Bathroom Graffiti

Now There are some things that refuse to bend,
And There are some things that refuse to fall,
Like a mountain standing in the wind,
Or like a Rembrandt on a wall...

Bathroom graffiti from the old Brown's Diner men's room

In the halls of the Louvre and in libraries across the country, there will one day be exhibits and shelves dedicated to the literary output of people who have suffered under the rule of those  afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome. You can probably identify specimens of this genre with some ease. You’re less likely to find the most representative tracts in a bookstore (who goes there anymore, anyway), but instead across social media and maybe scrawled on the stall of a public bathroom as people process and reckon with a Trump victory.

“Early this morning my husband and I stumbled into the car and drove in a dismayed stupor to get breakfast seeking the most sane and accepting (aka MAGA-less) atmosphere we could find,” writes state Senator Heidi Campbell, “and ran into some old friends and talked for over an hour about how we were going to cope. Pop-tarts, puppies, off-the-grid road-trips to Montana, real estate in Portugal, and binging Bollywood movies were proffered, but we left with our dread intact.”

The identifying characteristics of this disorder are the self-diagnosis of dread, wild accusations that fascism or some other nebulous, ill-defined -ism (that is also very bad) is rising, and the address of these feelings through ridiculous, almost childlike symbols of comfort (and in this case affluence). In this excerpt, Campbell just wants to fall into a pile of puppies and giggle away her dying days while refusing to reckon with reality. It’s a loamy existence, rich on delusion, and requiring the near constant ingestion of propaganda and expository literary output to maintain.

Now, back to more parochial concerns: the transit referendum passed with flying colors, with the split almost exactly mirroring the Presidential vote. I don't have any faith that people are voting for ballot initiatives and referendums like this with any real knowledge of them. It's usually just a basic party alignment vote, and that's about all it tells you. O’Connell wisely saved up his political capital for this moment, and it paid off for him. Now, the ambitious plan of expanding bus service, adding 86 miles of sidewalk, and modernizing traffic signals commences.

And finally, the delusion that this election was a referendum on abortion (a line consistently parrotted by Democratic loyalists) has been shot through. But a local organization has a solution to this conundrum: discounts on male vasectomies. Plan V partnered with Planned Parenthood of Tennessee to offer discounted male sterilization procedures, charging uninsured patients $599 instead of the standard $899.

“One quick, easy thing that a lot of people can do is get a vasectomy, because second to abstinence, it is the most effective form of birth control,” Kristin Brassell, founder of Plan V, told the Nashville Scene. “There’s a lot of cool guys out there that I consider to be feminist, and they stepped up and they said, ‘This is one way I can help in the fight against what’s happening in our country,’” she added. “Unfortunately, men like that are few and far between.” DAVIS HUNT

🗳️ Beacon’s CEO Takes A Look At TN “Humans are not prototypes. They are complicated beings with nuanced views,” wrote Beacon Center President and CEO Justin Owen about the presidential election results on his new substack, TennSight. “This election proves that putting them in a box and demanding their vote because of their race, gender, or other stereotype isn’t the way to win an election.” After pointing out Kamala Harris’ underperformance with white females, hispanics, and black voters, he provided some insight into how things panned out across Tennessee.

This year, half of the state Senate and all 99 House seats were on the ballot. Tennessee’s GOP supermajority held without losing a single seat across the state. “This is a blow for Democrats, who spent heavily in a handful of districts that they believed had turned purple enough to take,” explained Owen. Though one Memphis and two Rutherford County races were more competitive for Democrats this cycle, he also highlighted that the District 67 House race in Clarksville was only won by a narrow margin of 131 by incumbent Democrat Representative Ronnie Glynn.

Despite the lackluster performance, the think tank CEO is keeping a close eye on a few areas that seem to be turning purple in favor of Democrats, including “Shelby County east of Memphis, wider swaths of Montgomery County outside of the already-blue Clarksville city center, and parts of Rutherford County.”

❌ Address Domestic Violence An uptick in domestic violence cases across Davidson County inspired a string of special called meetings over the last few weeks. Vice Mayor Angie Henderson and Metro Council’s Public Health and Safety Committee Chair Erin Evans lined up three forums to get input from council members, Metro Office of Family Safety, representatives from the Courts, the District Attorney’s Office, Metro Nashville Police Department, and the Sheriff’s Office.

