A Liberal Dose, March 28, 2024 "The Power of Quiet Democrats"

 

A Liberal Dose

March 28, 2024

Troy D. Smith

“The power of quiet Democrats”

 

Back in the summer of 2021, I did a series of columns in this newspaper called “When White County Was Blue.” I was musing about the fact that, for most of my life, White County was so solidly Democratic that for all intents and purposes the Democratic Primary was the real election (for virtually all offices), and the general election only a technicality. I’m going to share a lengthy quote from the first column in that series:

“I looked at the presidential results in White County for every election between 1900 and 2020. Allow me to tell you how many times the Republican carried White County in the 20th century (25 elections).

“Twice.

“The first time was in 1972: Nixon vs. McGovern. Nixon won 60% to 37% (I will give all the results in terms of percentages)... Still, it was closer in White County than it was nationwide, where the margin was 68% to 30%. The only other time was 1988, when Bush, Sr. beat Dukakis on the national stage 58% to 42%. In White County, though, Bush’s victory was razor-thin: 50% to 49%, or a margin of only 82 votes…

“Reagan won Tennessee both times (1980 & 1984), but not White County. Bill Clinton won by large margins both times. Al Gore lost his home state of Tennessee to Bush, but he won White County 53% to 45%. But in 2004 Bush beat Kerry, 56% to 44% -the numbers were reversed. Obama lost in 2008 63% to 35%, 68% to 31% in 2012. Trump won 78% to 19% in 2016, 81% to 18% in 2020.”

White County’s “red” status is relatively recent. A lot of folks who have moved here in the last 20 years might never have guessed that, and I guess a lot of people who are from here but under 30 might not have known it. I think a lot of folks who are from here but are over 30 have FORGOTTEN it, and forgotten which ticket they themselves used to punch.

Nowadays, it seems that only about one out of every five voters in White County votes Democratic. That’s not many. But let’s take a look at some actual numbers where registered voters are concerned.

In the 2020 presidential election, there were 16,637 registered voters in White County. Of those, 11,929 actually turned out -or about72%. By the time of the 2022 midterms, there were 17,350 voters, out of whom 7,033 turned out -or 40.5%. Smaller turnout when the White House is not at stake is the norm. But think about that total number of registered voters -17,350. If the one-in-five ratio holds up, that means there are about 3,500 Democratic-leaning voters in this county. 3,500 people in a place this size is NOT an insignificant number.

And I hear from them.

Some of them are people who’ve moved in (though the majority of people moving in lately have been conservatives from blue states). Many are younger people from here who have more progressive or liberal ideas than the majority. And a good many of them are people my age or older, who never did switch over to supporting Republicans. A lot of those people are quiet about their political beliefs, being in the minority -but they’re there. Turnout among registered Democrats tends to be small in rural Tennessee counties -because they are discouraged. They know their preferred presidential candidates have very little chance of winning here.

But you know what? A couple of thousand here and a couple of thousand there, added to the Democratic majorities in large cities, can make a HUGE difference in a statewide race (governor or U.S. senator). It could help send Marsha Blackburn home at the end of this year, and pick up a seat in the Senate for Democrats.

So if you’re a quiet Democrat… don’t be discouraged. Get out and vote. Your vote CAN make a difference.

--Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech and serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee Democratic Party. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

 

  Buy the book A Liberal Dose: Communiques from the Holler by Troy D. Smith HERE

You can find all previous entries in this weekly column HERE

A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE

Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com

The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE

 

 

A Liberal Dose, March 21, 2024 "Trump Promises a Bloodbath for the Country"

 

A Liberal Dose

March 21, 2024

Troy D. Smith

“Trump Promises a Bloodbath for the Country”

 

As I write these words (four days before you will read them), everyone is talking about some controversial statements made yesterday in Ohio by Donald Trump (imagine that). One of those statements concerns undocumented immigrants:

“I don’t know if you call them people,” Trump said. “In some cases they’re not people, in my opinion. But I’m not allowed to say that because the radical left says that’s a terrible thing to say.”

Well, it is a terrible thing to say. About anybody. Because claiming that some people don’t count as people -similarly to calling groups of people “vermin,” as Trump has done repeatedly -is something authoritarians have frequently done throughout history (one authoritarian in particular, a little fellow with a funny mustache). It is a tactic to dehumanize members of that group -to “other” them, as sociologists and anthropologists say -in order to make it easier to hate them. And to kill them. It wouldn’t REALLY count as killing, you see, since they are not human.

