No Longer A Pipedream
Posted on May 4, 2009 at 7:28 amActivists lobby legislators to end the practice of giving harsher sentences to those who possess crack than those who possess powdered cocaine:
Similarly, there was no arm wrestling when they met with U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn. He’s already a co-sponsor of two drug sentencing reform bills.
Norman and Coleman-Davis also met with U.S. Reps. John Tanner, D-Tenn., and representatives for Tennessee Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, both R-Tenn., and U.S. Rep. Zack Wamp, R-Tenn. (Coleman-Davis also met with staffers from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.)
Norman said he believes some politicians “don’t want to be perceived as easy on crime,” but he told them, “We want to be tough on crime, but just on sentencing.”
Both Coleman-Davis and Norman noted that powder and crack cocaine are the same drug pharmacologically.
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Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey
Posted on April 28, 2009 at 11:29 amJackson Baker says that the understanding come to by both sides of the Democratic Party last week was no truce and point the finger at the operative who sculpted the landscape that resulted in Chip Forrester accepting an offer he couldn’t refuse:
Almost everybody considers the “truce” to be a surrender imposed on Forrester by that establishment, which, in theory, consists of Bredesen plus four of the five Democratic congressmen from Tennessee (everybody but Memphis’ Steve Cohen, who has been studiously neutral during the last three moths of intra-party strife). In reality, it comes down to 4th District congressman Lincoln Davis, and, in particular, his administrative aide Beecher Frasier.
Yes, the same Beecher Frasier who opined during last year’s presidential campaign that he couldn’t be sure that then candidate Barack Obama didn’t have terrorist ties. The same Beecher Frazier who has spearheaded the battle against Forrester almost from the moment the Chipper announced his candidacy for the party chairmanship last November. That was in the wake of the electoral debacle last November in which the Democrats managed to lose both houses of the Tennessee legislature.
Cohen Reacts To Memphis Mayor’s Challenge
Posted on April 21, 2009 at 6:07 pmRep. Steve Cohen has issued this statement upon hearing the news that the Mayor of Memphis may challenge him for his congressional seat:
“I was surprised to learn of this announcement by the Mayor’s office just now while reading the Commercial Appeal as I have been contacted by neither the Mayor nor any of his associates. I have an excellent working relationship with the City of Memphis as evidenced by the number of projects that received federal funding under the last budget. I believe that the overwhelming margin of victory during my reelection campaign last year showed that the people of the 9th District of Tennessee enthusiastically approve of the job I’ve been doing in Washington, D.C. In my nearly thirty years of public service as a legislator, I have always fought for the people of Memphis, and I plan to continue to do so in the U.S. House of Representatives for the foreseeable future.”
Rep. Steve Cohen Prepares For A New, New Deal
Posted on December 18, 2008 at 6:54 amObama’s big plans has the Memphis congressman ready to work:
Like other members of Congress, Cohen is preparing for the new administration’s economic stimulus proposal, which has been likened to the public works projects of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.
“It’s going to mostly be infrastructure, things like highways – maybe (Interstate)-69, maybe the beginning of a new bridge across the Mississippi River, a third bridge … (and) a runway that we’re working on to improve at Memphis International Airport. … That’s the two major infrastructure needs.”
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Keeping His Rep
Posted on December 11, 2008 at 7:14 amRep. Steve Cohen snatches up another award:
The U.S. House Resolution formally apologizing for slavery that was sponsored earlier this year by Representative Steve Cohen has earned the Tennessee congressman the D. Emilio Castrelar Work Recognition Award, presented in Madrid, Spain, by the Vida Foundation, which concerns itself with environmental protection and human rights issues.
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White House Guard Treats Congressman As Though He Were An Uninvited Armenian
Posted on December 10, 2008 at 12:08 pmThe Memphis congressman gets the high hat fro White House security:
Just as Cohen was getting warm in his hunt for the ornament in the Blue Room of the White House, where the official tree stands, he says an usher with a “very rude” tone declared, “This room is closed!”
