The Politico has a depressing article on the trouble the Republican party is in.

For the second time in two years, crop circles have appeared in Monroe County.

An anonymous Roane County citizen on the alleged gay nudist “resort”:

“We have between $40 and $60 Million dollars in school needs and a haywire $10 million jail project and you don’t hear much of a peep out of folks, but let gays and lesbians threaten to take their clothes off at a private resort…”

Interesting article at CNN on a nearly forgotten chapter of twentieth century history: the Great Comic Book Scare:

World War II was over, but as the 1940s gave way to the 1950s, a new evil lurked in the land. Ten-Cent Plague

It attracted a youthful audience — boys, mostly — who fell victim to its colorful images, dripping in red, and gave money to its purveyors.

Authorities took notice. The United States had a new menace, they said, one whose name started with “c” and whose first syllable rhymed with “bomb.”

Comic books.

At the time comic books were very popular among youth, perhaps because they were quite good at pushing the envelope. Comics of the time frequently featured gory violence, attractive (if unrealistically drawn) women, and controversial social commentary. A few years before Elvis shocked the world on the Ed Sullivan show, do-gooders and politicians believed comic books were corrupting the youth. A well-meaning but goofy psychiatrist named Frederic Wertham even wrote a book (sensationally entitled Seduction of the Innocent in which he argued that comics were responsible for juvenile delinquency.

Across America comic book burnings were held. Entire cities banned the sale of comic books. Tennessee’s very own Democratic Senator Estes Kefauver, fresh off his hearings on organized crime, took the logical next step in his anti-crime crusade and launched a Senate inquiry on comic books and their effects on children. He brought in Wertham himself, as well as Bill Gaines, boss of the popular and controversial EC comics line, proving that the wasting of taxpayer money by the federal government is hardly a new problem.

All in all, it was a very strange time. If any of this sounds interesting, you should definitely read The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu. I read it over the weekend and loved it. A true story of mass hysteria, it is both amusing and frightening.

UPDATE: No, I don’t really think Kefauver was an idiot. The title of this post is a bit of hyperbole. Kefauver did some good things while in the Senate, but on this issue I do think he was out to lunch.

George Stephanopoulos thinks Hillary Clinton is staying in the race to position herself for a VP spot on Obama’s ticket. Obama supporter (and unorthodox conservative) Andrew Sullivan also thinks Hillary might settle for the number two spot. Given that a significant number of Hillary supports claim they won’t vote for Obama there is a certain logic here.

If Hillary Clinton is, by some miracle, able to win the Democratic nomination, I suspect she will almost have to pick Obama as her runningmate to blunt the anger from African-Americans over what would almost certainly be seen (probably correctly, in my opinion) as a stolen nomination.

I wouldn’t be shocked if Obama does pick Hillary, but I would be very surprised. One of Obama’s great appeals is his status as a “unifier”. Now given Jeremiah Wright that status has diminished somewhat but not completely. Picking a figure as divisive as Hillary would almost certainly destroy this selling point.

Then off course there’s the fact that Obama and Hillary despise each other. That isn’t a deal killer; after all, we all know Bill Clinton and Al Gore were not great friends. Neither were JFK and LBJ or Eisenhower and Nixon. But the Obama-Hillary hatred is out in the open. No one is ever going to believe they’re best friends.

And finally, there’s the Bill Clinton problem. Need I say more?

So as you can see, I don’t put much stock in the idea of Obama picking Hillary as his runningmate. It’s possible, but not very likely. Of course, I have been wrong before.

The legendary Bell Witch Cave has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. You can read an article I wrote on the Bell Witch here.

Via Michael Silence

It looks like my hometown of Harriman might soon boast a gay nudist resort:

A small Harriman community may seem like the last place for an adult only, alternative lifestyle, nudist resort, but an investor from Ohio says it’s perfect.

The Rosebud Lodge Resort and Campground would cater to the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and trans-gender community.

The resort is planned to be built on 60 acres of property along the Clinch River on Skyline Drive.

However, the property still needs to be rezoned as a commercial area.

I personally don’t care if it opens or not. It seems to me there are more important things to worry about. But I suspect the county commission will refuse to rezone the property, thus killing the deal.

