Left Hand, Meet Right Hand

A strange thing to see in the daily paper. A front-page story that says one thing and an editorial the same day that says something else. Only at the Commercial Appeal.

It began with Tuesday's cover story on City Council Chairman Joe Brown's press release and abrupt press conference, in which he addressed the Iraqi delegation snub he launched. The paper's headline?

Brown apologises to Iraqis

The subhead?

'Sorry' if actions to keep out delegation were 'misconstrued'

The story, by Jacinthia Jones, Blake Fontenay's replacement at City Hall, uses a lot of chop'n'slice of the Chairman's actual speech, rather than quoting the whole thing, or even significant parts. So far as I know, his press release isn't available anywhere on the CA website.

As I said, chopping out bits of the speech and the reporter using her own words in place of what Brown said, devoting a large part of the story to a recap of prior events, then using responses from a couple of interested parties as "reaction," is the whole of the story. It's too short, too scattered and not informative enough.

And the fact is, a close reading of the press release shows that it does not do what the headline claims. It is not an apology, but a defensive explanation. The other fact is that the Iraqis were not present, nor was the press release directed to them. If no one forwards a copy to them, and Brown hasn't indicated if someone has, then they'll never know!

WPTY24 presented a tape of his speech to a local educator, who has seen her share of student apologies, and she pronounced it insincere.

Then there's the editorial, author as usual unknown. It's only here where we get long segments of the speech and press release unedited. It's also where the paper asks a lot of questions that need answering, questions and answers that should have come from the reporter! That editorial's headline?

"Apology" to Iraqis admits no mistakes

They note, in their typical sidewise manner, he should be replaced:

City Council chairpersons are elected, but as a matter of courtesy the title is rotated on the basis of seniority. Perhaps the council should rethink the policy and choose its leadership more carefully in the future.

They also note a few things in the editorial that CA readers may not be aware of, because the paper hasn't reported on them.

And, of course, Carol Chumney is brought in for a sideswipe that is, if I'm not mistaken, based on wrong reporting! From the folks who support the downtown cabal as dutiful soldiers, I expect to see them go after a "trouble-maker" like Chumney, but this one seems forced, gratuitous.

But then, what else do you expect from the daily paper?

One final note: at least two people I've spoken to in the last days have wondered if Brown even wrote the speech himself. He stumbled over one word ("miscontrueded") and some of the language in the explanation just doesn't sound like him. Anyone know for sure?

County Shocks Abound

Well, the ghost of Tom Jones haunts and bedevils County Hall still. On the eve of his year-and-a-day imprisonment, he's decided to take others down with him. He's been talking with every media outlet that will listen. His story now is that he wasn't alone in his misuse of County credit cards, that even former Mayor Rout was involved. It'll be interesting to see if this produces anything.

As for how Jones got his pension doubled, the story is slowly dribbling out. John Fowlkes is supposed to issue a report on Thursday. The big hammer dropped late this afternoon. Executive Assistant Bobby Lanier, a long time power broker at County Hall through three different administrations and two parties, and Communications Director Susan Adler Thorp, whose CA columns leading up to the election and her sudden joining of the Wharton administration afterward raised questions, have both tendered their resignations.

Apparently, County Mayor AC Wharton learned of Jones' pension bonanza through a stray remark someone made to him. He was surprised and has maintained absolutely no involvement in or knowledge of Jones' pension status change. Reports late last week had Wharton furious, uncharacteristically so for a man famed for his calm demeanor and soft voice. Jones avoided a pension review board and had his pension change simply signed off by persons unknown -- a violation of procedure.

Behind that, Jones was never actually dismissed, contrary to public perception. He was simply "not reappointed." That allowed him to re-apply for his old status and to keep it long enough to cross the age barrier, which allowed his pension to increase. He then resigned. Why he was allowed to do all this, and who did it and signed off on it, are the questions the Fowlkes report is expected to answer.

I've heard at least one mention on the news that it was a matter of cronies taking care of each other. No attribution of that, but it sure does sound right, doesn't it? We keep hearing stories (like this one, which is disappearing in the glare of the Jones scandals) of this kind of cronyism. I keep hearing from folks in the local media or folks who deal with government of all kinds of back-scratching and self-enrichment, and yet the local paper can't seem to break any stories of their own! How odd....

Local television news is breaking the story all over since 5PM, but their websites are still behind what's been on the air, with sketchy "breaking news" style posts. The CA's website, of course, has nothing at all.

I feel no sorrow for Bobby Lanier. He's precisely the kind of king-maker and apolitical type I despise. He served nominal Republican Jim Rout while raising money to elect AC Wharton (according to County Commissioner John Willingham). Susan Adler Thorp is a different matter. Frankly, I feel some small amount of glee at her plight. She was a long-time supporter of the status quo in local government, a shill for Democrats while stridently denying it, and a welcome beneficiary of go-along-to-get-along. She used her political column to blast Wharton's opponent in the County election, and then mere weeks after his election, she joins his administration! Part of me really is glad to see her get shot down for her sins. I'm curious to see where she lands now.

Watch the news tomorrow to see what is in that Fowlkes report. Also, watch for more of Tom Jones as he flogs his scandal like Dick Morris pimps his Clinton history. I'll report and comment on things tomorrow.

INSTANT UPDATE: WREC3 just had an interview with Susan Adler Thorp on their 10PM broadcast. Her story is that Jones approached her about his pension, but she only directed him to Lanier. She says she took no other action and always "assumed" Wharton was aware. Thorp said she would take a "few weeks or months" off before deciding what to do.

Gmail Invites

Just to let folks know: I still have two Gmail invites to share. If you would like to take me out to lunch (Let's meet!) or do me some kind of a nice (web service, introduce me to some important folks, give me a tour of your news operation, etc.), then email me and we'll talk. First come, first served.

