Praying for Nashville
03-05-20
As I woke up Tuesday morning, I hopped on social media, to check the national weather service and see if the late night tornado warnings we got Monday night amounted to anything as the storm crossed Tennessee.
What I saw when I logged on broke my heart.
Two weeks ago Vince, Sam and I headed into Nashville to see my dad who was in town for a National Turkey Federation conference and spent the weekend with him for a quick getaway visit. Saturday we must have walked most of downtown at least once, if not twice checking everything out. We even managed to make it to the Frist Art Museum after lunch, since Sam wanted to visit.
As we entered the museum, they had an exhibition of photos and stories from the Nashville flood that occurred in 2010. I was struck by the resilience of Nashville and its residents looking at the destruction captured in those photos. A horrible moment in time for so many, it was ultimately a story of strength and determination. And as we left the museum, we talked about the flood pictures - not the art, though lovely, but the reality which probably left the biggest impact on all three of us.
Nashville Strong was born during that flood, and the city rebuilt. It came back better, and friendlier, than ever.
I expect nothing less than that same unshakeable attitude after the unthinkable happened, Mother Nature unleashing on Nashville once again.
The tornado that struck Nashville early Tuesday morning damaged more than just buildings, with damages in the millions of dollars. At last count, nineteen lives have been lost and all of us are left trying to come to terms with the capriciousness of tornados. One home or building completely destroyed, the next untouched.
But times like this also remind me why Vince and I chose to move to Tennessee in the first place. Because along with photos of devastation and wreckage there were posts of people mobilizing... the people who immediately started helping. The sports teams that opened their facilities to house people who found themselves without power, or a place to feel safe. The businesses that opened doors to feed people, and those that just offered prayers for everyone in Nashville.
It is the best part of America. The ability of our nation to mobilize and help when tragedy strikes in our own backyard, or one halfway around the world.
And of all the pictures I saw Tuesday morning come across my Twitter feed, one fit so perfectly I had to include it today. Both the destruction, the hopefulness and the strength.
“I BELIEVE IN NASHVILLE”
Well, continue to believe. Because Nashville will.
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Super Tuesday is here, and well, the race for the Democrat nomination continues to astound... for all the wrong reasons. Last minute maneuvering saw Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Steyer all drop out of the race Sunday and Monday.
The optics of this, at least from my perch in west Tennessee looked a little... manufactured, to say the least. So did the tweet from Obama Administration Solicitor General Neal Katyal saying he’d love to see Mayor Pete as Secretary of State or Defense in a Democrat administration immediately after the Mayor’s announcement. An announcement that came mere hours after Buttigieg was on the Sunday shows saying that he wasn’t dropping out.
This was followed closely by the announcements of Klobuchar and Steyer, mere hours before polling locations opened on Tuesday.
It’s an interesting strategy that was floated by Republican strategists in their zeal to stop Trump four years ago. The field drops out, concentrating behind the candidate best poised to win. The difference, the Republican field wasn’t interested, or remotely into entertaining the idea of backing whomever the candidate of the moment was. And after watching the maneuverings over the last couple days... I am especially glad they didn’t.
An already angry base of disaffected voters might not be too pleased to see the establishment players moving pieces off a game board, especially after the coin flips and card draws of the caucuses left more than a bad taste in the mouths of voters. Instead of coalescing support behind one candidate, it has only made the fractures more evident.
Beyond looking bad, the whole thing stinks. President Trump’s comments, and those of other Republicans, should be the least of Democrat’s worries.
Looking back, the Republicans had a million ways to mess up in 2016 but managed to come out of the convention with a mostly cohesive party. Democrats are managing to step on the proverbial rake at every turn in this process.
Desperation makes for horrible decision making, and the DNC is desperate. The person currently leading the delegate count doesn’t even consider himself a Democrat. Of course the party wants to stop him.
I remember much joy at the circus atmosphere of the Republican field last time around. Columns and panels on how the establishment was going to save the party by some maneuver or another. Maybe, just maybe, Republicans had that part right by just letting the voters... vote.
This time around, I think I’m gonna get some popcorn and enjoy the show.