that former U.S. Representative and mayoral candidate Bob Clement will join up with Knoxville real estate heavyweight Coldwell Banker Commercial Wallace & Wallace. Clement will remain based in Nashville and will not be working in real estate full-time. Clement in January launched Clement & Associates, a lobbying and public affairs group, with offices in Knoxville, Nashville and Washington and joined up with the GOP-heavy Washington lobby shop, The Livingston Group, shortly thereafter.Bill Clinton decides to remind everyone about his wife’s various gaffes on the campaign trail in the hopes of promoting a narrative pitting Hillary against a hostile media.

The Tennessee Holocaust Commission, Sen. Andy Berke (D-Chattanooga) and Rep. Mark Maddox (D-Dresden) will host the Days of Remembrance Ceremony on April 14 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the Old Supreme Court Chamber.

Don Williams breaks down the Presidential race using America’s National Pastime.

U.S. Senate Democratic candidate Bob Tuke accuses Sen. Lamar Alexander for being in bed with the Oil Lobby while talking up energy independence and the environment.

Blake Fontenay gets confused as to which Columbia is being referred to in a Marsha Blackburn press release.

Read more

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Tags: Andy Berke, Bill Clinton, Bob Clement, Frank Buck, Lamar Alexander, Robin Smith