The Circus Must Go On

This morning’s coverage of last night’s council meeting was filled with tales of emboldened Metro council members going toe-to-toe with neo-Nazis and pictures of Antifa counterprotesters facing off against white supremacy. After witnessing the clash of political rivals outside the Metro Courthouse, the council had an opportunity to denounce political violence in America. Did they take it? No. Instead, the body couldn’t be bothered to condemn the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump’s life.

Forty minutes into last night’s meeting, Vice Mayor Angie Henderson recognized Councilmember Courtney Johnston who introduced a late-filed resolution brought forward by herself, Councilmember Jeff Eslick, and Councilmember Bob Nash denouncing the heinous shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania. The legislation also honored the bravery of Corey Comperatore who died shielding his family from gunfire, and uplifted “David Dutch, James Copenhaver, and other innocent attendees” who were wounded on Saturday. 

“...Despite our differences, political violence has no place in our society, and we should instead settle our differences at the ballot box,” reads the legislation. Upon bringing the resolution before the council, Johnston appealed to her colleagues to suspend the rules in order to open up the floor for discussion and take a vote. After asking for objections to Johnston’s request, the Vice Mayor acknowledged Councilmember Terry Vo, who sheepishly raised her hand in dissent. Vo was quickly joined by Councilmember Ginny Welsch before Henderson determined that the body would not acknowledge the legislation during the meeting. 

"This was a vile action by extremists on the council that regrettably has become all too common," Johnston told the Tennessean afterward. "Every Tennessean, and certainly every Nashvillian, should be ashamed that these two council members could not denounce the murder of an innocent man, and the attempted assassination of former President Trump. In the United States, we settle our political differences with ballots, not bullets."

Interestingly, this type of circumstance was discussed at length during a special Rules, Confirmations, and Public Elections Committee meeting last week. While going over the implications of Councilmember Emily Benedict’s proposed changes to Rule 13, which would open up the council’s ability to introduce late-filed legislation mid-council meeting (and was deferred during last night’s meeting), members addressed the council’s ongoing struggle over how to approach late-filed non-binding resolutions.

“So, one of the reasons that we had the rule change for non-binding resolutions is because, in several years past, people would bring late-filed non-binding resolutions very frequently,” said Rules Chair Sandra Sepulveda last Wednesday. “The minimum bar is making sure that we speak out against white supremacists and Nazis. Everything else, no matter how important it was– it has been my position to vote against the late-filed nature of it.”

For her part, Sepulveda was not one of the council members who motioned against hearing the late-filed resolution condemning Saturday’s assassination attempt. And, true to her word, she confronted members of the neo-Nazi group before the start of last night’s meeting. “After several occasions where hateful people have been parading in our city very comfortably and spewing hate, especially hate against communities I represent, it was nearly impossible for me not to say something,” she told the Banner after the confrontation. “I don’t think it makes sense to continue to do the same thing and expect different results.”

With that in mind, Councilmember Jeff Preptit has taken up the mantle; last night he introduced a bill attempting to prohibit police officers from affiliating with “hate groups and paramilitary gangs.” Though Preptit brought the bill forward in reaction to neo-Nazi groups parading the streets of downtown Nashville, it seems he’s decided to target MNPD officers and other emergency responders in his quest to cleanse the city of hate. And there’s a catch: the legislation would “explicitly prohibit posts, ‘likes,’ jokes, memes, retweets, and other statements that advocate racism, violence, misogyny, homophobia, or other kinds of hate or discrimination.” Despite his background as a civil rights attorney, Preptit’s Big Brother-esque proposal flirts on the edge of undermining First Amendment rights. In an effort to assess whether the bill is constitutional, he asked for a three-meeting deferral.

Nashvillians have come to expect such drama from the Metro Council, and it’s no surprise that last night’s theatrics distracted from the many important items on the agenda. Mayor O’Connell’s transit referendum passed unanimously on final reading, ensuring its appearance on November’s ballot without ever having been discussed on the council floor. Councilmember Joy Styles needlessly sapped up 40 minutes of the meeting haggling over her Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission bill, which would change the criteria for awarding funding: "Spent an hour on a bill that got withdrawn,” posted Councilmember Sean Parker on X. “I am begging y’all to stop doing this bullshit.” Councilmember Rollin Horton’s NEST-related bill passed on final reading, expanding the ability for adaptive residential housing to be built in commercially zoned areas, as did Councilmember Jordan Huffman’s oddly controversial bill to create a voluntary list of homeless service providers in Davidson County. All in a day’s circus. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK

🎓 Civil Rights Issue of Our Time Last night, Governor Lee addressed thousands of his fellow Republicans at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Lee, who serves as chair of the Republican Governors Association, used his speech to highlight the many ways GOP governors pushed back against the Biden administration’s policy failures. 

“The Biden and Harris administration unleashed inflation on this country making it hard for Americans to make ends meet. Republican governors pushed back by cutting taxes for our people. They opened the border, endangering our country. Republican governors sent the National Guard to the border to protect it; to crack down on cartels, and fentanyl, and human trafficking. They tried to let the Chinese Communist Party buy our farmland. Republican governors banned it. They attacked parental rights. Republican governors fought back for a parent's right to choose their own child's education. President Trump was right when he said that school choice is the civil rights issue of our time.” MEGAN PODSIEDLIK

Watch the full speech 30 minutes into yesterday’s C-Span live stream here.

DEVELOPMENT

• Louisiana-inspired piano bar Bayou Keys to open in downtown Nashville (Tennessean)
• Oracle adds almost 30% to downtown office footprint (NBJ)
• Status of proposed Chestnut Hill tower uncertain (Post)
• MDHA committee OKs St. Regis preliminary concept plan (Post)

We are hosting an event with Joe Allen, editor for Steve Bannon's War Room, on Friday, July 26th. This article is reposted from his Substack and should give you a sense of what Joe is about. If you are interested in attending, RSVP here.

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✹ THE DEEPFAKES ARE COMING FROM INSIDE YOUR HEAD

Donald Trump was shot at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday. One heroic attendee, Corey Comperatore, a firefighter and father of two daughters, was killed by a stray bullet while shielding his family. Two other attendees were critically wounded. A bit too late, the shooter was taken out by a Secret Service sniper. Those are the facts—if you still believe in “facts.”

The reality is that millions act as if there is no objective reality. Sure, in a media environment saturated by lies and obfuscation, there are plenty of critical questions to ask. For instance, many people want to know how the shooter was able to get into position at all. Good question! Everyone’s heads should spin on that one—and some heads should roll.

But a rapidly growing swarm of internet-brained skeptics are primed for the James Shelby Downward spiral. Indeed, less than 33 hours after the incident, the rabbit holes had already devolved into a whack-a-doodle maze of stage magic, splattered ketchup, crisis actors, and AI deepfakes.

Before we fall into that downward spiral, though, let’s return to plain ol’ consensus reality for a moment.

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

🎸 Josh Weathers @ 3rd and Lindsley, 7:30p, $24.76, Info

🎸 Zoo Culture @ Exit/In, 7p, $21.55, Info

🪕 Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road @ Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info

🪕 Bluegrass Night @ The American Legion Post 82, 7p, Free, Info