Why Exactly Should We Trust Them?

Fascinating news out of Nashville. It seems that on election day last week, while Republicans in West Tennessee are struggling to counter the Hart problem, and the TN GOP is trying to increase their presence in the General Assembly, and consolidate previous gains, that three Republican Senators attended a fund-raiser for Democrat Lt. Governor John Wilder! Thanks to them, he raised $150,000 dollars that day. Why that's more than his Republican challenger, Ron Stallings, has in the bank. How nice of them.

Curtis Person of Memphis, Mike Williams of Maynardville and Tim Burchett of Knoxville are the offenders. Yep, our Curtis Person. Perhaps you'd like to give him a piece of your mind. Or call 615-741-2419.

Wilder, as Speaker of the Senate, has created a situation that benefits him and stymies his opponents. By agreeing to help him out, certain Republicans are giving committee chairmanships. Even Governor Bredesen is bothered by it. This only serves to conflict, and hence defang, the Republicans. This shouldn't be allowed to happen, but I'm sure they'll be the first to tell you there's nothing much they can do about it.

As if.

The more you learn, the less you like 'em.

Through the Glass, Murkily

There's a reason that the building at 495 Union Ave. has a wall of mirrored glass across the front. The folks at the Commercial Appeal like to look out over the city, but are strangely resistant to folks looking in. As I've noted before, the CA would never accept the kind of closed view from the folks they cover (except FedEx) that they expect Memphis to accept from them.

There have been more changes at the paper lately. The concise and amusing Blake Fontenay is no longer covering City government; he's been promoted to editorial writing. I'm sorry for this, as he has a knack for compactly reporting events and stories. And genuine nice guy Jon Sparks no longer does C.A. Eye. He's being promoted laterally to one of the new suburban sub-sections. At least he can now write more than three or four short paragraphs at a time! Good bye and good luck to both.

Of course, that's just the stuff I've caught. I'm sure there are more and I welcome alert readers passing the word in comments.

And if you work for the Death Star, and would like to slip some intel to the Rebel Alliance here at Half-Bakered, please hit the "Rumor Control" addy up on the right. Anonymity guaranteed.

Keeping the Press in Perspective

I'm reading Theodore Rex, Edmund Morris' second volume in his study of America's youngest president, Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt. This volume covers the years of his two presidential terms, beginning in 1901. One of Roosevelt's first acts as President was to invite America's most prestiguous and well-known Negro (as they were known back then), Booker T. Washington, to dine at the White House. It was the first time that a black had dined there officially and it caused quite a stir across America. Southern newspaper were vitriolic.

For his example, Morris found an editorial quote from the old Memphis Scimitar! This was one of the ancestors to the modern Commercial Appeal. Here's what they had to say:

The most damnable outrage which has ever been perpetrated by any citizen of the United Staes was committed yesterday by the President, when he invited a nigger to dine with him at the White House. It would not be worth more than a passing notice if Theodore Roosevelt had sat down to dinner in his own home with a Pullman car porter, but Roosevelt the individual and Roosevelt the President are not to be viewed in the same light.

It is only very recently that President Roosevelt boasted that his mother was a Southern woman, and that he is half Southern by reason of that fact. By inviting a nigger to his table he pays his mother small duty.... No Southern woman with a proper self-respect would now accept an invitation to the White House, nor would President Roosevelt be welcomed today in Southern homes. He has not inflamed the anger of the Southern people; he has excited their disgust.

Posted just as a reminder that simply because the solons at the local paper say something, doesn't mean it's always right, or even decent.

Historical note: it was the last time, for many years more, that a black dined in the White House.

Weatherblogging

It's a first for local television: blogging! It seems that Joey Sulipeck, newly minted Chief Meteorologist for FOX13, has started a weatherblog. It's a mix of behind-the-scenes views, breaking weather chat, interesting pictures and friendly posts from Joey and Henry the Intern. Joey answers every post and will even email you his thanks for reading. Neat!

Now, if they can only get Holly Hancock to post....

New Blog

I just wanted to pass along -- and give some bloggers I respect a shoutout -- a new pro-Bush blog: http://www.tn4w.com/. It's a collaborative work between Bill Hobbs of Hobbs Online, Nathan Moore of Moore Thoughts and Matt White from South End Grounds.

Their mission:

TN4W is dedicated to keeping Tennessee Bush Country and making sure our 11 electoral votes go for the President. We will achieve this by:

-Keeping W supporters informed of news and issues surrounding the campaign. We will assemble daily clips from local media dealing with the campaign and national stories affecting Tennessee.

-Informing W supporters about campaign events and activities in their communities and encouraging them to get involved.

-Giving W supporters a forum to sound off on why they are voting for the President and what they are doing to keep Tennessee Bush Country.

-Recognizing W supporters for their outstanding work on behalf of the President.

-Posting guest columns that will reinforce the importance of Keeping Tennessee Bush Country.

As I told Matt, they start off on my daily reading list. Best of luck, guys.

Exploiting 9/11

Earlier this year, President Bush caught some flak when his campaign used an image of firefighters from 9/11 on some fund-raising literature. So far as I know, outside of art, politics and satire, that's been it. It's good to know that some things can be sacred after all.

Well, except in Australia. It seems that radio station Triple J used an image of the Twin Towers with a large banner with the Triple J logo photoshopped in as part of a promotional contest. Here's the story with the offending image.

The doofs at Triple J are unrepentant, of course. It's sad, because I used to listen quite a bit to Triple J on the Internet. Radio and most television in Australia, just like England, is government-funded, therefore there are no commercials. Triple J's mandate is to reach Australia's young people. The music mix is mostly Australian, with some American rock thrown in. No pop, only a little rap, just rock'n'roll, Oz-style. Plus, they are fifteen hours ahead of us, so in the afternoons, I can catch the morning shows (which are often pretty funny. One morning I heard the weather described as "pissing down rain right now in Sydney.") and in the morning you catch the more experimental overnight programming. They beat anything you can hear in Memphis, that's for sure.

