Biden's speech was the wrong setting, the wrong tone, the wrong props, the wrong message and a missed opportunity.

by Rod Williams, Sept. 3, 2022-  Watching Biden's speech to the nation on Thursday night, even before he opened his mouth, I thought, "this is weird."  The lighting looked like lighting for a horror movie. Who came up with this lighting, I wondered. The weird lighting was my first impression and it got worse from there.

Usually, a presidential prime-time speech to the nation is about something new and something of substance. I was expecting a new policy toward Ukraine or Taiwan or something really stupid like the imposition of wage and price controls.  Instead what we got was a campaign speech. 

The thing is, I agree with much of Biden's criticism of Trump. It is clear Trump tried to hold on to power despite losing an election.  I agree that Trumpism is a danger to our democracy.  That is why I will never vote for Trump again. Also, I am being more circumspect with my financial support for Republicans. I do not want to see Republicans elected who would support the appointment of fake electors or Republicans in Congress who would only recognize an election result if their candidate won.  

Despite my agreement with some of what Biden said, this was the wrong setting, the wrong tone, and said by the wrong person with the wrong props.  Instead of convincing Republicans that Trump is evil, I suspect the speech drove some wafering Republicans back into the Trump camp. The speech was not unifying; it was divisive. 

The use of Marines as a backdrop only reinforces the impression many Republicans have that government is an enemy of the people used to penalize legitimate opinions. Many Republicans already view the CIA, FBI, Secret Service, and IRS as part of police state forces used to suppress opposition to the deep state. The use of Marines reinforces that view. The president is both the leader of our nation and the leader of a political party.  The two roles should be kept distinct and that can be difficult. Deciding not to use Marines as a backdrop should have been easy. 

With a different tone, sitting, props and lighting, the speech could have been salvaged had the President been a little more balanced.  A denunciation of political violence across the board would have provided some balance. The BLM/Antifa riots that occurred across the nation were not that long ago and Democrats excused it, encouraged it, and embraced it. To denounce the January 6th Capitol riot while not denouncing other recent politically motivated violence is hypocritical. 

One thing Biden could have done to keep this from being a purely Trump-bashing political speech was to denounce the Democrat Party policy of working to nominate the most radical election-denying Republicans. In the recent primary, Democratic campaign groups have spent more than $46 million to boost candidates who support former President Donald Trump and his claim of a stolen election. I know their reasoning is that election-denying Trumpinista Republicans will be easier to defeat than moderate mainstream Republicans.  If we end up with more Marjorie Taylor Greens in Congress as opposed to Liz Cheneys, one can thank the Democrats.  Biden should have called out those across the board who put loyalty to party or an individual above loyalty to country.

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Breakfast Club meets Sat. Sept 3rd. To feature Hispanic conservative leaders.

 

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Republicans Maintain 5-Point Lead in Congressional Ballot

Friday, September 02, 2022 - The 2022 midterm elections are now 67 days away, and Republicans still have a five-point lead in their bid to recapture control of Congress.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that, if the elections for Congress were held today, 47% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for the Republican candidate, while 42% would vote for the Democrat. Just three percent (3%) would vote for some other candidate, but another eight percent (8%) are not sure. 

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15-year-old Zacchaeus Johnson is charged in Juvenile Court with shooting death of another young teen. Yes, it is a gun problem.

by Rod Williams, Aug. 30, 2022- Metro Nashville police report that 15-year-old Zacchaeus Johnson is charged in Juvenile Court with criminal homicide for Sunday’s 5:50 p.m. fatal shooting of another young teen, Antonio Baker Jr., 16, in a parking lot in the 500 block of South 5th Street in the James Cayce public housing development. A drug-related robbery motive is under investigation.

Baker, of Dew Street, was transported to Vanderbilt Medical Center where he died. Johnson, of Summer Place, fled the scene but was later taken into custody in Clarksville, Tennessee. The investigation continues into others who were present at the time of the shooting.

The police do not speculate as to how a 15-year-old got access to a gun. It is so common that young thugs are armed that it is not noteworthy. It is not difficult for teens to acquire guns. So far this year, 912 guns have been stolen from vehicles in Nashville. Eighteen guns were stolen from cars and trucks last week.  Guns are sold and traded among young criminals. 

Responsible gun owners do not leave an unsecured gun in a vehicle and certainly not an unlocked vehicle. Unfortunately, there are a lot of irresponsible gun owners. Guns are expensive and why people would leave them unsecured in a vehicle, especially an unlocked vehicle I do not know. 

In my view, it is time to make it a crime to fail to properly secure a weapon. Many gun rights advocates will oppose such a suggestion.  When such is proposed, they will say that the reason weapons are left in vehicles is because there are so many places one can not take a gun, such as schools, and airports, and bars, and banks, and courts, and places of employment, that gun owners have no choice except to leave their guns in their car.  They may advocate that such restrictions be lifted and prohibited.  My view is that those are reasonable places to restrict guns or, in the case of employers it is a decision properly made by individual employers.  Also, I would doubt that many of those guns are stolen from the parking lots of airports or courthouses or some of the other locations mentioned.   Most likely they are stolen from cars in driveways or from cars parked on the street in front of the owner's home. 

