No. 215: Bar Hours

Good morning, everyone.

We're continuing to compile the Flat Curver Awards given to those who performed admirably and poorly over the course of the pandemic. We're looking for reader input on any businesses or leaders who either cowed to the tyrannical impulses brought forth by COVID or stood strong against them — the former for mockery, the latter for praise. You can respond to this email with any input you have.

Additionally, starting this Thursday, we're going to commence a new weekly event we're calling Bar Hours. Bar Hours is your chance to mix and mingle with other readers of The Pamphleteer — as well as the writers — while imbibing at Jackalope Brewery.

The first ten people that show up will get their drinks comped on The Pamphleteer's tab. We'll meet at 6 PM outside at one of the patio tables. Spring is nearly here. The weather will be nice, the conversation lively, and the jokes rolling.

Today, we introduce a new essay from John Arra, look at this May's upcoming primary elections, dissect the tactics of the New York Times, and look at some numbers from a recent poll on how Americans have been doing over the past year.

You can follow us on Twitter (@realpamphleteer), LinkedIn (@realpamphleteer), or Instagram (@realpamphleteer) for additional content.

Thanks for reading.

John Arra — a sagelike boomer who meditates on what past generations got right and wrong and what present generations would do good to remember — returns with his views from Way Out Charlotte Pike.

MORE FROM JOHN

• Like Hollering Down A Well by John Arra (Read)
• Polite, a Poser, or a Pain in the… by John Arra (Read)

☂ April Showers Bring May Primary Elections

All Eyes Are on the 5th District Race, But You Should Care More About the May Primary Elections in Nashville

Before we jump in, some basic terminology:

Primary Elections This election is held before the General Election and narrows the field. Democrats vote in the Democratic primaries and Republicans vote in the Republican primaries (usually… We'll come back to this).

General Elections The regular election to select candidates for office. Winner takes all, and you can vote for any party in any category.

Cheat sheet if you don't have time to read this whole thing:

1. You can vote in any primary you want, regardless of the political party. Yup! Tennessee is an open primary state. No official party affiliation needed.
2. If you're a Republican in Davidson County, you should consider voting in the Democratic primaries this May. The catch? It means forgoing your ability to vote in the Republican primary (just the May one, not the August one).
3. No, it won't ruin anything for Republicans.
4. Why not? Because, aside from School Board positions, there are no Republicans who are competing against each other in the Republican primaries, much less running at all. Check out the ballot for yourself… basically all Democrats.
5. There is nothing legally or ethically dubious about this. If you don't vote in the Davidson County Democratic primary, you won't have a voice at all! There are basically no Republican choices and Davidson County has progressive activists on the ballot! Uncontested by any other party. Check out the DA race!

Okay, cheat sheet fin. If you want deep knowledge…

HEADLINES

• In her first defense, RaDonda Vaught points blame back at Vanderbilt (Tennessean) Vaught, 37, is charged with reckless homicide for a fatal medication error in 2017. The case became a rallying cry for nurses who fear the criminalization of honest mistakes.
• Daily & Vincent tune chosen as new Tennessee state song (Homepage) “I’ll Leave My Heart in Tennessee” by Grand Ole Opry stars Dailey & Vincent and written by Karen Staley is now an official state song of Tennessee, per a press release.
• Masks now optional starting Monday at Metro Nashville Public Schools (Channel 5) Yesterday morning Metro Nashville Public School students, staff, and teachers head back to the classroom after spring break. For the first time in over a year, masks were optional.
• E-Bikes an Essential Part of Nashville’s Mobility Future (Governing) The electric bike has become a crowd-pleaser among not only cyclists but also mobility and urban planning advocates who see it as a catalyst for building more bike infrastructure and addressing issues like traffic congestion.