I had expected someone, eventually, to abuse the memories of 9/11. I'm just surprised where and how it finally came to pass. And now that the embargo is broken, will we see more?

Fay Wray Dead at 96

National Monster Alert raised:

Brown Apologises, Finally...Sort of

City Council Chairman Joe Brown has finally apologised. The linked story has the full text of his statement. No copy is yet posted on the City's website. Most of the speech was concerned with elaborating (and sticking to) his earlier story about security concerns.

He singles out Councilwoman Carol Chumney in particular. That reflects the question of why she was personally involved and why the visit wasn't co-ordinated through the City's Office of Multicultural and Religious Affairs.

The bad news is that the Memphis Council for International Visitors is pressuring him with a list of demands now. Yeah, they're on the State Department's shit list right now, but it's not good form for them to act this way. Brown is at fault here, but they set the ball in motion with their mishandling of the delegation's arrival in the city.

It seems obvious from his speech and behavior that Brown was pressured to do this and isn't the least happy about it. I doubt Chumney will be getting any favors from him any time soon!

Speaking of Lady Liberty, WREG3 has a related story on Chumney's attitude and relations with her peers. Interesting reading!

The Last on Hart

The story of Jim Hart winning the Republican nomination in the Eighth District has spread pretty widely by now and the usual presentation is by Democrats using it as a brush to paint all Republicans as racists finally coming out of the closet. Or it's the AP version of the story, with extra embarrassments added, like this USATODAY story.

Over the weekend, more pieces of the story have come out. One caller to the Andrew Clark radio show (Saturday and Sunday, noon to three, AM 600 WREC), who sounded knowledgeable and authoritative on the local GOP, but didn't identify himself as an offical, mentioned that ballot applications must first go to the State Republican headquarters, where the party has 10 days to reject the application. I'm not sure why that is. But the caller said that Hart's application was missed somehow until it was too late.

He also said that the TN GOP was focusing their energies on consolidating power in the General Assembly. It was the first of several attempts I've since heard to shift blame up to the Republican National Campaign Committee. Apparently, three secure Congressional seats in one county (John Tanner, Harold Ford and Marsha Blackburn) is just too much for the local GOP to watch.

Dennis Bertrand, the write-in Hail Mary pass, also called in. He said he came back from his service in Iraq to find out that Hart was running unopposed, so he leapt to the defense. What that implies is that the GOP somehow was unable to recruit a challenger from the nineteen county area that is the 8th District! Oh yeah, I believe that! Overworked as the Shelby County GOP was from the...uh...General Sessions Court Clerk race, they somehow didn't find the time or resources to tackle this? Well, as they'll be the first to tell you, the 8th District is only a tiny slice of north Shelby County. Not their ball!

One of the first rules of combat is to protect your flanks. It's basic strategy. Failure to plan for the foreseeable, to nail down the possibilities, is to leave an opening. Hart knows this; that's why he won. And it wasn't the first time he's done this either, so it's not as if the GOP should have been surprised.

Simply abandoning races because you don't have a chance of winning is stupid. You have to cover your bases anyway. The best example of a blown chance in Tennessee is Jimmy Naifeh. He's widely been viewed as unchallengeable and intimidating, so the Tipton County and Tennessee GOP has never even tried. Then, in 2002, when the Income Tax Wars left him battered and bruised, as vulnerable as he's ever, ever been, there was no one there to knock him over. Antonio Lopez, to his lasting credit, stepped forward and mounted a write-in challenge that came within a few points of beating him! A write-in! Naifeh!! Imagine if a party-backed, on-the-ballot challenger had been there, doing the ground work since day one. It was a lost opportunity.

(Dr. Jesse Cannon seems to understand. He's been campaigning in Naifeh's district since before the last election, patiently building up his base, readying the assault. Good for him. Support him. It's just too bad he, or someone like him, wasn't in place before. Naifeh was surprised and defeatable. Now he knows what's coming; he's preparing. It will be harder.)

Another example, this time from Alabama, my home state. Emory Folmar was the long-time Republican mayor of Montgomery, the State's capital and a sleepy backwater. The Republican Party in Alabama was a sad, fading shadow of a shriveled, useless organism, but somehow Folmar kept his office. He also served as the party's regular sacrificial victim in the Governor's race. Democrats were assured victory, so it was a duty he ritually performed.

Well, in 1987 Folmar decided he was tired of the ritual whacking and declined to accept the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Instead, it went to a really obscure man, Guy Hunt: mayor of Cullman and a Primitive Baptist preacher. Then came a bruising, ugly brawl between a pair of Democrats for their party's nomination. It became as vicious as anything we're seeing today, with a touch of entitlement thrown in. The whole thing became so nasty that Alabamians threw up their hands and, for the first time since 1874, elected a Republican as governor.

It was a stunner, and no one was as depressed as Emory Folmar. After years of defeat and humliation, he had just missed the brass ring. Because he assumed. In politics, anything can happen. It will. You have to be prepared.

I've been told by several folks that it's hard to recruit folks for those kinds of losing races, in part because no one likes losing and in part because no one wants a losing race on their resume. Horseshit. If the party becomes serious about acting like a group of smart folks, they'll let their campaign prospects know that sometimes they will just have to bite the bullet for the good of the party and run a hopeless race, just in case.

You don't have to expect them to win, but you can give them a reasonable goal. "Beat 10% of the vote." If they can do that, it shows promise and campaign skills. Just going out on the trail, raising money, knocking on doors, talking to folks, making speeches, directing strategy, coordinating media, etc., teaches valuable skills. Being willing to fall on your sword, to take one for the team, shows loyalty.

