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Tenn. County Commissioner Gets His 15 Minutes

How did Tennessee County Commissioner Curtis Adams get his 15 minutes? By leaving the Democratic party and becoming a Republican...which led to his appearance on national tv.

He was asked about new party chairman Howard Dean, and he said he had "already got his tail in a crack."

He said the party "has gotten down so low that it would take a real pro to turn it around. He's not the one to do it."

Commissioner Adams told of how most elected officeholders in Hamilton County used to be Democrats and now are Republicans. Asked who he voted for in the last presidential election, he said Bush.

Crooks and Liars has the video.

Message to Mr. Adams: Good riddance. Don't let the door slam you...

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    And the mass exodus continues.....You lefties are pretty sharp though, I figure it should only take another 20 or 30 years before wake up and smell the coffee.

    Notice how this "mass exodus" seems to consist of only white people? Republicans - the party of racism.

    And if Al Gore had carried his home state of TN, he would have been President. Doors hitting butts aside, there obviously is a real problem that must be fixed. A bigger does of NE left wingers isn't the Rx.

    Just another Zen Miller? I thought Bush outlawed Cloning!

    seems like only opportunist to me. "..what side you on, which ever side seems to be winning..." r.p.

    Let me tell you, coming from the area, Curtis Adams is an opportunist of the worst kind.

    Nikki - Yeah, those ole racist Repubs, appointing SecStaes, NSA's, etc., etc. In the meantime we have the Demos fight against every black and latino nominee for high government office. Nikki, you're funny. Or else you haven't been watching the news doe the past 5 years.

    Re: Tenn. County Commissioner Gets His 15 Minutes (none / 0) (#8)
    by desertswine on Thu Feb 17, 2005 at 07:59:48 AM EST
    C'mon, Adams is only some county commissioner. Who cares? And why was this guy on national tv anyway? It's more interesting that he was on national tv rather than switching parties.

    The Dems could do with more idea-ists than ideal-ists at the moment, seems like. The Dems are losing their pragmatists and their realists, anyway. Ciao!

    In the meantime we have the Demos fight against every black and latino nominee for high government office.
    me thinks your racism is showing... i would venture to say that blacks and latino are political savvy enough to know what is in their best interest. i.e., ?did the naacp endorse condi? with gonzo, large well established latino organizations just could not accept this guys position!!! further illustrating to you and your ilk, that because your a minority dosen't "entitle" you to minority support. lies and hypocrisy probably won't garner you much minority support either.

    Nikki: You imply the Commissioner is a Racist by switching Parties. Got a link for proof?

    hardleft - One who applauds the success of blacks and latinos in being appointed to high government offices is racist, and one who opposes them is not? That is the dumbest claim I have seen in 2005. Of course the year is still young. BTW - As for minority support. My comment was about DEMOCRATS, not minority DEMOCRATS.

    Message to Mr. Adams: Good riddance. Don't let the door slam you... Door? Looks more like it's wide open these days.

    Twice as many voted Rep in this election as last
    and if 400% as many voted rep, its still such a small percentage, the reps as far as appealing to minorities have light years to go.
    BTW - As for minority support. My comment was about DEMOCRATS, not minority DEMOCRATS.
    your statement implied as such: i.e., the minorities in the democratic party should be supporting black/latino candidates, logically following, the democratic party should be supporting these candidates. as of yet i have not stooped to insulting your intelligence, i will maintain that decorum.

    Door? Looks more like it's wide open these days.
    the doors of personal choice are always open in the democratic party, its one of the main things were about.

    The good thing is that the reelection of GWB has made him less influential in his own party and he will become more and more a lame duck as his second term expires. Those in the republican party that want to succeed him will need to distance themselves from his failed stewardship over the federal budget. His Social Security fantasy reform is so far going nowhere and his tactics of seeding the traditional journalist ranks with administration schills is starting to get the attention of even Fox news. The recent proposed budget cuts for farm subsidies alienates some of the repubs' core constituencies of both family farmers and big corporate farms. The blame for 9/11 will start to come home to roost with the Bush administration with the declassification and release of the rest of the 9/11 commision's report. I think things are actually looking good for the Democratic party. Howard Dean will be a good leader for the DNC since he can talk about issues/policy and won't get attacked from his own party members and maybe some of us lefties will learn from the neocons the art of hiding agendas during elections and waiting until the candidate becomes the elected before we start to use our influence. We need to learn how to dupe the moderates like Bush did and then unite with the conservative Democrats on issues both the left and right wing dems can support. Politics is a PR game and Bill Clinton demonstrated that a left wing Democrat can coop right wing republican issues and win with them.