The latest episode of Podcast Appalachia is now available! In this episode I look at coal. No rock has been more influential or more controversial in Appalachian society than coal; while helping fuel unprecedented economic growth in America and employment for generations of mountain people, it is also very dangerous to mine and has done much damage to the environment. In this episode I present a history of coal mining, as well as discuss the advantages and disadvantages associated with it. You may listen here or view a transcript here.

This is a real shame. Jeff Woods puts it in perspective:

With a coal company essentially promising to mine by blowing off the tops of Tennessee mountains, lawmakers inexplicably refused to act and all but guaranteed great swaths of ecologically important woodlands will be laid to waste.

The National Coal Corp. threatened to shut down in Tennessee if mountaintop mining were banned. So to save 234 jobs, the sum total of the company’s workforce, lawmakers decided to sacrifice the natural beauty that underpins a gazillion-dollar tourism industry.

There is some hope for next year, but tragedy looms if the legislature doesn’t act soon:

Environmentalists say they’ll present their bill again next year, and the governor has indicated he might help this time. There’s a sense of urgency. Mountaintop mining is about to become more familiar to Tennessee. National Coal sold its operations in Kentucky this year to focus on mining in this state. The Tennessee Valley Authority’s coal-fired power plants are about to be fitted with newer pollution scrubbers, making this state’s high-sulfur, dirty-burning coal more marketable, according to Barger.

Via ACK (cross posted at Hillbilly Savants)

Two recent North Carolina polls (both via Political Wire) show two very different results among Tar Heel Democrats. The first, from Rasmussen, finds Obama leading Hillary 51% to 37%. The second, from SurveyUSA, shows a closer race which Obama leads 49% to 44%.

So which poll is accurate? My own sense is that SurveyUSA is the more reliable of the two, and it supports my suspicion that the North Carolina primary will be closer than early polls suggested. Perhaps Easley’s endorsement has given Hillary a boost, but generally holds that races tighten as voters become more engaged.

Barring some major event (like maybe a John Edwards endorsement) I suspect Obama will win North Carolina, but not by double digits.

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley is finally going to weigh in on the Democratic primary:

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley will endorse Hillary Clinton’s White House bid, two sources close to the campaign tell CNN.

The endorsement could give the New York senator a boost in the state with one week to go until its crucial May 6 primary. Recent polling suggests Barack Obama currently holds a double-digit lead over Clinton there, though no polls have been released since Clinton’s win in Pennsylvania last week.

I still expect Obama to win the Tar Heel State, but this endorsement probably will close the margin. It will be interesting to see if Obama’s margin of victory is small enough that the pundits spin it as a Clinton victory.

Via ACK

Aunt B takes to task those who favor denying birthright citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants. She contends that it is hypocritical to argue for strict constructionism on the one hand while ignoring what the 14th Amendment says on the other:

Many of you are clinging desperately to the notion that the 2nd Amendment means what it says. Well, if Representative Lynn and her colleagues succeed in making the 14th Amendment mean something other than what it clearly says–”All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”–what kind of precident do you think that sets for the next time one of us Lefty crackpots tries to argue that the 2nd Amendment doesn’t mean what it says?

What kind of precident is Lynn trying to set? And are you prepared to say that rights enumerated in the Constitution don’t apply should some Legislator gets a bug up her butt to undermine them?

I have mixed feelings on the whole birthright citizenship debate; I don’t want to punish babies for the misdeeds of their parents, but I also don’t want to encourage illegals to have children just so it will be harder to deport them. It is a more complex issue than partisans on either side want to admit.

I doubt that that the Framers had this in mind when they wrote the 14th Amendment, but it says what it says: the children of illegals ARE entitled to U.S. citizenship. If Rep. Lynn or anyone else want to change this, they should push for a new constitutional amendment that would explicitly deny birthright citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants. Until such an amendment is ratified, they do not have a legal leg to stand on.

Via ACK

Alan Keyes loses the Constitution Party nomination to Chuck Baldwin. No, I don’t have any idea who Chuck Baldwin is either.