And it protects your flank from surprise assaults.

Some say, "But it costs money!" Just how much did this Hart PR disaster cost? How many voters who were undecided, or loosely pro-Bush, have seen the mangled story about racist Republicans and will draw their hand back from the "R" lever in disgust? How much money will have to be spent countering all the bad PR, reconvincing people?

Speaking of PR, where was Anne Truett's spine? I saw her on television news and she simply did not present an image -- nor speak the words -- of someone who is genuinely angry and upset. She sounded mealy-mouthed, not-quite-apologetic. Where she should have thundered loudly enough to convince the dead, she instead whined. I'm sympathetic to the Republicans, and even I doubted her sincerity! She needs a visit to the woodshed. The same caller to the Clark show I mentioned above said, "But we sent out press releases! They're right on our website!" What did that accomplish you? A few hundred write-in votes? The Shelby County GOP doesn't know what it's doing and heads must roll. Start with Truett.

Matt over at South End Grounds, a professional Republican, has a great write-up of the State election results. When I challenged him over the Hart controversy, he posted this excellent entry in response. I wondered about the fitness of Republicans to take over the reins of government in Tennessee, based on the Hart debacle. He points out that there's been a new generation of Republicans arising who aren't used to laboring under the heels of Democrats, currying favor and tidbits from them. Every year, more come into office.

But this process has been going on, in a steady tide, since 1994 and the Gingrich Revolution! How long will it take?

I dunno. If I was a powerful Republican, I'd wait until November 3rd, the day after the election, then begin to demand a purge of the ranks -- win or lose. Too much is at stake. Too many simple mistakes were made that should never have happened. Basic strategies and precautions should have been in place. A "farm league" of young people needs to be recruited to be place holders in hopeless races, just in case. It's good for them to have the first-hand experience; it covers your ass in a worst case scenario. The Hart incident should not have happened. Period. But I suspect it will be business as usual.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, call me a Republican.

The Almost Final Word on the Memphis Snub

Memphis is in for it now. The story of our snub of the Iraqi delegation touring the US under State Department auspices has provoked an outrage claim from an Arab-American advocacy group. Unless Chairman Joe Brown follows through with a rumored apology on Monday, watch for continued ripples from this incident.

I only have a few observations about the whole thing left, barring more embarrassment. First, it hasn't been widely reported -- actually, I don't think it's been reported at all -- that every official who was involved in the negative side of this incident was an African-American Democrat. If Jim Hart can be dragooned into painting all Republicans as racists, then does this mean that all Democrats are racist profilers? I have to wonder....

Who screwed up picking up the Iraqi delegation at the airport? If they knew the meeting had been moved to the Convention and Visitor's Center, why did they end up at City Hall? Had that not happened, we'd be golden right now.

Lastly, listening to callers to radio shows over the past few days it seems clear that Carol Chumney has managed to stage-manage herself into looking like a hero. Feh. One caller even praised her for "standing up" against Joe Brown! She grandstanding, that's all. Listen to every time she recounts her version of events that include her: never, ever, is there the least hint that she was wrong or behaved badly. Never. Carol's view is a rose-colored one, where she is Lady Liberty leading the French at Bastille.

How many times do I have to tell y'all? She a hack, a clunker, a plodder. Her ideas are old, but that's all she has, so she grinds along with them. She finds herself in situations she shouldn't be in because of her tin ear for people, then runs to the cameras and reporters with her dull, blinking eyes, hoping that her view becomes the conventional wisdom. Lately, she's been doing that. Wake up, people! She's only in it for Carol and her career and her ambitions.

'Nuff said.

UNITY: Is It a Good Thing?

Wendi Thomas's Sunday Commercial Appeal column kinda made me laugh. It seems she's just recently discovered the Anyone But Bush people! Yeah, other folks have been discussing them in the politcal sphere since...oh, last September, just before the primaries. Hard core political junkies spotted it during the earliest stirrings in the Democratic campaign process almost two years ago.

Wendi had to go to the UNITY conference to really see it. The UNITY conference is a quintennial (that's every five years; the last two were in 1999 and 1994) conference for America's black, Hispanic, Asian and Native reporters. Almost 7000 attended this year. It briefly made the news when the conferees applauded Kerry's speech to them over and over, and even gave standing ovations (some reports say three standing o's!), but then gave Bush only lukewarm applause, no ovation (He's the President!), and more than a few grumbles and murmurs. Nope, no bias in that crowd!

Wendi, apparently, is so disconnected from politics she hadn't yet noticed that a lot of Democrats don't care who the vehicle is, they just want someone to get Bush out of office. If it wasn't Gore, then it was Dean; if not Dean, then maybe Edwards or Clark or Gephardt; if not them, well, alright then, Kerry. Whoever. Just hoist high the banner of "anti-Bush," rally the troops and drive him out. It's kinda surprising Thomas hasn't noticed yet, what with the 527 groups and all their ads, and the vitriol in the Democratic camp, but there you go.

In the article, after she touches on ABB she goes into a talk about the disparate treatment of Kerry and Bush at UNITY. Even though a few weeks back she noted that she couldn't announce political affiliations (in a column that nonetheless made her Democratic allegiance clear), she again manages to insert her politics.

She writes about Bush this way: Bush's failures, fodder, dishonest, bragged, grilled, disdain, reluctance. Compare that to her Kerry words: plans, talked, insisted, jab. Bush is "questioned." Kerry is "asked." Note the tonal differences. Then, there's this pair:

When Kerry misspoke, no one blinked.

When Bush garbled his words, we laughed.

Again, Kerry misspeaks while Bush garbles.