But it didn’t look closed; there were other members of Congress milling about the room, according to Cohen and Hooley. Cohen explained to the usher that he was looking for an ornament painted for the White House Christmas tree by one of his constituents in Memphis. Hooley was doing the same. (Both lawmakers wound up finding their respective ornaments, you’ll be pleased to know.)
The usher didn’t seem to care about the ornament search as the time neared 11 p.m.
“It was like he was a bouncer and it was last call,” Cohen tells the Sleuth. The congressman says he found the usher to be “haughty, arrogant, controlling and rude.”
TITLE REFERENCE: Cohen breaks bad with Armenian activist.
Rep. Steve Cohen Endorses Hillary Clinton For Secretary Of State
Posted on November 16, 2008 at 6:46 pmThe Memphis congressman explains why the woman he once compared to Glen Close’s character in Fatal Attraction would be a good shaper of foreign policy in an Obama administration:
If President Obama does indeed select Senator Clinton as his Secretary of State, he will be invoking Lincoln’s legacy in a profound way; and in the opinion of this Congressman, there could be no wiser choice for the post.
During his first year in office, President Obama will likely need to keep a laser’s focus on domestic issues as we try to climb out of the economic hole dug under eight years of President Bush’s financial policies. Therefore, it is absolutely vital to select someone with the experience, toughness, and depth of knowledge to handle increased authority in foreign policy and deliver on President Obama’s promise to the world; and who could be more qualified to manage the duties of the nation’s top diplomat than the internationally revered junior Senator from New York? She brings two decades worth of foreign policy experience, much of it on the front lines as First Lady during one of the most peaceful eras in U.S. history. Furthermore, she brings instant prestige and credibility to the position; no foreign leader would ever feel diminished sitting in the presence of Hillary Rodham Clinton.
I have had the privilege to know the Clintons since their days in neighboring Arkansas, and I know of no one more intelligent and capable of tackling the enormous challenges we face abroad than Hillary Rodham Clinton.
SEE ALSO:
Mediaverse
Memphis Flyer
You’re A Racist All Day
Posted on October 24, 2008 at 9:36 amJake Ford, brother of Harold Ford, Jr., on his independent race for the Ninth Congressional district seat against white Democratic incumbent Steve Cohen:
Though Ford says comments he made earlier this year indicating the 9th District should be represented by a black candidate were misunderstood, he did say, “As far as I’m concerned, black people should vote together as a special interest group. If that makes me racist, then call me a racist all day.”
PREVIOUSLY:
Ford Family Fracture
Ford Claims Racially Motivated Attack In An Upscale Steakhouse
A bit of Ninth District history
The Era Of The Free Market Is Over?
Posted on September 20, 2008 at 2:37 pmThat is what Rep. Steve Cohen seems to be saying:
“Everybody’s pension, everybody’s job is at stake,” said Cohen. “Homes, mortgages, businesses, everything.” At stake, as Congress begins work this weekend on an emergency plan is nothing less than “preserving the American economic system.” Cohen said the current congressional session might be extended through “the end of October,” right up to the eve of the presidential election, in order to work out all the ramifications.
In the short run, Congress will assume a “massive” amount of debt stemming from the sub-prime mortgage catastrophe resulting in the collapse or near-collapse of several venerable Wall Street investment firms. In the long run, there must be serious reforms, “a change in the way the American people see their government,” Cohen said. “The whole idea of the free market is history.”
Cohen Down With Calipari, Not Lamar
Posted on September 15, 2008 at 2:02 pmJackson Baker has Steve Cohen’s explanation of his appearance at a fundraiser for Lamar Alexander’s Senate re-election effort:
Cohen cautioned that his appearance at the fundraiser shouldn’t be misconstrued. “Coach Cal is a good friend of mine. He’s ‘Mr. Memphis, as far as I’m concerned. So when he asked me to come by as a courtesy, I said I would.” The congressman noted also that he had appeared with Alexander at a joint press conference at The Med earlier Friday and that the fundraiser had occurred shortly thereafter.