In Saudi Arabia, blogging can be hazardous to your health:

Saudi Arabia’s most popular blogger was released Saturday after serving four months in prison without charge.

Fouad al-Farhan, 33, was detained Dec. 10 after authorities warned him about his online support of an activist group. At the time of his arrest, the Interior Ministry said only that his violations were not related to state security.

Farhan had used his blog to criticize corruption and call for political reform in Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy.

In a telephone interview Saturday, Farhan said he was happy to be free and described his time behind bars as “a unique experience.” He said he had been “fairly treated” but would not comment on the specifics of his case.

“I will be blogging soon,” he said.

It’s so easy for us to blog and criticize the government here in America that we sometimes forget that millions of our fellow human beings do not enjoy this right. I hope that someday Al-Farhan will be viewed as a pioneer who helped bring basic human rights to the Kingdom.

Fentress County, TN

Some Greeneville parents don’t want their son’s name used by anti-war activists:

The parents of an East Tennessee soldier killed in Iraq are suing an Arizona online merchant for including their son’s name on anti-war shirts that list names of troops killed in the war.

The lawsuit filed by Robin and Michael Read of Greeneville accuses Dan Frazier of Flagstaff of inflicting emotional harm by including Spc. Brandon Michael Read’s name on his shirts’ casualty lists. They say their son’s name was used without permission and that Frazier ignored a demand to remove his name.

I’m not a lawyer, but it does seem like a pretty shabby thing to ignore these mourning parents’ wishes.

The latest episode of Podcast Appalachia is now available! In this episode I discuss the musical heritage of Appalachia, who influenced this heritage, and how numerous genres of music (including rock, country, blues, and others) owe a dept to Appalachian musicians. You may listen here or view a transcript here.

With 98% of the precincts reporting, Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama in Pennsylvania by a solid 55%-45% margin. Slightly more than I predicted, but I was close. In any event, this was a win and a margin Hillary needed, so she will fight on. It will be hard for her to win to nomination, but not impossible. This will give her a boost. That’s my analysis anyway. Watch for all the pundits to say the exact thing over and over on cable news while using lots more words.

We’ve been hearing about it for what seems like years, but the Pennsylvania primary is finally here! It should be interesting. If Hillary loses, her campaign is finished. If she wins by five points or less, she may go on but her resources will dry up and the pressure will mount for her to withdrawal. If she wins by more than five points then she can fight on.

The RCP average has Hillary with a 6.1% point lead. I actually think her margin of victory will be a little more. She performed slightly better than she polled in Ohio, so I suspect she may in Pennsylvania as well. The demographics here are even more favorable for her than in Ohio. So I’m going to predict Hillary wins, 54%-46%.

A lawnmower DUI.

So says Stephen Hawking:

One option is that there likely isn’t life elsewhere. Or maybe there is intelligent life elsewhere, but when it gets smart enough to send signals into space, it also is smart enough to make destructive nuclear weapons.

Hawking said he prefers the third option:

“Primitive life is very common and intelligent life is fairly rare,” he then quickly added: “Some would say it has yet to occur on earth.”

There is no real evidence of life existing elsewhere (save for maybe the controversial ALH84001 Martian meteorite, but given the vastness of the universe and how little of it we have explored, our data is so limited that we can only speculate. It is widely believed that liquid water exists on Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus so life would be theoretically possible on either. But until we can do more exploration of space, we can only speculate. Until then, I’m inclined to agree with Hawking: we probably are not alone.

Michael Barone, one of the most astute students of politics in the media, is projecting an awkward situation at the conclusion of the final Democratic primaries:

Barack Obama will be leading in pledged delegates, those elected in primaries and caucuses. Clinton will be leading in popular votes. Obama’s delegate lead will be entirely due to his victories in caucus states. Clinton’s popular vote lead will be entirely due to her projected victory in the Puerto Rico primary. Who then is entitled to the nomination? You could easily think up plausible arguments for either side. This would be a nightmare for the superdelegates who will have to make the decision.

I don’t know if this will happen or not–Barone’s numbers for Hillary look a little too optimistic (winning 60% of the vote in Pennsylvania?) to me. But then again, few would have imagined that the Democratic primary would still be in full force now, at the end of April.