Thomas rather weakly bemoans the bias she sees but offers little in the way of true analysis and no presciptions for a cure. What she does show us, though, is that journalists of color seem pretty prone to biasing their reports.

A better look at the same conference and the same issue can be found in Jay Rosen's latest PressThink column. It's worth the read, but since more than a few of you won't go, I'll excerpt his list of what he calls "groupthink." That's the conventional wisdom that few question and most operate with. He writes:

* Group think among traditional journalists says the display of political feeling is unprofessional because professionals traditionally don't display political feeling. No argument less circular than that is required. Read Steele and see if you can find one; I couldn't.

* Group think among jourmalism ethicists says that credibility follows from obeying our profession's rules; and the profession's rules are The Rules because they produce our credibility. An argument like, "we'd be more credible with citizens if we acted like ciitizens more often" does not compute. Therefore it must not exist.

* Group think among conservatives says that it's right to slam journalists for being liberal when they deny it; and it's right to slam them when they show it. Too easy? Not to the American right.

* Group think among minority journalists holds that there are at most six groups in the category of under-represented-- Black, Hispanic, Asian and Native Americans, women, gays and lesbians. Diversity means more of those groups in the mix because that's what diversity means. Conservatives can't be a minority because they can't. The devout aren't a minority because they aren't. Journalists with rural or working class backgrounds don't count because we don't count them.

* Group think among editors and bosses says that the diversity project we have can never be questioned because if it's questioned we will never have newsroom diversity. Could it be wrongly imagined? At present, that is not imaginable.

* Group think among Unity members says that if 12.9 percent of the workforce in journalism is minority, but 37 percent of the population is, then a "representative" press is still 24 percentage points away and the main reason is an industry not committed enough to diversity. Is it conceivable that even a fully committed industry can fall way short of 37 percent figure? No, it isn't conceivable because Unity wasn't conceived that way.

* Group think in journalism education takes no notice of the fact that in most J-schools--including NYU--women are 70 to 80 of the class. Courses are routinely taught with one man or none. That's pretty unrepresentative. Is it a problem? No, not a problem. When the newsroom is unrepresentative-- that's a problem.

The whole thing isn't much longer and I highly recommend it, as I usually do with Rosen.

Thomas goes to the UNITY convention, spending who knows how much of the CA's money and all we got was her lousy column. And her politics. Value for money? You decide.

Errata

A couple of mistakes in the posts below. First, Councillor Joe Brown is the Chairman of the Memphis City Council. He is also not the same Joe Brown as the judge of court television fame.

I knew this, really I did. I need an editor. Emotion overran reason and you see the result. But emotion does make for some entertaining posts, no?

Also, City Mayor Willie Herenton's letter of apology to the Iraqi delegation is online. (Note: Link is fixed now. Scroll to bottom of page.) I couldn't find the City Council's letter. No reply from Councillor Chumeny's office on her "timeline" document.

Once a Thief, Always a Thief

Remember Tom Jones, executive assistant and long-time power broker for Shelby County Mayor Jim Rout? He was dismissed from office in 2003 by new County Mayor AC Wharton when an investigation was launched into his personal use of a County credit card. Jones was convicted and is supposed to be in jail. Legal maneuvering has kept him free until this month, when he finally reports for his year-and-a-day.

Little remarked on at the time was that the State Comptroller report which launched the investigation was common knowledge around County offices as far back as April of that year. Why the whole matter was suppressed until after the election is a matter for the reader to speculate on.

Jones was not the only person caught misusing County credit cards -- even Rout had some bills to repay -- but he was the only one publicly hung out to dry. Jones was made an example for others, and his removal allowed Wharton to bring in his own folks.

Now, according to this story at WMC5, Jones has, with the help of an as-yet unidentified co-conspirator, attempted to double his pension!

In August of 2002, after decades of service and amid questions of County Credit card use, Tom Jones left County Government. Mayor A C Wharton had decided not to reappoint him.

Because he was under 55, he qualified for the County's early retirement plan, for which he enrolled.

He turned 55 in April of 2003....

But Action News 5 has learned that in May of this year, Jones sent a letter to the County asking to be re-instated and in keeping with County law was put back on the payroll.

It didn't last long, but it was long enough.

"But in that time period, he went from under 55 to over 55. Retirement over 55 allows you a substantial more payout per month," said Moss.

Thousands more. In Jones' case, his pension checks were doubled.

Notice that although public perception is of dismissal, he was merely "not reappointed." The story notes that the County Pension Board was bypassed by someone. I hope further investigation identifies this person.

It seems the old-boy network is still alive and well.

Mayor AC Wharton is reported to be uncharacteristically angry. Good. Kick some ass, OK?

A Couple of Thoughts on Election Results

First, anti-tax folks have reason to rejoice today. Of the seven tax increase measures I've been able to learn about in Tennessee, six were defeated! Almost all by 60/40 margins, too. Only a local-option sales tax increase in Blount County was passed. That raises their local sales tax to the same level as Shelby County. Hey, we're not alone any more.

Second, boy does the Republican Party have some work to do. Nutjob Jim Hart, of the "favoured races" agenda, won his barely contested primary. Checking the unofficial results at the Tennessee Election Commission site, Hart has 7700 votes to write-in failure Bertrand's 2000. Of course, a lot of counties -- including Shelby -- haven't got all their write-ins certified yet, so it will change some in the next day or so.

Still, given his enormous vote total, I have to ask the ugly question: How many folks knew who he was and voted for him anyway? I'll reserve making observations on the failure of the Republicans to salvage this PR disaster until the vote results are certified, but still...what idiots.

Elisabeth Silverman and the Memphis CIV

She's been much in the news this week, as the local host putting together the visit by the Iraqi delegation to Memphis that resulted in disaster. But who are Elisabeth Silverman and the Memphis Council for International Visitors? So far, they haven't rated a separate story or backgrounder from the local media. Allow Half-Bakered to do some small redress to this situation.