    I think you on the Left are missing the point- the Democratic Party in the South is collapsing. I do not doubt that this guy is probably an opportunist- but the key word is "Opportunity", and he obviously sense which side of the fence that is on. Demographic trends show that the Red States are growing and the Blue States are not- this is translating into greater political strength, representation in Congress, and the Electoral College. The Democratic Party is moving away from the mainstream, and is risking irrelevancy. Dean's election was engineered as the last one standing, but there is a price that will be exacted by Southern Democrats as a result- here in OK the State Chair is being replaced as a result of his Dean endorsement. Many minorities out here in the bible belt already are voting republican, and some are switching registration. It is the anti war stance and the perception of weakness that turns people off. Ronald Reagan once said "None of America's wars were ever fought because we were too strong," and that is a core belief in the south and the west. This is the part of the country that produces a higher percentage of the soldiers per capita that actually do the fighting and dying. Being military actually gets you free drinks out here rather than run off campuses or belittled. A good African American friend of mine who is also an activist for the democratic party voted for Bush for one reason and one reason only: to finish the war and lead us to victory, something even he admits that his party cannot find the will to do. You all make some good points, unfortunately, the battles you pick to fight (Ward Churchill, Condi Rice) and the inability to move on over Iraq and strive for victory have really made it difficult for large segments of the country to take the National Democratic Party seriously.

    "Politics is a PR game and Bill Clinton demonstrated that a left wing Democrat can coop right wing republican issues and win with them" This will be increasingly harder to do as the Party is running out of politically viable Democratic Southerners. I think you are down to the Gov of VA as the only one with a legitamate shot of being successful in the south (currently, could always change). Lieberman would have done better down here- he is percieved as "loyal" and patriotic (I'm talking perceptions, not necessarily reality), something most National Democrats are not. Dean's election is a disaster, and it will be a tough road for to recoup the losses.

    ...made it difficult for large segments of the country to take the National Democratic Party seriously.
    repeat that 5 times, starring in the mirror, unlike candyman though it will not materialize. this country will never become a 1 party system, the pure allegiances always hover around 45% both sides with 10% available. the reps this time appealed to that 10%, but in '06/'08 the issue will be different, as the failure of the current policies will have manifested themselves. politics is cycles and the current rep cycle is about up. so if you enjoy the term irrelevancy just keep repeating it while looking in the mirror.

    And he can take that other fake Democrat with him...Micky Kaus the self loathing wing of the Democratic Party aka the Quislings

    Thats it, Hardleft, you hang on to that denial as tightly as you are able to, and for as long as you possibly can, but when you inevitable fail and open your eyes, don't worry, the republicans will make it all better.

    "wait and see, time will tell" after eight years of clinton, did you wake up, open your eyes and it was better. denial lol um dogma, reps currently have a monopoly on that trait. you reps seem to believe that's a river in africa, since you currently believe life in the bushZone is permanent. talking about out of touch with political realities, you wish you could honestly believe that. does that explain your trollish presence here, or do you like 48%of voting americans know your position and "mandate" are skating on thin ice, the heat is turned on, the ice is cracking and your "mandate" will drown, sadly a slow, and painfully death. that fact, i will hold onto for as long as possible. again, repeating it, doesn’t and won't, make it so.

    Because no one ever talked about Jim Jeffords in the news media...

    Hardleft- I'm no fan of anything resembling a one-party system. In our history it led to corruption in the late 1800's and a whole lot of programs we are still trying to figure out how to pay for in the 30's. The problem is everytime the Democrats have gotten smacked in elections over the past thirty years, they react by moving even farther out of the mainstream. Democrats have sacrificed the South and large portions of the West- and they are doing nothing to change that trend. Increased radicalization will not stem the bleeding, rather it will accelerate it. Republicans, by contrast, are trying with some success to make inroads into some of the very constituencies the Democrats count on to win where they do. The democrat party cannot survive in this form over the long term.

    hardleft writes "as of yet i have not stooped to insulting your intelligence, i will maintain that decorum." But calling someone a racist is "decorum?" As for "implying"........ "In the meantime we have the Demos fight against every black and latino nominee for high government office." How does that imply?

    me thinks your racism is showing...
    i did not call you a racist, i suggested your racism was showing, a trait sadly inherent in all humans, and certainly peeks its ugly little head in spaces like this.
    The democrat party cannot survive in this form over the long term.
    speculative at best, but we do that a lot in this forum, we don't actually know what the outcomes will be. wishful thinking in the grandest, on both sides; most definitely. read again:
    your statement implied as such: i.e., the minorities in the democratic party should be supporting black/latino candidates, logically following, the democratic party should be supporting these candidates.
    ?does the second read make it any simplier?, i clearly stated what i felt your implications were.

