Hidden Allegiance - And Response (4)

  • Thursday, January 23, 2025

Shame on Kathy Lennon. After years of running for office and demurely avoiding a reasonable question "are you a Democrat?" by rather disingenuously claiming the office she is running for is non-partisan she finally reveals her true colors.

While the offices were indeed non-partisan, she hid her allegiance knowing full well she could not realize her ambitious drive to hold office (any office), if she revealed she was a liberal Democrat. Somehow, she has finally found the courage to announce she is running for chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party.

As Senator Rockefeller (D-Illinois) once said, "Politics ain't bean bag," and I understand the vigor and wherewithal necessary to run a campaign. What I don't understand is her lack of embarrassment at not proudly proclaiming (until her most recent 2024 race), that she is indeed a member in good standing of the Democratic Party during all her past elections.

I am a partisan Republican and have no skin in this game. However, as a voter I expect those running for office to be able to declare their basic governing philosophy.

Kathy Lennon is either lacking in finesse and/or lacking in backbone, I don't know which.

Leah M. Geraghty

* * *

I am still trying to understand Ms. Geraghty's attack on Kathy Lennon. Ms. Geraghty takes umbrage with Lennon not addressing party affiliation during "non-partisan" elections (despite other candidates plainly pointing to their GOP affiliations).

Ms. Lennon served all of her constituents during her term as a school board member. Ms. Lennon proudly represented her party in her run for the TN house. Kathy Lennon is the epitome of a public servant that is more concerned about her constituency than her party.

Admittedly, I am a "liberal Democrat", but like Ms. Lennon, I am more concerned about the future of Tennessee, which is dominated by a GOP supermajority dedicated to diverting money from public education and passing legislation that is simply designed to appease their base.

I applaud the likes of Ms. Lennon and Allison Gorman, who both put the needs of Tennesseans before that of their party. I for one would be proud to have Kathy Lennon as the head of the local Democratic Party.

Rob Block

* * *

Rob Brock, while I do appreciate your taking the time to respond Leah Geraghty and defend Kathy Lennon, I think you missed the point of Ms. Geraghty's opinion letter. I don't think any "attack on" Kathy Lennon was intended, but I do agree with your "umbrage with" portion. I'm sure you realize Ms. Geraghty used the word umbrage to express demurely, which is not an attack word.

Umbrage, or demure, comes from the Latin word "maturus". That word translates as reserved or a sense of shy. This is why it's important to understand why words have meaning. Ms. Geraghty was merely pointing out that Ms. Lennon was evasive and somewhat surreptitious in declaring her allegiance to the Democrat Party. As factions of the Democrat Party have moved further to the left, they are less willing to declare the obvious.

The divide in our nation has been wide, and continues to grow wider. It's sad because it causes division even among families and close friends. In my study of history, it seems we are at the same point where the Republican Party was founded by Abraham Lincoln in 1850. The Democrats wanted to own slaves, people as property or chattel, and the Whig Party was divided on this issue. The Whig Party went away as a result and the Republican Party started so someone would stand up for all people and declare slavery as wrong. The Democrats were so adamant they were willing to go to war and even assassinate a POTUS.

After the Civil War, and the leadership of President U. S. Grant, the county healed and came back together for the next 100 plus years. We are losing that again. Abortion, illegal immigration, property destruction and a lack of transparency have added to this division. That division exist in the Democrat Party, and I predict it will be the party's undoing. Not all Democrats support the narrative of the extreme left.

Even in a nonpartisan race, it's still important to know how each person will behave if elected to the office. That's all Ms. Geraghty wanted. She wasn't looking for a fight, rather an answer.

J. Pat Williams

* * *

Saying that someone is spineless is an attack, regardless of your political stripes. The accusation can be valid or justified or baseless or mean-spirited but, no matter how you spin it, it’s an attack. The original post shames Kathy Lennon for hiding something that is negative in the poster’s mind, i.e. she’s a Democrat. Even without the “lacking in backbone” insult, the tone of the post is an attack and is partisan at its core. (By the way, proud Democrat here.)

J. Pat Williams reminds us that words have meanings. It’s telling that they ended their response by saying that Ms. Geraghty only wanted to know how Kathy Lennon would “behave”. Behave can mean how someone conducts themselves and manages their actions. Ms. Geraghty wants to know, not how someone behaves, but how they vote. She says someone should declare their “basic governing philosophy”. She means governing ideology. How someone will behave in office is distinct from how someone will vote. Part of my governing philosophy is that public servants and elected officials can act in the best interests of their constituents independent of party affiliations. Judging only by what they wrote, Ms. Geraghty and Mr. Williams don’t seem to share that philosophy.

Will Hays

* * *

J. Pat Williams, 

Focus on non-partisan. "Even in a nonpartisan race, it's still important to know how each person will behave if elected to the office. That's all Ms. Geraghty wanted. She wasn't looking for a fight, rather an answer."

When Kathy Lennon ran for School Board it was non-partisan-candidate oriented. She ran as Democrat, proudly I might add, for Tennessee House.

You ask non-partisan candidates the same questions. But they are non-partisan, by the very definition, there is only that answer. Because it's non-partisan.

"Behave"? Sounds a smidge misogynistic 

John Lennon


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