An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
My Kind Of Gadfly
gadfly – 1 : any of various flies (as a horsefly, botfly, or warble fly) that bite or annoy livestock 2 : a person who stimulates or annoys especially by persistent criticism
The Tennessee Center for Policy Research bills itself as a nonpartisan, free-market think tank, implying serious public-policy study. But it actually spends most of its time sniping at Democrats to please right-wing funders.
Now, I’ll be honest. I kind of avoid The Nashville Scene because I have found it to be extremely left wing. I want facts. Realities. It doesn’t matter which side of the aisle someone is on, if they can’t be bothered to report objectively, I can’t be bothered to waste my time. Such is the case with this little hit piece.
It’s run by Drew Johnson, a skinny twentysomething who makes an unlikely saboteur. Until a few days ago, when he visited the orthodontist, his smile revealed a mouthful of braces. Wearing the stylish suits he favors (he’s known as GQ Drew on the blogosphere), he could pass for a high school kid on prom night.
Now honestly, I’ve never heard of him referred to as “GQ Drew”. And as for his braces? So what? I wonder how many adults have gotten braces when they can finally afford it? This is relevant….how?
Bredesen’s aides say Johnson tramples across the line between legitimate scrutiny and harassment. Johnson may insist he plays no favorites, but his center is one of many cookie-cutter outfits across the country working hard to pester Democrats to exasperation. Funded by conservative foundations—which are, in turn, backed by big corporations—these groups are integral parts of the right-wing echo chamber, with their leaders masquerading as independent experts on radio talk shows and elsewhere in the media.
Well, golly gee Mr Wizard! Does the gubmint have a problem with letting the taxpayers know what’s actually going on? Bredesen seems to have a few issues that should be relayed to the public, and if the feckless state MSM won’t do, someone should! I, for one, am rather thankful there is such an energetic young fellow who is willing to do the ‘dirty work’.
“He’s a partisan nitwit who basically spends all his time dreaming up ways to terrorize rank-and-file state employees,” says Bredesen senior adviser Will Pinkston. “Sad way to feed an outsized ego.”
Just in case the good governor’s adviser wasn’t aware, those state employees work for US! WE pay their salaries!
Johnson’s mocking retort: “Waaaah.”
Heh. Yep, those who don’t like working for us ol’ common folk do tend to whine when they are asked to do so. Typical.
Granted, the author, Jeff Woods, does actually give the guy some credit for uncovering some serious flaws. Although grudgingly.
The center is not required by law to identify contributors. Johnson discloses foundation grants, which he says makes up 60 percent of his funding, but won’t name individual donors because, he says rather grandly, their lives have been threatened for giving money to such a courageous outfit. He will say there are more than 200 individual donors, with contributions ranging from $10 to $10,000.
Do organizations, such as Morons.org (aka MoveOn), divulge all their individual donors? Odds are, no. However, I seriously doubt if anyone from the ‘right’ has threatened their lives. Unfortunately, this is fairly typical for the moonbats, to threaten the lives of those who disagree with their skewed view of the world.
At his downtown office, Johnson hosts regular meetings of a club called the Center-Right Coalition, an offshoot of the famous coffee klatches held in D.C. by Grover Norquist, an anti-tax nut and hero of the modern conservative movement. Another organizer is the Tennessee taxophobe Ben Cunningham. Norquist started his meetings in 1992 to plot strategy against Bill Clinton and the Democrats. But despite all evidence to the contrary, Johnson is sticking to his story: “It’s not partisan at all.”
Being anti tax garners the title of ‘nut’? Well, count me in! Only a left wing whack job would consider excessive taxation a GOOD thing.
The center occasionally targets Republicans in its “Pork Reports,” which supposedly chronicle government waste. Yet the Capitol press corps’ eyebrows raised when one report pointed out Democratic House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh’s expenses for office remodeling, but failed to do the same for Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey.
Johnson says he let Ramsey off the hook “because Ramsey’s renovations didn’t go over budget. Naifeh’s went wildly over budget. If Ramsey’s had gone over budget…his ass would’ve been in the Pork Report too.”
Sorry. I agree with Johnson. If you go so far over your budget, then you should be called out. Naifeh seems to think he’s so far above the peons out here in the real world of Tennessee, he, of course, can get away with whatever he pleases, with the aid of the major news rags in the state.
I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not well versed in Tennessee politics, although, I’m learning. And I’ll also admit I insert quite a bit of sarcasm when I spout my opinion, but then, I normally will identify it as such. This guy should have put a disclaimer on his piece: “Warning! I’m a left wing hack!”
Mr Muse has a much better take on all this than I do. He actually knows the young man who is the target.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
I think AC Kleinheider (who used to blog for Nashville’s WKRN TV and then moved to the Nashville Post) first dubbed him GQ Drew. The Nashville blogging community has some cutesy insider names other bloggers and public figures.
@Kay Brooks:
Pfft! How precious! (insert snark…heh) So, I guess if they can’t dispute facts, they all tend to point out physical attributes? I’m of the mindset that I’d be more likely to trust a clean cut type over someone who is in need of a good, long shower!
[...] My Kind of Gadfly by Kate at An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings. [...]