This scenario is probably Hillary’s only chance at the Democratic nomination, and even if it comes to this it’s far from clear that she will get the nomination. So far she hasn’t shown any great talent at wooing superdelegates, but a string of primary victories could change that.

So if it comes down to Hillary winning the popular vote and Obama winning the delegate count, what will the superdelegates do? Will they follow the will of the people and give the nod to Hillary? Or will they treat it like a giant caucus, which Obama has done so famously well in? A few months ago, I would have predicted the superdelegates to go with the most electable candidate, then unquestionably Barack Obama. Given whats happened since then, I don’t know if he can still play that card.

Cross posted at Tennesseefree

A.C. Kleinheider, formerly of Volunteer Voters, is now blogging at Post Politics, the Nashville Post’s blog. We all knew A.C. would land on his feet, and it’s great to see him blogging again.

Last month I visited Sgt. Alvin C. York Historic Park in Pall Mall, TN. I took many photos (as usual), the best of which I now share with you, in addition to a brief bio of a true Appalachian hero.

Sgt Alvin C. York was the most famous American World War I soldier. He famously killed 28 German soldiers and captured 132 others in the Argonne Forest in France. A recipient of the Medal of Honor and the French Croix de Guerre, he was the subject of a classic 1941 movie Sergeant York in which he was portrayed by Gary Cooper.

Ironically, York very nearly refused to serve in the war. Early in his life, he had been a bit of a hellion, enjoying hard drinking and hard living. This lifestyle was not without its dangers. One night his friend was killed in a bar fight, an event that so shook young Alvin York that he gave up drinking and joined his mother’s church, becoming a devout Christian.

York’s new church believed strongly in pacifism. York shared this belief that killing was a sin, which made it very difficult for him to join the war effort when he received a notice to register for the draft. York simply wrote “don’t want to fight” on his registration card. He struggled mightily over what to do next, spending much time in prayer before finally deciding he must enter service.

In spite of his decision, York remained a committed pacifist upon entry into the Army, which led to numerous theological discussions and debates among his fellow soldiers. These discussions would eventually convince him that war could be justified in some cases.
On October 8, 1918, York performed an amazing and heroic feat that would make him a legend. Seventeen men, including York, infiltrated German lines to take out machine guns. Unfortunately, the Americans were hit with machine gun fire, killing six Americans and wounding three others, including York’s superior, leaving York in charge of the seven remaining soldiers.

As his men remained under cover, York advanced toward the machine guns. German Lieutenant Paul Jürgen Vollmer fired repeatedly at York even as he dodged machine gun fire but failed to injure him. When Vollmer ran out of bullets, he surrendered to York. York and his men were able to capture 132 German prisoners. These deeds earned him the Medal of Honor and Croix de Guerre, among others.

Upon his return home, York remained humble and did not wish to be viewed as a hero. He decline numerous opportunities to sell his story, opting instead to marry his sweetheart and return to his home in Pall Mall. It was not until 1941 that he would authorize a film.

York’s experiences in Europe led him to conclude that education was needed in his community, and he went to work establishing schools. He started a Bible school in Pall Mall, as well as Alvin C. York Institute in 1926. The Institute would struggle during the early years, and York sometimes paid teacher’s salaries from his own pocket. The school was taken over by the state in 1937 and remains Jamestown’s primary high school.

Sgt York was a powerful symbol of the region from which he came: a simple, kind hearted man capable to great heroism and who believed strongly in the power of education. We are all well served to remember his example.

Historic marker in Jamestown, TN
Wolf River Post Office and store. The store is still owned by the York family.

Alvin York’s house.

Wolf River.

Alvin C. York’s grist mill.
Wolf River.

Grist mill from the down river.

Another shot of the Wolf River.

York’s former Bible school.

Alvin C. York Institute, Jamestown, TN.

Wolf Creek United Methodist Church, established 1840 (York is buried here).

York’s grave.

York and wife’s graves.

Cross posted at Hillbilly Savants

The indispensable Michael Silence reports:

Athens police say two men walking to get gas for their empty car started fighting over who should pay for it and ended up in jail, one with minor stab wounds.