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Lobbyists Are Bad, Mmkay
Posted on September 14, 2008 at 12:16 pmCongressman Steve Cohen and his “cerebrally abundant” colleague Congressman Jim Cooper held a conference call with some local reporters and journalists to talk about the pernicious influence of lobbyists in Washington, most specifically, John McCain and how Barack Obama will be changing all that when he gets elected President.
While the call was designed to promote this report about McCain’s connections to lobbyists, I thought it interesting that one of the few lobbyists mentioned by name, and certainly the only one mentioned on two separate occasions, was Vicki Iseman.
Calling her as “remarkably attractive,” Congressman Cooper referred to the “intervention” McCain’s staff had to hold to restrict this particular lobbyist’s access to the Senator. Interesting that one of the few lobbyists mentioned by name on the call was a female lobbyist that McCain has denied having an affair with.
Certainly, mentioning her twice and referring to her looks, was purely an accident and not a subtle attempt resurrect such rumors.
Another point of discussion by the Congressmen was, of course, Sarah Palin.
Congressman Cooper on Sarah Palin: “First they make fun of Barack for being a celebrity and then they put their own celebrity on the ticket. We need to talk about the debt and the deficit.”
Congressman Cohen on McCain’s Veep pick: “She wasn’t picked to to put “Country First”, she was picked to put McCain first. She was picked to put the right-wing first.”
Congressman Cooper on Alaska’s relationship with “pork”: “It’s the whole culture up there. They are on the dole from the federal taxpayer.”
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Rep. Cohen Says “Community Organizer” Is Being Used As A Racial Code Word
Posted on September 11, 2008 at 9:24 pmSean Braisted provides some commentary:
Oh, and it also seemed to be that Cohen was tacitly agreeing with Matthews that “community organizer” is code for black urbanite. I think most people, especially rural and suburban voters, just don’t know what the hell a community organizer is, and the Republicans think its funny. And really, that is not exactly their fault, because “community organizer” is such a broad term that just about anyone who gathers more than one person together to get something accomplished is a “community organizer”. The head of the PTO or a Cub Scout leader could be defined as such.
Obama was a faith-based community organizer who acted as the secular go between for a variety of predominately African-American churches in Chicago. He did various projects, including voter registration and issues based activism, and it wouldn’t be all that inaccurate to call him a political activist.
Sexist Steve?
Posted on at 9:36 amThe Guerilla women are starting to wonder about Tennessee’s most progressive congressman:
What is the matter with Steve Cohen? First he fires off a grossly sexist shot at Hillary Clinton. Now’s he’s exalting Obama by comparing him to Jesus and denigrating Sarah Palin by comparing her to Pontius Pilate. This is the best defense of community organizers Cohen can come up with? Already the embarrassing video clip below is running on Fox News. Does Cohen enjoy embarrassing the state of Tennessee?
The Real Nikki Tinker
Posted on August 17, 2008 at 11:33 pmDefeated Ninth District Congressional candidate Nikki Tinker strikes an apologetic tone over the religious and racially inflammatory ads her campaign ran against Steve Cohen — mostly because they didn’t work:
This is the real Nikki. You know Nikki is not into doing anything that would separate or divide our community,” she said.
But that’s exactly how some voters interpreted Tinker’s strategy, and in the end, hindsight is 20-20.
“If I’d had any idea that was the way it would have been interpreted, we never would have taken that approach,” she said.
SEE ALSO: Mediaverse
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What Do You Want, A Medal?
Posted on August 10, 2008 at 11:13 pmEMILY’s List may have condemned the racially and religiously inflammatory advertising of Nikki Tinker in the final days of the campaign but Congressman Steve Cohen will not forgive and does not forget where his opponent got the money to attack him:
“I said it’s going to get dirty, there’s going to be some things said at the end that are going to be unbelievable,” Cohen said. EMILY’s List condemned one of the advertisements in the campaign’s final days, a move Cohen said wasn’t enough. “Their money is what paid for these ads. They raised [Tinker's] money.”
The group’s president, Ellen Malcolm, reached out after the primary, Cohen said. Malcolm “called me and she was trying to act like she’d done me some great favor by renouncing that [advertisement], and I said, ‘You know, the election was over. Your money that you got from your members who didn’t know what this race was about, didn’t know what my record was, didn’t know about this lady, you paid for those ads.’”
