D.D. 12/29/05

Lots of good stuff in the news today concerning Tennessee politics. Here's your comprehensive round-up:

Sen. Jeff Miller's Bugaboo -- The news that at least two of Sen. Jeff Miller's aides have been called to testify in the Tennessee Waltz indictments certainly hasn't been reassuring to Sen. Miller, who admited accepting campaign contributions from Charles Love, the lobbyist bagman who has been charged with handing off bribes for the bogus FBI-company E-Cycle. Ironically, federal indictment may be the least of Miller's worries. A Bradley County alternative newspaper has been dogging Miller over the inconsistancy of his support of a pro-family legislative platform when Miller himself had an affair with a legislative staffer, precipitating divorce proceedings. In response, Miller has sent out letters to Bradley County businesses encouraging them not to run ads in the paper. Now the employee that Miller supposively had an affair with has quit. Jessa Fehay quit her job on Wednesday according to the Nashville City Paper and Chattanooga Times Free Press. Now, even conservative pundits like Jeff Ward have said Miller shouldn't be in the GOP leadership.

The Ford Family "Legacy" -- The Ford family history in politics is the subject of a USA Today article from December 22 that I didn't pick up on before. It includes the heart-warming story of how Junior visited a lovely eatery outside of Memphis, despite the fact that it proudly displayed the Confederate flag. The article continues: "He even gets permission to put his bumper sticker on every car in the lot, right next to the Confederate flag stickers and the 'W' stickers from the last year's presidential election." Well, there's an indicator of the national media's message: 'that poor Junior, he has to compete for election amongst those bunch of biggoted Tennesseans.' Meanwhile, the Ford campaign is sending out press releases criticizing the Chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party for linking him with his family.

Roscoe's Erstwhile Lawyer? -- Former State Sen. Roscoe Dixon may have to replace the lawyer representing him in his Tennessee Waltz corruption charges. Turns out that Dixon's lawyer's firm has also represented Tim Willis, another figure involved in Tennessee Waltz as an FBI informant. Jay Bailey, Dixon's lawyer's son and Willis' former attorney, accused his former client of withholding information from the judge in the child support case.

Mark Albertini Stops By -- Announced Republican Gubernatorial candidate Mark Albertini stoped by my blog recently. He left a comment on my entry saying the announced pack to replace Phil Bredesen sounded like a pack of action figures. "I love my country and she is too worthy to let fall without a fight from this action figure." You can read the whole comment here.