Police said both David A. Lundsford of Sweetwater and Roger Gifford of Athens remain in custody pending a court appearance Friday.

A police report shows Lundsford suffered a minor stab wound in the abdomen, apparently inflicted with a pocket knife early Wednesday. A witness told police that she saw Lundsford punching Gifford.

Lundsford told officers that he and Gifford were walking north on Congress Parkway after running out of gas and they started arguing about who should pay when they got to the pump.

Both men are charged with public intoxication.

That last part is a shocker.

Scientists in Sweden have discovered a pretty old tree:

Researchers had discovered a spruce with genetic material dating back 9,550 years in the Fulu mountain in Dalarna, according to Leif Kullmann, a professor of Physical Geography at the university in northwestern Sweden.

That would mean it had taken root in roughly the year 7,542 BC.

So in other words, this tree’s life began a few thousand years before construction began on the Egyptian pyramids. Incredible stuff.

This doesn’t speak well of Congressman Marsha Blackburn:

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., on Tuesday acknowledged failing to report more than a quarter-million dollars in campaign expenditures over the past six years while at the same time failing to report $102,044 in contributions.Blackburn, seeking her fourth term and facing both Republican and Democratic opponents, told The Commercial Appeal she plans to reveal the errant Federal Election Commission reporting in a series of amendments to disclosure reports dating back to her first run for Congress in 2002.

I doubt anything sinister is afoot. It’s probably just an innocent mistake, but it’s one that shouldn’t have been made. I don’t know if she was ever seriously being considered for the VP spot on the McCain ticket, but if so this will probably eliminate her from the running.

Via TPB

An effort to ban mountaintop removal looked dead in the water less than two weeks ago. But now it has been revived:

A Senate committee today approved a bill to put new restrictions on surface coal mining in East Tennessee, even though a House subcommittee had killed the measure earlier.

Sponsor Sen. Raymond Finney, R-Maryville, said he now expects an effort to have the House Environment Subcommittee hold a special meeting and consider reversing its earlier vote to kill the bill.

The measure passed the Senate Environment and Conservation Committee today by a vote of 8-1. The lone no vote was my state senator, Tommy Kilby, who continues to be a major disappointment but who is happily not seeking reelection. Senator Finney deserves a lot of credit for keeping this effort alive.

Muddy Pond Community of Fentress County, TN

The latest episode of Podcast Appalachia is now available! In this episode, I examine the contributions Appalachian writers have made to American literature. You may listen here or view a transcript here.

I was critical of Bill Hobbs’ decision to make an issue of Barack Obama’s middle name, but this brouhaha is silly. Anyone fair minded person would understand that Hobbs was referring to the people being Obama’s boss, which is (at least in theory) true of all elected officials.

This makes me happy:

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, today spoke about the April 15 federal tax filing deadline and outlined a plan to create an optional 17 percent federal flat tax with a single-page form. Americans would have the option of choosing this tax over the current income tax and its multi-page forms.

Some remarks by Rep. Geoff concerning Barack Obama are causing a bit of a stir:

U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis, a Hebron Republican, compared Obama and his message for change similar to a “snake oil salesman.”

He said in his remarks at the GOP dinner that he also recently participated in a “highly classified, national security simulation” with Obama.

“I’m going to tell you something: That boy’s finger does not need to be on the button,” Davis said. “He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country.”

Predictably, the leftwing blogs have pounced on this, suggesting that it’s just another example of Republican racism.

It certainly was a poor choice of words on Davis’ part, but I see no evidence that it’s anything more than that. It seems likely Davis was criticizing Obama’s youth and inexperience, not his race. A brief search in Google turns up no racial controversies in Davis’ past. Additionally, Cyberhillbilly gives us Davis’ background which likewise contains no evidence of racism. The world would be a better place if people didn’t use accusations of racism to bludgeon their political foes anytime they make a poor choice in words.

Cross posted at Tennesseefree

I try to be civil on this blog, but Jimmy Carter really is a scumbag. What is he trying to accomplish? Is he really trying to help–or just get himself some press attention?