Niceley gets back to farming

On August 1st, state Senator Frank Niceley lost the Republican primary for district eight to the young Jessie Seal after a multi-million dollar PAC campaign that painted Niceley as a “fake conservative” or “liberal”—a move that was so incredibly effective that some of Niceley’s old friends were calling him and asking questions about his sudden turn.

However, anyone who’s paid close attention to state politics would know that Niceley has been a paragon of classic conservative values: low taxes, second amendment rights, state autonomy, and small farms. Though for now he is out of politics, the man himself is a born and raised historian with a lot of wisdom to share. I spoke with him recently about his interest in history, politics, and what he’ll be doing with his newfound free time.

Niceley credits his parents for how he came to appreciate and understand American and Tennessee history. Both were a bit older when he was born—his father 47 and his mother 40—and they were East Tennesseeans through and through. His father was Swiss and German, his mother Welch and Irish, and he grew up in a coal mining town near where he lives now. “East Tennesseeans are quite a bit different from Middle and West Tennesseans,” half-jokes Niceley. “I don’t know what it is—it might be the water.”

Niceley grew up in an old brick house on a farm that had belonged to his great grandfather. Not only did the building have a bit of Tennessee historical significance (it was used as a hospital during the Civil War), but Niceley’s father was a collector of antiques. He worked hard to impress upon his children the importance of understanding the past to make wise choices about the future. Often, the family would take road trips to visit museums around the country. 

👠 Cinderella “Drag” Bill Ruling Turns Into A Pumpkin Last week, the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected a petition to rehear the Friends of George's, Inc. v. Steven Mulroy case, closing the chapter on the drag theater troupe’s attempt to stop the Adult Entertainment Act from placing age restrictions on “adult cabaret performances.”

Last summer, US District Judge Thomas Parker placed a temporary hold on the new state law after the Memphis theater company, Friends of George’s, filed a suit claiming the bill violated their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Two months later, Parker dropped his final ruling just before midnight on June 2nd, 2023, and declared the Adult Entertainment Act unconstitutional.The state appealed Parker’s ruling, and a year later, the Sixth Circuit Court overturned the ruling by dismissing the case, citing that Friends of George’s failed to prove how they would be harmed by enforcement of the law. Though the LGBTQ theater company petitioned the court to rehear the case, all three judges denied the request, bringing an end to the saga on Friday.

“We fought hard to defend Tennessee’s Adult Entertainment Act, and I am glad that the entire Court of Appeals unanimously declined to rehear the case, preserving Tennessee’s win,” said General Skrmetti in a press release yesterday. “There has been a lot of misinformation about the Act’s scope since it became law. Tennessee, home to an incredible community of performers and songwriters, respects the awesome importance of the First Amendment. But the First Amendment allows States to restrict adult entertainment to adult-only spaces.” MEGAN PODSIEDLIK

🔫 Memphis Wins The Arms Race, For Now Last week, Attorney General Skrmetti announced that he won’t be filing an emergency appeal to stop three gun control referenda from appearing on November’s Memphis City ballot. Though state GOP leaders threatened to withhold funding if city officials went through with placing the measures on the ticket a month ago, Skrmetti made clear in a statement on Friday that he will respect the Shelby County court’s ruling that Memphis' gun control measures can appear on the ballot.

Back in July, the Memphis City Council unanimously decided to pose three questions: The first two are toothless polls asking Memphians various questions about gun control measures, but the third is an ERPO law that could allow citizens to apply for emergency risk protection orders. Though local municipalities are not allowed to pass their own gun laws, Councilmember Jeff Warrens insists that it would be treated as a “trigger law” to be enacted if the state ever changes course on its gun legislation.

“These ballot questions are a fraud on the voters of Memphis,” said Skrmetti in a press release. In what the Lookout has deemed “a veiled threat,” he continued: “They will not change the law. This is a futile stunt that wastes time and money when the city council should focus on ensuring existing laws are enforced. However, we respect the court's analysis of whether the vote should proceed and will not file an emergency appeal. This is Memphis's mistake to make and will ultimately be Memphis's mistake to pay for, as the state preemption law authorizes triple attorney's fees against cities in violation." MEGAN PODSIEDLIK

🚍 Coming To A TV Near You Pro-transit campaign ads will hit local television stations across Davidson County. According to the Banner’s Stephen Elliott, an “independent campaign supporting Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s transit funding referendum is going up with its first television ad” today. Nearly $67,000 is being spent on the campaign aimed to gain support for the mayor’s $6.9 billion Choose How You Move plan to secure dedicated transit funding through a half-cent sales tax increase.

DEVELOPMENT

• North Nashville building home to longtime restaurant listed for sale (Post)
• Ex-bar building on east side sells for $2.85M (Post)

✹ THIS WEEK IN STREAMING (September 24th)

Kinds of Kindness (Hulu) Yorgos Lanthimos reteams with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe after the magnificent Poor Things for a triptych ensemble film that also features Jesse Plemoms, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, and Joe Alwyn. As we said this summer, Greek cinema’s MVP uses Louisiana's distinct landscape as a launchpad for a snarky yet sincere dissection of the limits of control intended to meaningfully shock us all out of our stupors.

The Penguin (Max) The Riddler and emo R-Patz got most of the attention after The Batman’s release in 2022. But that Dirty Harryish take on the Caped Crusader would have lost a lot of its dramatic heft without Colin Farrell’s jaw-dropping transformation into The Penguin. After an epidemic of big and small screen misfires, DC Films had the good sense to revisit one of its best decisions with this limited TV series about the rise of the bird-shaped small-time hood into Hall of Famer Batman foil. It’s like The Wire without the pretense and insufferable fanbase. 

Starship Troopers (Netflix) Ignore those sci-fi diehards who worship at the altar of Robert A. Heinlein. Not only does this movie kick all forms of ass, but it’s the definitive cinematic statement about real-deal fascism and just as relevant to post-COVID Uncle Joe America as it was in the late-90s. Paul Verhoeven (Robocop, Basic Instinct) is the undisputed once and future king of the movies here at The Pamphleteer. 

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

🎸 John Paul White: In Concert with the Nashville Symphony @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $37+, Info

🎸 Mt. Joy @ Ascend Amphitheater, 7p, $39.5, Info

🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ Eastside Bowl, 8p, $10, Info‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p

🎺 Todd Day Wait @ The Underdog, 11:30p, Free, Info‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.