    Re: Tenn. County Commissioner Gets His 15 Minutes (none / 0) (#27)
    by ras on Thu Feb 17, 2005 at 11:40:22 AM EST
    MWW, Clinton didn't really co-opt issues that much; he only got in w/less than 50% of the vote, thanks to Ross Perot. Afterwards, his signature "accomplishments" of welfare reform and a balanced budget were both areas where he was dragged by the R's against his own prefs: he would not have signed the former if he didn't have to, and wanted to nationalize HillaryCare on the latter. He was pretty good on free trade though. His foreign policy (nuke material to Kim Jong Il, for ex; also, AQ began plotting vs the WTC at this time) would never fly today. Today, co-opting the R position in this area means doing what Bush is doing in Iraq, and what Bush has advocated all along. But I can't see more than 3/4 of the Dem voters agreeing w/that, which means the D's would have to pick up a corresponding number of R voters to compensate for the 25% of D's who'd leave. Doesn't seem likely.

    "Howard Dean is the personification of today's national Democratic Party -- elite, radical, out-of-control, and sadly out-of-touch with ordinary Americans" -- New York state GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik on the new DNC chief.
    its always this out of touch with ordinary americans, elitism (w/o stats, i'm sure there are more millionaires+ in the reps), i'm as ordinary as they come. radical, balancing buschco, radicalism is warranted. this irrelevancy of the democratic party has become a talking point for reps, you’ve latched on to it and repeat it like a mantra. unless one of you has a crystal ball, i'll stick with the history of the political process in america, that is dynamic, and structured to change. btw: if the democratic party becomes irrelevant, and we all shift to the republican, ?guess what happens?, irrelevancy can only breed irrelevancy. thats one of those unperceived consequences thingy. be careful what you ask for, you just might get; the opposite!!!

    The democrats can spew as much rhetoric as they want and deep down they have to ask, with Dean at the helm of the DNC, is their chance of taking the white house, take back house or the senate better or worse. With the South obviously turning more republican and probably the rest of the country, I doubt that Dean, who is probably going to move the party left, is going to help the democrats chances in 2008.

    he realized what a bunch of republicans, especially southern republicans already know. You can make yourself quite wealthy in tennesse as a republican, because they just make corruption legal

    ...why was this guy on national tv anyway? It's more interesting that he was on national tv rather than switching parties.
    the propaganda machine rolls on. probably should check and see if he's being paid (monetary or otherwise) by the RNC or WH. they have established a precedent of paying for their agenda to be pushed.

    hardleft - You are obtuse. My statement said that... "we have the Demos fight against every black and latino nominee for high government office." I think their record speaks for itself. There's nothing racist about noting their record. Nice try at trying to change the subject.

    Politics has cycles, the south used to hate republicans because it was the party of Lincoln, the party that set free all their slaves. The term the "Solid South" used to mean solidly democrat. Now the white southerner votes republican because they perceive the democrats to be catering to Blacks. This is anecdotal but telling, I have a friend who sold the family homestead in south Georgia. While home in October of 2004 to finalize the sale, one of his neighbors asked how he was going to vote for President. He said he thought a change was necessary and would probably vote Kerry, his neighbor agreed about the need for a change, but said all these blacks are for Kerry so I'm going to stick with Bush. As southern states grow in population, the demographics don't lock them into the red state category the current red states are becoming more Black and Hispanic, and all voters vote for those who they feel will give them the greater share of the spoils. When Barry Goldwater lost the Presidency to LBJ the pundits were saying that the republican conservative wing was on its way to extinction and the republican party in general was irrelevant, well I guesss those folks were wrong. So as those in the past were wrong so too are those nay sayers today wrong about the democratic party. This country doesn't work with a one party system and the evidence is in today's reality. The repubs own the White House, they control Congress, the Judiciary and easily manipulate the press. So life is grand. I suggest that when the public decides to punish this administration for its record they won't be the republicans in power and maybe the democrats will be able to take advantage. Many republican politicians are scared of Bush's Social Security reform for this very reason.

