
Vivek's Honeymoon is Over
💡 Vivek's good ideas · Immigration Czar · East Bank · YIMBYs · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone.
By now, you have surely heard about the murders at Antioch High School yesterday. The assailant killed 16-year-old Josselin Corea Escalante and injured one other student before turning the gun on himself.
All the expected platitudes have been issued by those in public leadership positions—rote declamations about "gun violence" from the mayor and sneering intonations from the Tennessee Lookout which sarcastically titled its morning newsletter "Thoughts and Prayers." He was radicalized by X, Y, and Z. Etc.
School shootings are tragic. And as I've said in the past, there's no greater indictment of a political system or an institution than that it produces citizens who walk into schools to shoot children. They touch a nerve for a reason.
But the whole communion we have with them mediated by news media represents a ritual that seems to me to guarantee their reproduction. The language is the same, the coverage identical, for every one of these events, ignoring the particular circumstances that lead to them.
When a school shooting happens, news media consecrates it by labeling it a school shooting, ensuring that it is elevated above the regular violence that plagues a school like Antioch. The one-size-fits-all approach to these tragedies and their rapid ascent in the national consciousness guarantees that we will learn nothing from them.
As tragic and recurrent as they are, these are local matters that affect a particular community. Nationalizing them and making them into these drawn-out media spectacles has only encouraged other would-be shooters. Prayers for the victims and their families.
Onward.
In less time than it took the rest of us to nuke our holiday leftovers, former DOGE co-director Vivek Ramaswamy managed to utterly obliterate his nascent political career. Blame the lull of the post-Christmas dead week. Or what seemed like his mistaking X as a submission portal for an Entertainment Weekly essay contest about the inspirational power of Steve Urkel and that maniac music professor from Whiplash. Regardless, the ensuing political fallout makes the still-memeable woogirl moment that put the kibosh on Howard Dean’s political career two decades ago now seem downright charming.
Arguing for the necessity of importing Indian labor via H-1B visas while lobbing bombs at the jocks who Breakfast Clubbed him in high school, Ramaswamy offered up the blanket statement that America venerates mediocrity over excellence to the tune of over 118 million views. Few, if any, of these reactions trended positive. Tiger moms vs. wine moms wasn’t quite the debate the American people wanted to have as they and their families lay on the couch in food comas the day after Christmas among the remnants of homemade gingerbread men.
For the next two weeks, Vivek went radio silent on social media while trying to stop the hemorrhaging. But, while Musk got a free pass for sharing such views thanks to his own H-1B bona fides, Vivek’s D.C. coronation was over before it began. Trump reportedly dumped him from DOGE because of the blowback. Steve Bannon felt especially betrayed as the MAGA kingmaker who gave Ramaswamy an early forum in the pandemic days when the upstart was hawking his first book, Woke, Inc.,
Thus began a flurry of subterfuge. Ramaswamy was winding down his time at DOGE early to take Vance’s Senate Seat. When news broke that he officially lost that appointment, he denied, then admitted he was readying a run for Ohio governor instead. Following in the footsteps of former Trumpworld power players on Dancing with Stars or The Masked Singer is still not yet outside the realm of possibility.

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🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.
🗺️ TN Immigration Czar Governor Lee has released an agenda outlining what he and GOP leadership hope to accomplish during next week's special session regarding illegal immigration. The agenda lists five key proposals including the establishment of a Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division, which would coordinate with the Trump administration through a governor-appointed Chief Immigration Enforcement Officer. “President Trump has made it clear that states will play a major role in partnering with his Administration to enforce immigration laws and keep communities safe, and Tennessee is heeding the call,” said Lee.
Leadership also plans to implement an anti-sanctuary city policy that makes any attempt by local officials to circumvent state law a Class E felony. “This bold proposal will help alleviate the burden of illegal immigration on local governments by centralizing immigration enforcement, making it easier for the state and local governments to work with federal authorities to remove dangerous illegal immigrants from our communities,” said Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin), who is listed as the bill’s sponsor.
Though it’s unclear if all five cornerstones of the Governor’s immigration enforcement agenda will be presented in an omnibus package, state-issued ID requirements were also listed as a top priority—an issue already being addressed by a bill making its way through the legislature. In November, Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) joined Representative Scott Cepick (R-Culleoka) in filing a piece of legislation requiring the Department of Safety to redesign licenses and permits issued to “lawful permanent residents of the United States” to be distinctly different from temporary licenses, permits, and other photo IDs issued to qualified noncitizens.
Read the Governor’s full agenda on illegal immigration here.
🏗️ East Bank Authority Yesterday morning, the East Bank Development Authority held its first official meeting following several new board appointments made by Nashville’s council and mayor. “Please join me in thanking Mayor O’Connell for appointing two phenomenal District 6 women: Mona Hodge, architect, project manager, and builder of affordable housing; and Kaitlin Dastugue, expert on human-centered design and longtime advocate for neighborhoods,” wrote East Nashville Councilmember Clay Capp in his District 6 newsletter last week. Capp highlighted the importance of including the “perspective of east side residents” in East Bank development conversations “because, while it is a big deal for the whole region, it impacts us day-to-day.”
In November, the council appointed Scott Tift, a Civil Rights labor lawyer, and Nate Carter, Director of Workforce & Employment of the nonprofit Stand Up Nashville, which “combats racial and economic inequality.” As for the state’s representation, the Banner reported that House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) will sit in on the board while Lt. Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) will appoint an emissary. The mayor’s Chief Development Officer Bob Mendes says the authority will likely meet on a monthly basis. According to the authority’s January 22nd agenda, “decisions of the board may be appealed to the Chancery Court of Davidson County for review under a common law writ of certiorari” within 60 days of a final decision made by the board.

🏚️ Calling all YIMBYs A 20-acre parcel of land, zoned with the ability to create a densely situated, mixed-use, walkable, bikeable haven just a few miles from Downtown/Midtown, has just hit the market. According to City Now Next, the Clifton Innovation District located just off of Charlotte Pike is mostly made up of cleared land, and it offers developers an opportunity to take advantage of a few key development incentives. A conceptual design rendered by STG Design Nashville also “shows the connectivity and engagement with the planned Greenway extension, which will ultimately connect Centennial Park/Vanderbilt with the Gulch.”
“This is an extremely rare assemblage of land directly in the urban core that offers unprecedented scale and will allow a developer to make a meaningful mark on Nashville’s skyline,” said Patrick Inglis, Senior Vice President of Colliers International, which listed the parcel. “Over the past few years, we have had multiple unsolicited conversations with user groups interested in some or all of the site, but we have decided to broaden the conversation to ensure we identify all groups who would be interested in an opportunity of this magnitude adjacent to Downtown Nashville.”
DEVELOPMENT
- City Cafe in Murfreesboro to close after 100+ years (WKRN)
- New renderings, timeline revealed of Ray Hensler's Peabody Union development (NBJ)
- Gaylord hotel and convention facility set for $131M update (Post)
- Blackstone Brewery site among property listed for sale (Post)
- Rolling Mill Hill apartment tower to open in April (Post)

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.
TONIGHT
🪕 Deeper Shade of Blue @ Station Inn, 9p, $20, Info
🎸 Matthew Welde @ Dee's Lounge, 9p, $5, Info
🎸 Jessica Lea Mayfield @ The Blue Room, 7p, $25.88, Info
🥁 Jack Ruch and Adam Wakefield trio. @ The Underdog, 7p, $10, Info
🥁 LIVE JAZZ: Parker James, Paul DeFiglia, & Anson Hohne @ Vinyl Tap, 7p, No Cover, 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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