Another response is that instead of restrictions on guns we should focus on arresting criminals as if insufficient policing is the problem.  One may disagree about the number of police we need and how policing should be focused but that is simply an evasion to avoid recognizing the problem of irresponsible gun owners being the suppliers of weapons to street criminals. 

Another response of opponents of any rules regulating the securing of weapons is to wax nostalgic. When they were in high school, they will tell you, they kept their hunting rifle in the locker at school or on a gun rack in their pickup truck parked at school and there was no problem. 

Opponents of rules mandating the proper securing of weapons may advocate we need to return prayer and bible reading to the classroom.  They may blame the rise in crime on the welfare state and out-of-wedlock births.  I may agree with some of their diagnosis of society's ills but that does not mean we should not deal with the real immediate problem of too many guns easily finding their way into the hands of criminals. Pining for "the good ole days" does not address a real problem we have today.  

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Irresponsible gun owners armed up to 912 thugs in Nashville so far this year.

Metro Press Release, Nashville, August 30, 2022 - The MNPD strongly encourages Nashvillians to lock their automobile doors, secure any valuables---especially guns, and REMOVE THE KEYS.

So far this year, 912 guns have been stolen from vehicles in Nashville. Nearly 70% of ALL guns reported stolen in 2022 (1,324) were taken from vehicles. Last week, 18 guns were stolen from cars and trucks.

Going hand in hand with vehicle burglaries is vehicle theft. A review of last week’s stolen vehicle reports in Nashville shows that 70% of the automobiles taken (50 of 71) were easy targets because the keys were left inside or made available to thieves.

Just like guns taken from vehicles, these stolen autos are also routinely involved in criminal activities, including carjackings and robberies.

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Nashville rated as one of top 5 places to buy a home in the U.S.

 By Jon Styf | The Center Square, Aug.30, 2022 - Nashville was rated as the fifth-best real estate market in the country in a new report from WalletHub.

The finance website rated the country’s top 300 cities based upon 17 factors to gauge the current environment based upon everything from building permits to property appreciation to affordability.

Nashville’s current market was ranked fifth but its affordability was ranked 77th. Murfreesboro, meanwhile, ranked 13th overall with the 17th best market for real estate and ranking eighth for affordability.

Knoxville was 97th and Memphis was ranked 220th on the list.

Overall, the national real estate market is slowing as home sales dropped 19.3% year over year in July, according to Redfin. Meanwhile, the pace of increasing home prices has slowed to 7.7% after two years of double digit percentage increases.

"Nashville, where 32.3% of homes for sale had price drops, represents the typical metro area in July: Half the metros in this analysis had a higher share of price drops, and half had a lower share of price drops," Redfin’s report said.

Knoxville, meanwhile, saw 28.3% of its homes drop in price while Memphis had 28.0% drop its price.

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Gov. Lee Announces School Safety Actions

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Tuesday, August 30, 2022 – Tennessee Governor Bill Lee released a video update on key actions the Lee administration has taken to enhance school safety following Executive Order 97, which directed state agencies to engage parents, increase transparency and collaborate with local law enforcement and school districts. 

“Our administration has taken meaningful steps to further strengthen school safety in Tennessee by engaging parents, evaluating security measures and strengthening partnerships with law enforcement,” said Lee. “Nothing is more important than the safety of our children, and I thank Tennesseans for doing their part as we continue our coordinated effort to protect students and teachers across the state.” 

The Lee administration has taken the following actions to further enhance school safety across Tennessee and promote engagement with parents, schools and law enforcement: 

Engaging Parents · 

• More than 10,000 Tennesseans are using the Safe TN app, a free resource to quickly and confidentially report safety concerns at a child’s school, with a record 2,000 downloads this month
• Expanded School-Based Behavioral Health Liaisons to cover all 95 counties
• Mobile crisis providers are available to families across the state and can be reached by dialing ‘988’ 

Securing Schools

• Every Tennessee school has completed a physical school security assessment – a total of 1,838 schools · More than two-thirds of school districts – 104 districts – have participated in school safety training
• Frequent, unannounced checks are being prioritized to see that school doors latch and precautions are in place
• Every school district has received an updated School Safety Plan Template 

Partnering with Law Enforcement

• State and local law enforcement have collaborated to provide proven, hands-on active shooter training courses in each Grand Division 
• Updated training has been provided to more than 600 School Resource Officers
• Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers are building stronger relationships with local school leadership 

In the coming months, additional resources will be made available to support parents, teachers, and law enforcement in improving school security practices. Future actions will include

• Tennessee parents and schools will have access to a new School Safety Resource and Engagement Guide
• School districts will receive updated building security standards 
• State and local law enforcement will be supported through improved recruitment and training efforts

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