    Re: Tenn. County Commissioner Gets His 15 Minutes (none / 0) (#34)
    by Jlvngstn on Thu Feb 17, 2005 at 01:48:29 PM EST
    PPJ - Show me the dems that were fighting Mr. Powells nomination. The color of Condis skin and Gonzales' ethnicity have nothing to do with our displeasure over their appointments. Race baiting is unattractive from either party. I remember being thrilled with Colin's appointment and was not terribly excited about condi's, mostly because she was a soviet expert that failed to predict the demise of the soviet union....

    The republicans aren't winning the South because they "aren't for the Blacks", that is racist and ignorant! It is a message of ownership, help people help themselves, low taxes, gov't off our backs, strong national defense, and simple patriotism. In the South, we are beyond doubt that this is the greatest country that ever existed, and you take your life in your hands for suggesting otherwise. Civil Rights is not considered a big issue (I'm sure the not to distant past plays a part in this)- most will tell you its a good thing everyone can vote, work, and live where they want. King's vision is a lot closer than you would think. However, this is a very independent, go your own way take care of yourself part of the country- As a result, Affirmative Action, set asides, and quotas are a sure way to set people off. It is more of an independent streak than anything.

    Liberals give african-americans just enough money to be unhappy and then blame the GOP as their source of unhappiness. Of course they vote for you.

    darth_nader at February 17, 2005 04:24 PM trolling with race bait, eh...

    In the meantime we have the Demos fight against every black and latino nominee for high government office. Uh huh. Very representative of the majority viewpoint of their respective American subcultures. But then in the parity of soundbyte newsclips, I can see how it would appear that your inane comment was true.

    The republicans aren't winning the South because they "aren't for the Blacks", that is racist and ignorant! It is a message of ownership, help people help themselves, low taxes, gov't off our backs, strong national defense, and simple patriotism. Gerry Owen: About 40 years after Southern children are no longer subjected to generational racist culture (no time soon), I will cede to you that race doesn't lie at the heart of Southern Republicanism and that the 1960s no longer defines the current social alignment of our two major parties.

    Ace... Still haven't found that short cliff yet, eh. Too bad.

    Tampa - Uh, dude, what part was Lincoln from? What party was the dominant party of the south through all of Jim Crow until the 60's? There is a great new book about LBJ and MLK out: Judgment Days by Kotz. Excellent stuff. -C

    TS - Are you calling the Democratic Party a "subculture?" You know, you may have a point. Dearest No Name`- "This is anecdotal but telling..." And also wrong. Did you hear the one about peach pits curing cancer? JL -No, you are the one saying I'm wrong. You show me the blacks and latinos nominated by Bush that the Demo party has supported.

    "Uh huh. Very representative of the majority viewpoint of their respective American subcultures." They need to stay on the plantation to garner your support, Tamp?

    I'll leave the three of you to spin in circles by yourself.

    "The only way the Republicans could get this many people of color in one room is to bring in the Hotel Staff". - Howard Dean "Uh huh. Very representative of the majority viewpoint of their respective American subcultures." - Tampa Student The Republicans have had Powell, Condi, Gonzales, and now that other guy I can't remember. The Democrats have... the sorts of statements you see above. Whose Racist now?

    You've all quoted Dr. Dean out of context, either intentionally or out of ignorance. Dean has consistently advocated that racial problems in this nation are largely economic. When he referenced poor rednecks with Confederate flags and gun racks on pickup trucks during the election, it was to demonstrate that poor whites are equally disenfranchised as poor minority groups. The gulf that keeps Dr. Dean from successfully connecting the two in Southern minds is generational racism. Nearly all hourly paid hospitality industry workers earn below a living wage. It is a matter of record that a huge percentage of minority groups earn below a living wage. His comment isn't a sweeping generalization, it is easily referenced. He could just as easily made a comment about American soldiers, given the disparate representation of minorities. Also with prisoners, given minority representation there. Big surprise - the poor are more often found in low paying jobs, in the military, or in trouble than are the wealthy. Go figure. It is funny that Conservatives have trouble understanding the relationship between culture, ideology, religion, and color. Actually, no it isn't. The thing most offensive here is the media's attempt to fool America into viewing "Modern" American Corporatism as the great equalizer in society when, in fact, it is the road to maintaining the economic status quo while making relatively small social policy payments in return for (largely Protestant) Social Conservative money/votes. Capitalism isn't responsible for the economic divide in this nation; Racism and Government are. But given the history of racist Corporate leaders and their influence over Government (of all levels, more so locally than nationally), economics and racism are tied to one another in any honest appraisal of where we are now. For any Liberal/Progressive that is still reading here on this site (sometimes I wonder), read Sara Diamond's 1998 book, "Roads to Dominion".