“The members of EMILY’s List are owed an apology from Ellen Malcolm for not having a better vetting process,” Cohen added.
Congressman Steve Cohen On The Passing Of Isaac Hayes
Posted on at 6:47 pmFrom Sharon Cobb:
“Isaac Hayes was our emissary to the world for over four decades,” Congressman Cohen said. “His music and his love of his fellow man transcended all racial boundaries. His contributions to this city and its culture were many, and his friends were even more numerous. I was fortunate enough to have him as my friend, and I was blessed to have his support in my most recent election.”
“His music, his talent, and his spirit will live on. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Adjowa and his entire family. He was a soul man and a great man, and like Moses, there will never be another.”
MORE:
Mediaverse
Left Wing Cracker
Ginger Snaps
The Flypaper Theory
Moderate Voice
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Cohen Reacts To His Late Arriving Cavalry
Posted on August 7, 2008 at 6:12 pmSteve Cohen reacts to the love shown him by Barack Obama and Harold Ford, Jr. in response to attacks by Nikki Tinker carrying racial and religious overtones:
Reached in his car this afternoon, Cohen said he had not asked Obama to intervene in the 9th District race.
“I think the national bloggers and the national media have focused in the extreme amount of negative campaigning that has gone on here, especially in the last three or four days,” Cohen said. “There’s been a lot of calls for Obama to state his distaste for this.”
Cohen said he expects to win today’s Democratic Party Primary.
“The Memphis voter is much more sophisticated than the Tinker camp thought,” he added. “They’re going to vote on issues and character and achievement, and not on race.”
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Escape From Memphis: Harold Ford, Jr. On The Nikki Tinker Ads
Posted on at 2:48 pmEmily’s List and Barack Obama beat him to it, but, better late than never, Harold Ford, Jr. comments on the “Nikki Tinker” situation:
“Whenever race, religion or gender is invoked in a political contest, it generally means the candidate has run out of legitimate arguments for why he/she should be elected. Communities and nations are always made weaker when political figures try to divide us for political advantage. It is my strong hope that lessons will be learned.”
This is significant for many reasons beyond the obvious necessity of condemning religious and racial bigotry.
Rep. Steve Cohen and the Ford family have a very contentious history.
It was Cohen, after all, who, back in 1996, attempted to deny young Harold Ford, Jr. the Congressional district his father was attempting to bequeath to him as birthright.
Cohen lost and expressed his frustration that he had been beaten by a twenty-six year old law student, likely on the basis of name and race quite publicly.
Fast forward ten years to 2006, Harold Ford, Jr. elects not to run for reelection to the Ninth District Congressional seat and instead runs for U.S. Senate.
Steve Cohen steps up again to run for the seat and this time manages, as a white man in a majority minority district, to emerge from the Democratic primary.
In any other year, a win in the Democratic primary would be tantamount to a victory. Not in 2006. That year, Harold Ford, Jr.’s brother Jake, a candidate of dubious qualifications, stood in the way of Cohen’s election in the general — again because of his name and his race.
Jake was helped not only by his father, Harold, Sr. but by his brother’s silent support of a candidate not of his party while heading that party’s ticker.
The point being, there is no love lost here.
Witness Nikki Tinker’s financial disclosures which show maxed out contributions for both the primary and the general from Harold Ford’s new bride Emily Threlkeld. The new Mrs. Ford is not a Tennessee native so one can, at the very least, assume that Harold Ford, Jr. helped inform the decision to contribute.
Junior has always seemed both above the racial and machine politics of Memphis yet strangely trapped by them. Today, as he did in a smaller way earlier this year, Harold Ford was able to escape from “the rules of Memphis.”
Many outside of Memphis and Tennessee may criticize the tardiness of his comments here but the fact that a statement was made at all was a very, very big step for Harold Ford, Jr. and a significant event in Tennessee politics.
SEE ALSO:
The Politico
Memphis Flyer
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