Just give me one more minute and then I'll settle down...

Braisted totally missed the point of Padgett's release.  It was about pragmatic thinking: getting things done vs. political bitchslapping. It was about how Padgett suggested the same thing as the Gang of 10, only he did it two weeks ago. It was about how this is how Mike Padgett thinks. AND it was about Mike Padgett's experience in working in a bipartisan way.

WTF does this have to do with Tuke and Corker hiking together?

But as a Padgett supporter, I'd like to thank Braisted for pointing out the kind of insider guy Bob Tuke is and the kind of folks he hangs out with.

Braisted is right -- to a point -- about Memphis.   And Padgett has a fierce ground game going on down there. But Braisted seems to ignore all the non-metro counties that Padgett has worked (he went to ALL of them) and Tuke hasn't.  Those hometown Democrats know how to turn out the vote, and they remember who had time for them and who didn't.

That's where Hillary Clinton won Tennessee in January (to my dismay).  She didn't carry any of the metro counties but one -- Knox.  Whoever was working Knox County for her must've known what they were doing.

The guy's name was... um, Mike Padgett.

It could go either way on Thursday.  I just hope whoever wins can take Lamar! down.

But I predict they'll be playing the blues Thursday night in Memphis, and in Knoxville, it'll sound like the Vols just beat Florida.

Ok, I have it out of my system now.

Ugh.

Private Arguments Over Bipartisanship : What do you expect from someone who has been a cheerleader for the guy all along? I'm just sayin....

EDITED TO ADD: Some might say ("some" being ME) Braisted's use of "might privately argue" is a lot like Fox New's tactic of using phrases like "some say" as a means of a reporter espousing their own opinions in a story (as is covered in 'Outfoxed'). It sounds more to me like it's Braisted publicly expressing his opinion.

Mike Padgett meets with sick Oak Ridge workers, I tag along

I tagged along yesterday to a meeting between Mike Padgett and six former Oak Ridge National Laboratory workers who are now sick or dying as a result of exposure to unsafe materials at ORNL.

The fact that these folks were exposed to hazardous elements in their working environment is bad enough, but the treatment and attitude they've gotten from the machine in charge of administering the money they're entitled to through the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program is appalling.

Basically, the government puts up so much red tape and bureaucratic bullshit that people die before they can get the compensation to which they're entitled - just so they don't have to pay.  They stall these workers because they're waiting for them to die.

I really don't understand the cruelty in this world.  I'm not wired that way.

On the positive side, Padgett promised the group that, when elected, he will establish a post in his Knoxville office where an individual will work on their behalf to turn the system around and make EEOICP work for them.

Here's an article that details the struggle these workers face.  It also profiles Janine Anderson, one of the sick workers Padgett met with yesterday, whose lungs are damaged from beryllium poisoning and who will ultimately not survive due to an expanding liver that will grow to crowd out her other vital organs.

By Monday, you'll find a press release here on Padgett's meeting with the group.

See also: Cold War Patriots

Dumber than a bag of hammers

Former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms dies at 86

Hopefully my grandfather will kick his ass, too.

Se

Wednesday Evening Reading Material

I'm a little late linking to these stories, but here they are for anyone who is as out of touch as yours truly -

Abramoff Had Closer Ties to Bush
Color me shocked!

Senate Republicans block windfall profit taxes on Big Oil
The unexpected just keeps coming...