POLITICS

• Senate refuses to back off of Tenn. residency requirements for congressional candidates (TNJ) The House last week amended its version of the bill to apply only to candidates running after the current election cycle. House sponsor Dave Wright said he supported the Senate version, but still went ahead with putting his chamber’s delay in his bill.
• Tennessee bills aim to protect victims of domestic violence from defendants on bail (Tennessean) One bill would require defendants accused of committing such an assault to wear a GPS monitoring device as a condition of bail. Another would raise these defendants’ bail amounts, making it more costly for them to secure pretrial release.  
• Senator Janice Bowling Speaks On The Tenth Amendment And States’ Rights (TCN) Bowling said, "I serve a very rural, a very mountainous region and in the mountains they say, 'Where there’s a problem, there’s a solution. If there’s no solution, there’s no problem.'" Continues...
• Bill to override local control of pipelines spurs statewide backlash (Lookout) A bill proposed a study on energy infrastructure, but an amendment to remove local government’s ability to regulate fossil fuel infrastructure threw up red flags.

DEVELOPMENT

• 🍺 Birmingham brewery set for East Nashville (Post)
• Update On The Printing House, A New 11-Story Hotel In Nashville (Now Next)
• Residential project eyed for airport-area site (Post)
• STR building on east side to see units sold (Post)
• NYC investment titan pays top dollar for local storage building (Post)

↬ ANOTHER CASE OF RACIAL MISDIRECTION

When large media outlets report on a crime, the race of the assailant tends to take center stage. It's after the race of the perpetrator is revealed that the relevant parties can then decide whether to amplify or suppress the story. Kyle Rittenhouse getting chased through the streets of Kenosha warranted a months long trial by fire, while Darrell Brooks, out on $1,000 bail, running through a Christmas Day parade killing women and children gets memory-holed soon after it happens. For those keeping track at home, Rittenhouse is white, and Brooks is black.

In a recent NYT article concerning a shooting in Arkansas, the racial information is buried deep in the article under a desolate photo showing what looks like a used car lot and a passage stating:

A community event and car show in a small Arkansas farming community became a scene of horror on Saturday night, as two people engaged in a gunfight and sprayed the crowd with bullets, killing one bystander and injuring 27 other people, including six children.

What do you think of when you hear "small Arkansas farming community"? If one were to simply skim the article and understand the slant of the NYT, you'd assume that this was some white Trump voter upset about something — the out and out persona non grata numero uno of the NYT and all in their camp. But alas, the truth slowly comes out.

Doing our typically rigorous journalistic due diligence on anything that comes across the desk — a lost art these days, by the way — we're probing for any indication of the shooter's race. It's not until paragraph 5 that you learn that the "community event" was called Hood-Nic. Then later, in paragraph 10, we learn that "rappers performed onstage, preachers issued prayers, and politicians sought votes" followed by a photo of the community mourning which leaves little doubt as to the racial makeup of the event and begs the question of why they used such an ambiguous opening paragraph paired with an even more ambiguous picture.

It's a tired point to make about the hypocrisy of media outlets like the New York Times. Critics will call this analysis "paranoid" — or worse, "racist" — but the point beyond saying that the NYT is engaging in real racism is to reveal the coded malice that mainstream media outlets express towards average Americans.

◼︎ BY THE NUMBERS: HOW WE'RE DOING

A poll reveals that Americans feel worse off now than they did one year ago. According to the poll, 20% of Americans are "generally better off" now than they were a year ago while 42% said they were worse off.

The only political cohort that feels better off financially are, unsurprisingly, Democrats, only 26% of whom are worse off financially today than they were a year ago. Conversely, 56% of Republicans are worse off financially.

Whether these polls accurately hold a mirror up to reality is a question for another time, but it seems reasonable enough to assume that the majority of Americans are worse off financially because of inflation and the disruption of small businesses following — the majority of whom are Republican — pandemic lockdowns. Wages have steadily risen 5% year-over-year, but those gains have been whithered by inflation which has steadily outpaced it at 7% year-over-year.

