No. 329: Justice for Whom, Exactly?

Good morning, everyone.

The tragic murder of Eliza Fletcher has rocked the state of Tennessee and the rest of the nation over the past few days. It's not hard to imagine a nation in which her murder—perpetrated by a felon previously convicted for kidnapping—produces a national outcry, a visit from the President, and all manner of ceremony granted to the former pornstar, criminal, and famous drug addict George Floyd. But, we don't live in that nation.

It feels dirty to politicize these things, but let's be honest: seeing the leaders of your country express the same horror you feel after such a story is heartening in some way. Politics, after all, is a social sport, and as in any other social situation, you want some reassurance that those in your social circle feel and think the same way you do.

If the phalanx of media, government, and academia doesn't align behind the murder of the very innocent Eliza Fletcher as they did George Floyd, you have a right to understand this as a willing dismissal of your concerns, and the preeminent concern for many citizens today is crime run amok.

As we've witnessed permissive District Attornies like Chesa Boudin in San Francisco express more sympathy for the criminals than for their victims, it wouldn't be far off to compare the reckoning of Fletcher's murder to the overtly politicized reaction that Floyd's motivated in favor of defunding the police and all manner of "very serious" complaints that have since mysteriously disappeared and even been outright denied in a similar manner to Peter denying Christ.

There will be no strong armed reaction from American leaders, of course. To point out even the criminal's race—he was black—is seen as a grave transgression unless he were the one abducted and murdered in cold blood, in which case, it'd be in the headline. Fletcher is just another privileged white woman who got what was coming to her. If disinterested progressives don't say this explicitly, their apathy says it for them.

The justice system will deal with Fletcher's assailant adequately. He'll go to jail—potentially get the chair. Critics will respond that "justice has been served" and all sorts of abysmal, anti-human rhetoric meant to dismiss the larger implications of normalizing the kidnap and murder of even one person as if they are natural side effects of the system in which we live.

To be clear, they aren't and they don't have to be.

Onward.

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Thanks for reading.

❍ LAST NIGHT AT THE METRO COUNCIL

What do Sidewalk cafés, Planned Parenthood, and Nashville’s Entertainment Industry Board have in common? They were all supported by legislation that was deferred in last night’s Metro Nashville City Council meeting. Let’s take a look:

ABORTION LEGISLATION

For the first time in Metro history, tax dollars might directly fund abortion. Last night council members Porterfield and others introduced a resolution that would grant $500K to pay Planned Parenthood. We broke down the details of this legislation last week and, as expected, the resolution was deferred by rule until the first meeting in October. Council member O’Connel took the floor and explained that discussions concerning the source of the funds are still in the works. Currently, $300K of the grant will be siphoned from the traffic signal maintenance budget. Regarding how this money will be spent by Planned Parenthood, $150K is earmarked for out-of-state abortion accommodations.

In a statement opposing the legislation, Tennessee Right To Life had this reaction to the council’s latest abortion legislation, "Instead of City Council working to undo the work of our duly elected state legislature, we urge them to join with us in thanking our state legislators who saw the need to pass (the Human Life Protection Act) to end the legalized destruction of innocent human lives."

A License Plate Reader (LPR) bill that excludes the use of LPR data to enforce state abortion laws appeared on third reading. The bill was passed into law with no further discussion on the floor. It’s worth noting that the pilot program for the use of LPR scanners in Davidson county was approved by the council, but the technology has not been implemented yet.

INTERESTING DEFERRALS

On second reading, the Entertainment Industry Board bill sponsored by Council Member Swope and others died on the floor last night. It was indefinitely deferred on second reading by rule after both committees that reviewed the legislation voted to indefinitely defer it. This legislation can be reintroduced at a later date.

A bill that would permanently allow for sidewalk cafés was also deferred on second reading. Introduced during the pandemic, restaurants have been able to set up tables on sidewalks and in their parking lots. The current legislation that extends this liberty to restaurants will sunset on November 15th.

MORE CONTROVERSIAL LEGISLATION

Council Member Allen introduced a bill designed to create a Tax Incentive and Abatement Study and Formulating Committee. The aim of the committee is to take a look at incentives that have been doled out by the council. Though it passed on first reading, the legislation might get pushback from other council members. The bill states that the way incentive structures have been used has, “created barriers for the private sector, government, and nonprofits in providing needed community assets like affordable housing, small business locations, grocery stores, and childcare facilities…”

A bill to remove parking requirements for new developments was passed on first reading but won’t be heard on second reading until the public hearing in November.

HEADLINES

• Tennessee has highest beer tax rate in the U.S. (Center Square) Tennessee has the highest beer tax rate in the country, according to a new report from the Tax Foundation. Tennessee’s rate is $1.29 per gallon, one of just two states that charge more than $1 per gallon in the country. Alaska charges $1.07.
• Deputy marshal sues Nashville Fire Department (Post) Deputy Fire Marshal Maggie Lawrence, a 30-year veteran of the Nashville Fire Department, filed a lawsuit against Metro Friday alleging hiring discrimination and workplace retaliation.
• The Curious Case of the 1955 Kelly-Hopkinsville Encounter (Scene) We’re going to talk about aliens in Kentucky. I’ve tried to come up with some justification for why anyone in Nashville should care about aliens in Kentucky 67 years ago, but there is none.
• TVA plans to run its largest nuclear plant for 30 more years (WPLN) The Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant opened in Alabama in 1974. It has three nuclear reactors and produces about a tenth of TVA’s electricity with about 3.4 gigawatts of generating capacity – making it the second most powerful nuclear plant in the nation.

