John Cole’s Tennessee: Wrecking ball. The Tennessee Legislature gutted the board of Tennessee State University, a historically Black college, over an audit that showed no fraud and less than $4,000 in irregular spending.
The year in Tennessee politics was characterized by conspiracy theories about chemtrails and vaccines delivered in lettuce, a members of the congressional delegation putting their worst feet forward, labor unions making strides in unionizing auto plants, squabbles over funding to help storm-devastated areas of East Tennessee, books being pulled from school library shelves, and lawmakers enacting harsh penalties on the state’s only public historically Black university. Editorial cartoonish John Cole deftly skewered all the issues, and more, week after week.
January 10: Restricted. New state House of Representatives rules permit House Speaker Cameron Sexton to silence lawmakers deemed “off topic” and restrict debate and limit public access. February 7: That’s Speaker Candy Man to you. House Speaker Cameron Sexton instituted a ticket system for members of the public to view legislative proceedings. The tickets were termed “golden tickets” by regular attendees, in a reference to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” March 27: High on their own supply. Two Tennessee lawmakers are pushing a bill to ban “chem trails,” a conspiracy theory about vapor trails from high-altitude airplanes. April 23: A vote by Chattanooga Volkswagen employees to unionize makes the plant the first in the South to become a union shop by election since the 1940s. May 29: Emergency? What emergency? Ballad Health continues to get top ratings from the Tennessee Department of Health despite failures — including 11-hour emergency room waits. June 12: Rest in power. Remembering Rev. James Lawson, a titan of the Civil Rights Movement. July 10: Play ball! The state is spending plenty on athletic facilities, including $350 million on two Memphis arenas and $500 million for a new NFL stadium in Nashville. Aug 14: Eye of the storm. Even as U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles dismisses questions about his campaign finances, the FBI has opened an investigation. October 2: Even as Tennessee lawmakers like U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, a Columbia Republican, downplay the role of government, East Tennessee needs government resources for recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene damage. October 19: ennessee Congressman Tim Burchett alluded to George Soros, a Jewish businessman and donor to progressive causes, as a “money changer” — an antisemitic stereotype. November 20: One big turkey. Gov. Bill Lee is using surplus TennCare funds to loan money for disaster recovery. December 18: Holiday baking. Nothing says ‘holiday’ like a toasty fire — except when the flames are fueled by books pulled off library shelves thanks to a Tennessee law.