That Democrats are better off financially or merely feel that way can either be reflected by their bringing in more money on average which shields them more from inflation or the fact that Big Bad Orange Man has been ousted from office. It'd be expected that political sentiment would creep into these results where mainline Democrats would be loath to admit that "their" candidate is making them worse off — even against their better interests which is the entire basis of their political platform.

Source: Are You Better Off Today Than A Year Ago? By 4-To-1, Americans Say 'No'
Tipp Insights, 21 March 2022, Read Online

⚔︎ MISSIVES ⚔︎

• 🌾 Global concerns that Russia’s invasion would curtail Ukraine’s 2022 harvest have come to fruition. The crop shortfall will extend to the many countries that rely on Ukraine for wheat, corn, and cooking oil. With wheat already in the ground, and only a few weeks left to plant corn, farmers in Ukraine can’t get needed fertilizers and chemicals. They are low on fuel for tractors and other farm equipment. Workers are quitting to join the fight or to leave the country, leaving farms short-handed.
• 🛩 President Biden traveled to Europe for talks with some of America’s closest allies yesterday. His week of diplomacy began yesterday, in a call with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, and Italy. He will then travel on Wednesday to Brussels, where NATO will hold an emergency meeting on a response to the war.
• ♻️ The Securities and Exchange Commission has said for the first time that public companies must tell their shareholders and the federal government how they affect the climate, a sweeping proposal long demanded by environmental advocates.
• 🇸🇦 The Biden administration has transferred a significant number of Patriot antimissile interceptors to Saudi Arabia within the past month, fulfilling Riyadh’s urgent request for a resupply amid sharp tensions in the relationship, senior U.S. officials said.
• 🎤 Kanye West has been barred from performing at the Grammy Awards due to his “concerning online behavior,” a rep for the artist confirms to Variety. Reps for the Recording Academy and CBS, which present the Grammys, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

THINGS TO DO

View the full calendar here.

🆕 Bar Hours 🆕 this Thursday at Jackalope Brewery starting at 6 PM. The first ten guests of The Pamphleteer will have their drinks comped. Come out to meet other readers of The Pamphleteer and mix and mingle with the writers.

🖌 At the Cheekwood, Spanning the Atlantic, The Arts and Crafts Movement, an international trend in the decorative arts that originated in the British Isles during the 19th century.

TONIGHT

🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ American Legion Post 82, 5p, Free, Info‌‌‌‌‌‌
+ Two step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p

🎺 Todd Day Wait @ The Underdog, 11:30p, Free, Info‌‌‌‌‌‌
+ Honky Tonk Tuesday afterparty, down the street

GET ‘EM WHILE YOU CAN

😂 Tim Dillon (3/24) @ The Ryman, $29.75+, 7p, Info

🎸 Buddy Guy (3/26) @ The Ryman, 7:30p, $80, Info

🎸 Jerry Cantrell (4/17) @ The Ryman, $35, 7p, Info

🎻 Billy Strings (5/6 -5/8) @ The Ryman, $39.50+, 8:30, Info for 3/6, 3/7, 3/8

🐷 Primus a Farewell to Kings tour (05/09) @ The Ryman, 7:30p, $55+, Info

FROM LAST WEEK

DEEP CUTS

Around the Web

↯ World's Dullest Editorial Launches Panic In an inane sequel to the Harper's Letter fiasco, a New York Times editorial ignites a fury proving its anodyne thesis

␡ We Will Delete You How liberal democracies acquired the power to end your participation in society with the push of a button

﹅ How to Think about the "Current Thing" Deciding in which direction you want people to be sheep

Political Theater Highlight Reel

1. NYC Mayor announces expansion of NYPD anti-crime unit dissolved amid George Floyd uprising
2. Boston Mayor: I'm used to dealing with ‘White’ problems

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Words of Wisdom

"When men no longer live in harmony with one another, the sun still shines and the rain falls, to be sure, but the fields are less well tended, the harvests less abundant."

René Girard