8/30/2004 04:28:15 PM|||Nathan Moore|||

For those of you who may not be from around here, there has been a mini-scandal a-brewing about a speeding ticket that the Deputy Governor, Dave Cooley, got dismissed, or allegedly got dismissed. The deputy governor is an appointed position, and Cooley is, of course, a Democrat (of course, only because we presently have a Democratic governor).

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has initiated an investigation into the incident (really). Apparently there was a shortage of money launderers and real crimes to pursue. There has been a call by some Republicans to place Cooley on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation.

My response - who cares. This is the kind of petty partisanship I want no part of. The Bredesen administration is running a remarkably clean ship. Throwing soft darts at pseudoscandals is not the way to bring it down. Let's concentrate on something real - not a "scandal" erupting over a dismissed speeding ticket.

|||109390177593766653|||Too Much!9/06/2004 03:20:56 PM|||Anonymous|||I find it fascinating that anyone can look at this story and not be angered. Personally, I don't care how fast the deputy governor drives or how many tickets he gets "fixed". The thing that troubles me is that the deputy governor has repeatedly LIED about this incident. First he said he didn't know the ticket was dismissed until the dismissing judge told him about it at a gathering in June...then why wasn't Cooley in court on the assigned court date of May 7? According to Cooley, he thought his court date was in July...this person is the deputy to the governor and he can't keep up with something as important as a court date? Then Cooley says he didn't identify himself as the deputy to the governor...well guess what the police video shows...Cooley giving the trooper his business card which clearly identifies his position as deputy to the governor. Now Cooley hands out business cards to everyone he meets. How much does that cost the tax payers.

As I said earlier, I'm not a bit concerned about how many Class C misdemeanors Cooley violates or how many he gets out of once caught...but, we are supposed to trust these people to protect us from terrorist, enforce laws, and manage our government when that can't even be honest about something as simple and miniscule as a speeding ticket? I don't think so.9/06/2004 03:21:24 PM|||Anonymous|||I find it fascinating that anyone can look at this story and not be angered. Personally, I don't care how fast the deputy governor drives or how many tickets he gets "fixed". The thing that troubles me is that the deputy governor has repeatedly LIED about this incident. First he said he didn't know the ticket was dismissed until the dismissing judge told him about it at a gathering in June...then why wasn't Cooley in court on the assigned court date of May 7? According to Cooley, he thought his court date was in July...this person is the deputy to the governor and he can't keep up with something as important as a court date? Then Cooley says he didn't identify himself as the deputy to the governor...well guess what the police video shows...Cooley giving the trooper his business card which clearly identifies his position as deputy to the governor. Now Cooley hands out business cards to everyone he meets. How much does that cost the tax payers.

As I said earlier, I'm not a bit concerned about how many Class C misdemeanors Cooley violates or how many he gets out of once caught...but, we are supposed to trust these people to protect us from terrorist, enforce laws, and manage our government when they can't even be honest about something as simple and miniscule as a speeding ticket? I don't think so.

And what else has this administration been dishonest about?9/12/2004 03:55:26 PM|||Anonymous|||It appears Mr. Nathan Moore is not concerned over something as old fashioned as honesty. I guess we now need to add speeding to the list with oral sex for the things it is permissible for public officials to be less that honest about.9/12/2004 04:55:48 PM|||Nathan Moore|||Gee, that seems to be a bit of a stretch. No one said that lying by public officials was to be defended, which is obvious if my post is read a little more closely. Besides, I was more angered about Clinton's lying under oath than the act itself (which was obviously disgusting, morally reprehensible, and indicative of a lack of character and poor judgment, but without the perjury, not an impeachable offense). Lying is something we want to discourage, of course - I just don't think that most Tennesseans are going to care about a deputy governor they've never heard of lying about a speeding ticket. I'm not defending the guy, just thinking that resources opposed to the Bredesen administration can be better spent.

We need to pick our battles more carefully. A speeding ticket issue with a deputy governor? How about digging more into TDOT, or making hay of the mess that is TennCare. There are more important things to look at.

I'm as Republican as anyone - this just doesn't seem like something we should be spending much time on.

Regards,
Nathan9/13/2004 07:54:43 PM|||Anonymous|||Has everyone forgotten that the Dept. of Safety spokesperson also lied to The Tennessean when she said that the Highway Patrol had no photograph of Trooper Angela Crawford after Trooper Crawford shot her brother in an arguement over a tub of butter?