POLITICS

• State of Tennessee won’t hold cryptocurrencies after all (Post) Earlier this year, the Tennessee Department of Treasury was looking for a vendor in order to “be prepared in the event that unclaimed virtual currency is remitted to the state’s unclaimed property program.”
• Cothren attorney seeks extension on motion (TNJ)  Under federal laws guaranteeing criminal defendants a trial within 70 days of entering a plea, U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson scheduled former state House Speaker Glen Casada and his onetime chief of staff Cade Cothren to start mounting their defense before a jury on Oct. 25.

DEVELOPMENT

• The Finery Reduces Office Footprint & Expands Retail In Wedgewood-Houston (Now Next)

✦ TALKING POINT: NATION OF SETTLERS

Referring to the persistent label that the United States is a "nation of immigrants," Jeremy Carl notes:

If we’re a nation of immigrants, fundamentally, then we are wrong not to just throw open the door. We’d be violating our most sacred and eternal traditions not to do that. If you don’t want to do that, you’re not just a bigot, you’re not just a racist, but you’re fundamentally anti-American in some way. That is the narrative that this lie serves.

The most salient point to understand here is that we did not begin as a nation of "immigrants," but as a nation of "settlers" out to build our own city on the hill. The pilgrims had no intention of immigrating and joining Native American society.

Carl later quotes David Azerrad on what would drive a government to advocate for unmitigated immigration:

There is simply no precedent in human history for sovereign states voluntarily importing into their homelands untold millions of people of different colors, creeds, and cultures for decades on end. This is what tyrants do to conquer a broken people, to pacify them. It is not something that the natives willfully do to themselves.

The "nation of immigrants" line is something we've begun to hear even from Republican pundits and politicians. It's a misleading lie that deserves to be buried and serves only one purpose: to erode the nation's borders.

Source: A Nation of Settlers
American Mind, 1 September 2022, Read Online

𝓧 CHART OF THE DAY: SINGLE-PARENT HOMES

⚔ MISSIVES ⚔

• 🛢 The Biden administration has leased fewer acres for oil-and-gas drilling offshore and on federal land than any other administration in its early stages dating back to the end of World War II.
• 🇪🇺 The EU has officially opened its new office in San Francisco to liaise with tech companies based in the US and improve transatlantic relations in the digital space.
• 🔥 Scorching heat and dry conditions are breaking records in California, fueling deadly wildfires across the state and threatening to overload the power grid as thousands are at risk of experiencing rolling blackouts.
• 💰 The solar industry, heat pump makers and electric-vehicle battery manufacturers are among those expecting benefits from the recently passed climate bill that will allow the government to make grants and purchase orders under the Defense Production Act. The caveat: No one is quite certain how it will work.
• 💨 Juul Labs, fighting for its survival in the United States, on Tuesday tentatively agreed to pay $438.5 million to settle an investigation by nearly three dozen states over marketing and sales practices that they contend set off the nation’s teenage vaping crisis.

THINGS TO DO

View our full calendar here.

🍺 The Pamphleteer hosts Bar Hours on the third Thursday of every month (the next meeting is September 15th) at Lucky's 3 Star Bar from 6-8 PM. The first ten guests get drinks on the company tab.

🎪 Check out our favorite driving distance festivals this summer.

👨🏻‍🌾 The Pamphleteer farmer's market guide.

⚔️ Knights in Armor at the Frist starting July 1st: European arms and armor from the renowned collection of the Museo Stibbert in Florence, Italy.

🎭 Shakespeare in the park is every Thursday through Sunday from August 18th till September 11th.

🎡 The Nashville Fair is running ever day from the 9th to the 18th at the fairgrounds.

TONIGHT

🍕 Free Slice Night @ Five Points Pizza, 5p, Free, Info
+ 11th anniversary celebration

🎹 Stereolab @ Marathon Music Works, 8p, $35, Info

🏜 A Fistful of Dollars @ Belcourt, 8:10p, $12.50, Info

🎸 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

ON THE RADAR

🎹 Stereolab @ Marathon Music Works, (9/6), $35, Info

🎙 Amyl & The Sniffers @ Brooklyn Bowl, (9/20), $26, Info
+ Aussie punk

🎸 My Morning Jacket @ Ascend Amphitheater, (9/23), $22.88, Info

⚔️ HELMET @ Marathon Music Works, (9/24), $35, Info
+ 90's alternative metal band from NY, a Pamphleteer favorite

🏜 ZZ Top & Beck @ First Bank Amphitheater, (9/27), $49+, Info

👾 Flamingosis @ Basement East (9/29), $20, Info

🎻 Gustav Holst's The Planets @ Schermerhorn (9/29-10/2), Info
+  Early 1900's orchestral suite, each movement is named after a planet

🕺 Remi Wolf @ Brooklyn Bowl (10/6), $30, Info
+ Young talented funk/pop/hip-hop singer, one of the few

🎸 Yes @ Ryman (10/11), $60, Info

🎻 Mozart & Tchaikovsky@ Schermerhorn, (10/28-29), $25+, Info

🎸 Smashing Pumpkins @ Bridgestone Arena, (10/10), $133+, Info
+ 90's alt-rock from Chicago

🎸 The Doobie Brothers @ Bridgestone Arena, (10/12), $43+, Info

🎺 Too Many Zooz @ Basement East, (10/31), $20, Info

🌶 The Gypsy Kings @ The Ryman (11/1), $39.50, Info
+ The roving band of flamenco guitarists

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Words of Wisdom

"Tell me who your enemy is, and I will tell you who you are."

Carl Schmitt

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