First, you can see a picture of here here. Attractive, vivacious, healthy-looking woman, yes? We learn that she is the International Teaching Assistant Coordinator at the Center for Academic Excellence at the University of Memphis. Here's what her page has to say:

Elisabeth Silverman, comes from a multicultural and bilingual environment, her mother being from Germany and father from France. Before coming to Memphis, Elisabeth Silverman worked for an airline, where she had her first teaching experience by training flight attendants. After coming to Memphis, she decided to go to college and earn a B.A in psychology. Elisabeth Silverman received a Montessori International Teacher certification, and worked several years in the Montessori environment. In that setting, she was fascinated by the process of first-and second-language acquisition, and decided to pursue that course of study. Her Ph.D work will combine the sciences of language, communication, and education.

She's also a part-time instructor in French at Rhodes College. So, she seems to have a perfect international background for working with foreign visitors to Memphis. Nothing I could find in the Google search indicated any other employment or marital status.

Her organisation, the Memphis Council for International Visitors, doesn't have a local web presence, but contact information is here; scroll down to Tennessee. The webpage for the National Council for International Visitors gives some history, background and mission statements on the MCIV parent organisation. They are, in essence, "citizen diplomats," reaching across borders and oceans to connect people. There are about 95 volunteer-based programs across the country, of which the MCIV is one.

Read a bit about them:

NCIV has since grown to include 95 private, nonprofit organizations around the country, representing communities in 43 states, as well as 15 program agencies, 17 associate members, and numerous individual and corporate members. The NCIV network of citizen diplomats is strengthened by its reliance on dedicated community volunteers committed to increasing international understanding by opening their homes, schools, businesses, local government, and nonprofit agencies to leaders from abroad. Each year more than 80,000 volunteers working with the NCIV's program agency and community members provide short-term professional and cultural programs for visitors from around the world — prominent leaders in business, academia, the arts, science, agriculture, politics, and the media. In 2001, Senator Arlen Specter nominated these volunteer citizen diplomats for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The NCIV work in partnership with the US State Department International Visitor Program.

I haven't found much beyond this. The Commercial Appeal appears to have never written about Silverman or the MVIC, as a web site search turned up only the latest stories about the embarrassing fiasco of this week.

I did find a speech from the National CIV annual meeting of February of this year that mentions Silverman in a laudatory way. Here's the relevant part:

Time with another MCIV – this time in Memphis with dedicated Elisabeth Silverman again highlighted stepped up communication with various segments of the community. At a major event to honor founder and former NCIV Board member Betty Goff Cartwright, guests included the local imam as well as a Baptist minister who was on the platform with Martin Luther King, Jr. the day he was shot. Both often meet International Visitors.

On Saturday after meeting with the MCIV Board, Elisabeth took me to Graceland. I will confess to you that I didn’t expect to be captivated – but I was – completely. The whole experience reminded me of that delightful play by Steve Martin entitled “Picasso at the Lapin Agile.” In essence, main characters Picasso and Einstein who in 1904 hang out at the Lapin Agile in Paris are debating who will have the biggest place in the history of the 20th Century. The debate takes on a new dimension when an unexpected time traveling visitor, Elvis, reminds them that there are various ways to have an impact on history. Please remember that as you interact with International Visitors. You are having an impact on history in ways you cannot even imagine.

Man, talk about words coming back to haunt you!

That's one thing I did notice in some other references I found with Silverman and the MCIV, including the recent news stories: the fondness of the MCIV for taking visitors to the National Civil Rights Museum and to Graceland. Jeez, don't we have anything else that might be culturally or historically important to show off? Dull, dull, dull.... What about the Promenade? Shelby Farms? Rev. Al Green's church, which would expose visitors to the "real" Memphis? Cooper-Young, a perfect example of non-government funded neighborhood reclamation and renewal? Stax? The list of great stuff that's not downtown or dead-people related is huge and something to be proud of.

I did find that the Grant Center, a Mid-South non-profit agency, awarded MCIV $7000 back in 1998. And this University of Memphis press release mentions the MCIV in association with a Benjamin Hooks speech there in 2002.

And that's about it, short of calling or emailing her myself. If nothing shows up in the papers by next week, maybe I will.

Update to the Memphis Snub Post

Yesterday's post on the Iraqi delegation / Memphis screw-up was just my reaction to what I knew at that point, and to answer some emails I'd gotten from other folks around the blogosphere and some blog posts I'd seen. (Like Janis and Terry and Memphis Redblogs and Michael Totten, for a few.)

Just for your own reading pleasure, here's the CNN story, which is yet another version of the original AP story based on Jody Callahan's Commercial Appeal story.

I also caught a few moments of Councilwoman Carol Chumney on FOX13 last night. She was repeating her stuff from the Phlegming show. That news bit ended with Mearl Purvis, the anchor, leaning into the camera and staring intently, saying that Mayor Herenton, through his Executive Assistant Gale Carson Jones, had not known of the visit or he would have been happy to meet with them. This contradicts Chumney's assertion that Herenton did know and just wasn't interested in the bother and time.

Also, from Memphis Redblogs, are a couple of links to Commercial Appeal stuff. In this editorial they clear up one point for me. Elisabeth Silverman was not, as I had assumed, someone from a national organisation or the Federal government setting up the whole Iraqi delegation tour, but a local with something called the Memphis Council for International Visitors. On the one hand, it makes clear why there were such fundamental screw-ups in the handling of the visit itself and the sloppiness of coordinating government officials. This group was amateurish. On the other, it makes me wonder, if they've done things like this before, why they didn't nail everything down securely. They were facing a very short time frame here, so why invite disaster by not getting things written down and verbally confirmed?

