Roy Exum
It was with a full dose of delight on Wednesday when I learned a bereaved Joan Carter had agreed to serve in an interim role on the Tennessee Legislature in place of her popular husband, Mike Carter. What a sterling tribute to Mike, who died on May 15, with cancer, and what a most deserved honor to Joan after a lifetime of support for a great civil servant! I can’t think of a greater honor to a more deserving person.
Granted, chances are it will be in name only for a short few weeks.
The Hamilton County Commission will appoint an interim representative for District 29 in the state legislature on June 9 but already a special election has been called for later in June for the District 29 voters to decide instead of the county politicians. The normal election cycle, for a two-year term, will be held this fall.
Should Mrs. Carter be chosen as the interim on the 9th of next month, she most certainly could run as a candidate in the special called election, as well as the fall ballot.
Ironically, Chattanooga faced a similar election tragedy 47 years ago. Mort Lloyd was a delightful news anchor for Chattanooga’s WDEF-TV and when he ran in the ’68 Democratic primary for Congress, he was an easy winner, ready to face Republican incumbent LaMar Baker. An amateur but quite experienced pilot, Mort was killed in a subsequent crash as the new Democratic candidate-elect was hurrying to a state celebration in his airplane. In short order, the Democrats offered Mort’s widow Marilyn in her husband’s stead.
The Republicans got trounced that election cycle, with “Watergate” still raw, and Marilyn served 20 years with distinction. After her tenth term, Marilyn, a savvy Democrat, actually endorsed Republican Zach Wamp as her replacement. Zach then was a superstar in Congress from 1995 until 2011 when he ran for governor, Chuck Fleischmann has been Chattanooga’s representative since. Marilyn Lloyd – the first female to ever be elected to Congress from Tennessee - passed away in 2018 at age 89.
Joan Carter has great bearing, and I would rejoice if County Commissioner Sabrena Smedley’s urging would place Joan Carter in office, if only as a tribute to her family’s allegiance to Hamilton Country.
* * *
OKLAHOMA DID IT ANYWAY
Here’s a fun one that is going viral on the Internet:
This is a message of hope for our country!
Think Arizona almost did something horrible? Well, "Oklahoma is doing it anyway."
Oklahoma is the only state in which Obama did not win even one county in the 2012 election. While everyone is focusing on Arizona’s new law, look what Oklahoma has been doing!
An update from Oklahoma:
Oklahoma law passed, 37 to 9 an amendment to place the Ten Commandments on the front entrance to the state capitol. The Feds in D.C. along with the ACLU, said it would be a mistake.
Hey, this is a conservative state, and based on Christian values.
Guess what -- Oklahoma did it anyway!
Oklahoma recently passed a law in the state to incarcerate all illegal immigrants, and ship them back to where they came from, unless they want to get a green card and become an American citizen. They all scattered. This was against the advice of the Federal Government, and the ACLU said it would be a mistake.
Guess what -- Oklahoma did it anyway.
Recently we passed a law to include DNA samples from any and all illegals in the Oklahoma database, for criminal investigative purposes. Pelosi said it was unconstitutional.
Guess what -- Oklahoma did it anyway.
Several weeks ago, Oklahoma passed a law declaring that it was a Sovereign state, not under the Federal Government directives. Joining Texas, Montana, and Utah as the only states to do so. More states are likely to follow: Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolina's, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, West Virginia, Mississippi, and Florida. Save your confederate money, it appears the South is about to rise up once again.
The Federal government has made bold steps to take away our guns. Oklahoma, a week ago, passed a law confirming that people in this state have the right to bear arms and transport them in their vehicles. I'm sure that was a setback for the criminals. The Liberals didn't like it, but:
Guess what -- Oklahoma did it anyway.
Just this month, the state passed a law that ALL driver's license exams will be printed in English, and only English. They have been called racist for doing this, but the fact is that ALL of the road signs are in English only. If you want to drive in Oklahoma, you must read and write English. Really simple.
By the way, the Liberals don't like any of this either.
Guess what -- who cares -- Oklahoma did it anyway.
Man, oh man -- I love moxie!
---