During the final meeting on October 30, MNPD Captain Blake Giles explained that while the general population of Nashville has grown, they’ve not added more positions to the domestic violence unit since 2013. DA Glenn Funk also suggested that policing domestic violence deserves a more nuanced approach, including a few changes to how incidents are categorized by state statute. “What would fall through the cracks with this change would be the folks that do not admit that they are intimate partners, but they are still roommates,” he explained. “And there would be some folks…that might not feel comfortable in telling the police that they are intimate partners.” Currently, instead of going to domestic violence court, roommate cases are categorized as assault. 

Assistant District Attorney Christina Johnson also jumped in to address the “tragedy” that occurs when illegal immigrants detained in domestic violence situations are deported once their status is known. “The immigrant population is overrepresented in those roommate violence cases, for any number of reasons,” added Funk. 

In June, an early intervention program was set up through the YWCA to help preemptively divert people from the judicial system. Funk explained that they hope it helps decrease the domestic violence cases that have been flooding the docket and gumming up the system.

Johnson also addressed the scrutiny that the DA’s office has received for dismissing a number of domestic violence cases, and took the opportunity to stand by the decisions they’ve made. Other solutions suggested to address the growing domestic violence in Nashville  included deploying special professionals alongside police to respond to domestic violence incidents and focussing on gun dispossession.

🗣️ Council Meeting Tonight Reminder: the council will be meeting today. Alongside a slew of appointments, there are a few things on our radar. We’ll be revisiting Councilmember Jeff Preptit’s bill that was originally introduced to track affiliations between MNPD officers and “hate groups and paramilitary gangs.” Now on second reading, Preptit has walked back some of the language targeting the police department by extending the application of his proposal to all Metro employees. He also nixed the language regarding social media posts. 

Another bill on second reading would provide a property tax relief program for low-income, elderly residents. Given the whispers that Mayor O’Connell will have to once again increase Nashville property taxes to balance the books this budget season, it seems to be a preemptive move to address the concerns of fixed-income residents. There’s also a resolution to drastically increase funding for a community-assisted policing program run by MNPD. The council approved the original grant three weeks ago to establish the evidence-based program. Set in place to help reduce violent crime, the newly proposed amendment would also narrow the focus to the 37207 area. 

You can watch tonight’s meeting live starting at 6:30 p.m.

DEVELOPMENT

• Air Canada adds nonstop flight to Vancouver (NBJ)
• D.C.-based heritage-centric nonprofit buys near Fort Negley (Post)
• Notable Broadway office building hits the market for $34M (Post)
• Building housing long-time retail business sells (Post)

✹ THIS ELECTION WEEK IN STREAMING (November 7th)

The Candidate (Hulu) Robert Redford plays a reluctant upstart Senate candidate famous for his family name, but just trying to step out of his father’s shadow in one of Hollywood’s most endlessly applicable political satires. Awash in 70s cynicism and Redford’s unparalleled appeal, it witty explodes the machinations of American politics. Plus, seeing how its hero’s progressive concerns have morphed into the pillars of the MAGA-RFK alliance immediately puts this year’s unrelenting onslaught of mawkish celebrity endorsements in its proper place.

K Street (Only on YouTube) If its erasure from Max is any indication, HBO wants us to forget that it released one of TV’s most original and experimental series in 2002 by uniting indie film legend Stephen Soderbergh with pundit power couple James Carville and Mary Matalin for a dissection of DC’s infamous lobbyist-infested block. 

Playing fictionalized versions of themselves, the Ragin’ Cajun and his Bush fixer wife mix with a who’s who of character actors as they plow through the ethical dilemmas and political posturing that come with running the leading lobbying firm in the capital along with a cast of actors including Man Men’s John Slattery. Soderbergh took the unprecedented step of shooting, editing, and releasing a new episode of the largely improvised series each week to engage with the minutiae of the politics pages and feature cameos from major DC players. Still better than any show currently running.

Iron Man (Disney+) There’s no better week to revisit the story of a rakish genius industrialist who challenges both globalist neocon orthodoxy and Big Tech mediocrities while putting his cush lifestyle on the line to uphold good ole American values.

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.

📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.

🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide and yearly festival guide.

TONIGHT

🎸 Nitty Gritty Dirt Band & Friends @ Ryman Auditorium, 7p, $55+, Info

🪕 Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms Band @ Station Inn, 8p, $10, Info

🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info

🎸 Kelly’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info

🎸 Open Mic @ Fox & Locke, 6:30p, Free, Info
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