They couldn't even get proper transportation to the airport to pick the delegation up! I wasn't aware that it was Silverman's fault directly, but that seems clear. The Iraqis had to hire taxis themselves! Trust me, the trip from the airport to the downtown, via taxi, is hella expensive; $20 or $30 dollars per cab, easily. Fouling that up was pretty basic. We still don't know why the cabs went to City Hall instead of the Convention and Visitors Bureau space, as per plan. Did the Iraqis have to do it themselves, using the only name they knew? Or was an escort at the airport, but confused themself? I'd like to know.

Also, reading this, second Commercial Appeal editorial it seems I may have been a bit off. The two Iraqis who were robbed were somewhere near the Walgreen's on Main, which strictly speaking isn't Beale Street. However, not mentioned is the hotel they were staying in, nor how far they were from it at the time of the robbery.

My guess is that they were staying in the Peabody Hotel, as a great many official guests to the City do. I understand now why it wouldn't be mentioned! Can't upset Mr. Belz, can we? If the robbery was close to the hotel, then calling it "Beale Street" actually would apply, as the two are synoymous for civic leader types. Again, protecting the cash cow seems to have been a factor in reporting. Sometimes the CA will throw in extraneous stuff into stories to plump their own agendas; sometimes they don't. You have to know their biases to parse the stories....

And I still come back to Councilwoman Carol Chumney. It struck me last night, as I was reading before bedtime, that Carol's actions are just like those of the person who is so intent on protecting themselves, on "setting the record straight" that she will draw up a "timeline" of events that points the finger at everyone else while remaining either silent or laudatory on her own role.

I've said it before and I'll repeat it here once more: Chumney is a dull and earnest grind. Whenever I see her on camera she has this vapid, slightly confused look of someone who doesn't quite get what's going on, but sticks to her script in the belief that it will eventually save her. She is an ambitious, self-interested camera hog, and not a protector of the little people who makes sure the truth gets out. The only agenda she advances is her own.

She's been using this black eye for Memphis to create a sense about herself of the good girl struggling against the bad guys. Of Joan of Arc trying to convince the French priests and aristocrats that she's the one. In her version of events, she's the only one who comes out looking good. Has anyone else noticed that?

So. Local groups tries to do good and raise our national media profile. They are in over their heads and don't nail down the details. Disaster ensues. Local politicians, more interested in their own turf and status and ass-covering than in how this presents nationally make Memphis look like a back-hills nest of boobs: Dogpatch via Bull Connor's Birmingham. Hilarity ensues. Then come the recriminations and finger-pointing.

Me? I still lay blame with Silverman, Chumney and Brown. Silverman was unexcusably clumsy and ill-prepared. Chumney refuses to accept her status as the red-headed stepchild of the City Council who has to make amends (or obeisance) so she can get things done, so she's constantly butting heads with her peers and introducing new, unnecessary complications into her regular relationships with them. Brown was simply over-reacting and grand-standing, out of an obnoxious sense of entitlement and place common to our government "public servants."

County Mayor AC Wharton seems to have kept himself clean. But City Mayor Herenton has once again reinforced his public impression of being inaccesible and distant from his city. Hearing that he's not interested in these kinds of goodwill meetings comes as a surprise to no one. That the Commercial Appeal sides with him and keeps him clear is no surprise either. They have hitched their wagon to the small coterie of people who are out to make a fortune from downtown Memphis at the expense of, well, everyone else.

But has anyone else noticed how Herenton has grown astonishingly remote in his latest term as Mayor? He's almost never in the media, even in the wildly partisan Commercial Appeal, nor seen or photographed at public events not directly related to his offical duties? Almost no interviews with anyone. When ABC WPTY-24 did their special on Hurricane Elvis, anchor Cameron Harper did a hilarious bit where he interviewed an empty chair because Herenton refused to participate. Our Mayor is hiding, taking his imperial impulses to ridiculous and offensive extremes.

But that's another post. I seem to have finished this one.

More on the Memphis Snub

A local radio show has just given out a detailed timeline of communications between the major parties in the snubbing of the Iraqi delegation this past Monday. It casts some things in a new light. I tried to get it down, but missed a big chunk as I wasn't prepared. City Councilwoman Carol Chumney was interviewed at length about what happened. I sent an email to her office, hoping to get copies of that timeline.

It was interesting that Chumney was interviewed so early in the show, which is very atypical for Mike Fleming. It turned out later in the interview that she was the source for the timeline he read, and she elaborated on it quite a bit, casting aspersions and naming names.

Anyway, it seems the whole ball got rolling on July 19, a mere two weeks before the visit was to happen. The director of the Iraqi goodwill tour, Elisabeth Silverman, emailed someone on the City Council and also left a voice message at City Mayor Herenton's office. Councilwoman Chumney emailed them back to accept; apparently, her office then handled details of their visit.

On Friday, July 30, just days before their arrival, Council President Joe Brown and Chumney discussed the Monday visit by the delegation. Brown was well aware of the visit and had problems with them coming to City Hall. He expressed concerns about bomb threats and security. Chumney had Brown contact Silverman, to see that the group had US State Department bona fides. Brown, according to Chumney, also contacted the Fire and Police Departments. According to Chumney, Silverman called her back. Brown decided to move the meeting to the Convention and Visitor's Bureau building, for security reasons.

Chumney also said that she spoke with someone from the Cultural Affairs office of the City Mayor, a Narquinta Simms, who Chumney claims told her that Mayor Herenton had stopped meeting with these kinds of groups because he thought the meetings took too much of his time. He would not be meeting with the Iraqis. Chumney also claimed to have spoken with the Mayor's Executive Assistant, Gale Carson Jones, to try to get Herenton to appear.

So, on Monday, the delegation was mistakenly sent not to the CVB but to City Hall! Chumney did not explain how this happened. They tried to enter and a guard stopped them. The guard confirmed the mix-up and got in touch with Chumney. It was at this point that Council President Brown became involved and apparently repeated his concerns about security at City Hall with the Iraqi delegation, refusing them entry and making his threats. The Iraqis then left and went to the Civic Center, apparently at Chumney's insistence since they were already downtown, where things proceeded.

Chumney and Fleming, frankly, both seemed to have ulterior motives. One thing that was clear was that Fleming, a Republican, viewed Chumney, a Democrat, as his ally in slamming Mayor Herenton. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," and all that. Fleming has made something of an audience with his juvenile and emotional taunting of Herenton. He asked Chumney if she had orchestrated the whole thing to embarrass Herenton, as some had claimed. She demurred, of course, but I'd bet money that her appearance on the radio show, with a detailed, printed timeline of events, was intended to raise her profile against the rest of the Council and the Mayor. Chumney is also furthering her campaign to be perceived as Mayoral timber and an ally of the small people of the City. I don't doubt that this was part of that ongoing effort.

Herenton issued an apology, later, but has remained mum and off the newspaper pages and television news shows. No one seems to be going after him all that hard, except Chumney. The City Council later issued an apology itself, minus Chumney who claimed that since she did meet with them, she didn't feel a need to apologise. Brown, who was at the heart of this in terms of mishandling things, was pretty clearly too concerned with personal security. This is nothing new on the part of local government.

I still remember on September 11, 2001. Within a couple of hours of the New York attacks, the whole area around the City, County, State and Federal buildings was closed off. Not just the square itself, but many blocks around the area, a huge perimeter. All traffic was stopped, the streets closed, and access to the government buildings severely restricted. Bam, just like that! It was impossible to even get parked cars out. It struck me then -- and in light of this incident I'm reconfirmed -- that the folks downtown have a pretty seriously over-inflated sense of self-importance. Their imperial sense of entitlement and elevation is disgusting to see.

On the other hand, Chumney and County Mayor AC Wharton, who did meet with the delegates, are to be commended. Wharton has since kept quiet, to his credit. Chumney, though, is milking this for everything she can. The radio show I mentioned above just had a caller who suggested she should run for mayor. Well, well, well...how about that?

Television news seems to be keeping this covered and in perspective. It's not the big splashy "hyped to death" story of the day, but neither is it downplayed. Only the Commercial Appeal seems to be keeping the story on the down-low, especially the robbery of two of the Iraqi delegates on Beale Street. It's being covered, but just barely, in minimal, factual style, on the inside pages for the most part. Hey, can't have Memphis made to look bad by its historic, world-class, widely-loved Mayor, Willie Herenton, can we? Nor can we do anything to jeopardise our Beale Street Cash Cow District and the Downtown Renaissance, our Manhattan on the Mississippi.

So what do we have, at the end of the whole thing? A goodwill group rushed to put together a tour by foreign dignitaries. As someone who has worked in government before, many years ago, I know that two weeks is a serious rush-job for something like this, especially security concerns like Iraqi officials. You have a contentious, posturing, elbowing, preening and territorial City Council fighting over how to handle the thing, with the junior Councillor -- who has been ruffling feathers and getting up noses since Day One, making enemies and piling up bad will along the way -- coming up against the magisterial Council President. (I can't believe I just called Joe Brown "magisterial," but hey, there you go.)

Then there was the delivery mistake, taking the Iraqis to the very place they weren't supposed to go. I'd lay that at Chumney's feet. She knew Brown's sentiments and the likely consequences, but seems to have failed to assure it wouldn't happen. How would you expect Joe Brown to react? Well, exactly as he did. From his point of view, it looks, I'm sure, as though Chumney is trying to upstage and embarrass him, to try to usurp his authority. You just don't do that here in Memphis with our politicians. Especially when you're "pebble in the shoe" Carol Chumney.

It also strikes me, as I write this, that it sure does seem odd that Chumney would go to all the trouble of writing up a detailed timeline of who called or emailed who, what was said by whom to whom, who was were and what they did, etc. Why all the effort? Why the work? I believe as I said above: self-promotion by Chumney at the expense of Brown and Herenton.

And then there was the robbery of two of the delegates on Beale Street in broad daylight. There's an apocryphal story now circulating that the delegates said to the robber that they were from out of town and the robber replied, "Welcome to Memphis" before he ran off. What an odd experience: to go from the National Civil Rights Museum, which memorialises the racist treatment of blacks in the past, to Beale Street, where black history has been commericialised and Disney-fied into a white moneymaker and safe party experience, only to be robbed by a black Memphian (according to police reports).

If that's not Memphis in a nutshell, I don't know what is.

The national press has been zooming in on the racism angle, which from the Memphis perspective is pretty hilarious. The City and County Mayors are black; the City is majority black; the City Council is majority black. President Joe Brown is black. Councillor Carol Chumney is white. The delegates toured Graceland. Elvis is reknowned for bringing black music to white audiences. They later went to Beale Street, which was a thriving black business district until Jim Crow and racism killed it. It was a cradle for bringing the field blues of Mississippi to urban audiences and a conduit for taking that blues to the big urban centers of the north: Chicago, Detroit, etc. The delegates were robbed by a black.

What I hope I've shown is that this was bad political karma, ongoing ill will and distrust, and political maneuvering come home to roost. Race inevitably plays a part in everything in Memphis, but it wasn't the motivator in this case, nor the engine of trouble. It was sparked by Herenton's famous Inauguration Day breakfast speech and has spread to a hundred brush fires since, like this one.

But of course, the story has since moved on, the impression made and left, and it's now far too late to do anything about it.

Welcome to Memphis.