But his next statements are what people have been talking about the most. While discussing the future of the auto industry, he said, “If I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”

The media, and Trump’s political opponents, have pointed to these words as a dire warning: that Trump is predicting, and even calling for, violence if he loses. Trump, and his defenders, say those complaints are taken out of context and twisting his words, that what he meant (in his colorful way) was that the auto industry would be destroyed by Biden’s policies. And, looking at it in context, that very well may have been what he was trying to say.

But, gee, why would people be prone to take him at his literal word with things like this?

Maybe it is because of the strong tendency he has shown to issue dog whistles to his most violent followers, phrased in such a way as to have plausible deniability but clearly evident to his intended audience. And sometimes it is bullhorns, not dog whistles: promising to pay the legal expenses of his followers if they beat up protesters (when, as we know, he doesn’t even pay his own legal bills), suggesting that the police intentionally injure people when they arrest them, calling for the U.S. military to shoot down peaceful protesters in the streets. And, whether it’s Trump or his cronies saying it… people listen.

Remember the guy who shot up a pizza place because right-wing media claimed that Hillary Clinton was running a child prostitution ring in its (nonexistent) basement? The guy who broke into Nancy Pelosi’s house and cracked her husband’s skull with a hammer? I don’t know, the couple of thousand people who stormed the Capitol threatening to hang Mike Pence?

Some Republican senators privately admitted that they did not vote to convict Trump in his January 6^th impeachment because they literally feared for their families’ lives from his supporters. So have some judges. Anyone who opposes him gets massive amounts of death threats… and we’ve all seen evidence it is not hyperbole.

Study after study has shown that political violence is on the rise in this country. The Anti-Defamation League reported there were 450 murders committed by political extremists in the U.S. in the last decade -20% by Muslim extremists, 4% by people on the left wing… and 75% by right-wing extremists. This is backed up by studies done by the FBI, the Global Terrorism Database, and other sources.

Just like on January 6^th, Trump does not physically do anything (he rarely does, come to think of it, in any context)… but his words have done a LOT. And still do.

Donald Trump’s mouth has already created a bloodbath in this country. And he keeps ratcheting it up.

--Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech and serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee Democratic Party. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

 Buy the book A Liberal Dose: Communiques from the Holler by Troy D. Smith HERE

You can find all previous entries in this weekly column HERE

A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE

Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com

The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE

 

A Liberal Dose, March 14, 2023 "No TVA Pipeline in the Upper Cumberland"

 

A Liberal Dose

March 14, 2024

Troy D. Smith

“No TVA Pipeline in the Upper Cumberland”

 

Have any of you heard about the massive protests, led by Native Americans, against the expansion of the Line 3 oil pipeline in Minnesota (the same pipeline that, in 1991, had the largest inland oil spill in American history, owned by a company that had 808 oil spills between 1999 and 2010 alone)?

Do you remember the massive, Native American led protests in 2016 against the Dakota Access Pipeline, which was being built on sacred lands along the border of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota, passing underneath the reservation’s only water source? You know, the one where North Dakota militarized sheriff’s offices around the state and brutally beat indigenous protesters and their allies? The one where the term “water protectors” was popularized, as was the Lakota Sioux phrase mni wiconi, “water is life”.

Have you heard about the natural gas pipeline that the TVA is wanting to have built through the Upper Cumberland? The one that will impact dozens of private landowners in the region via eminent domain? Which passes through the Flynn’s Lick impact crater in Jackson County -the largest meteor impact crater in the world -which was also a Native American cultural and burial site? Most of the graves and mounds were looted years ago, but some no doubt remain, as does the cultural significance of the area.

Aside from the indigenous connection, all those examples have one thing in common: they are constructed, operated, and owned by Enbridge, Inc., a Canadian energy and pipeline company.

You’ve no doubt heard about oil spills and how common they are, and how damaging to the environment. Are you aware that natural gas spills are also becoming a big problem? Except, in addition to spewing methane into the air (and into drinking water), they are also known to explode, causing massive devastation.

Energy companies promote their pipeline projects by saying how safe the whole process is. Except it isn’t. They also talk about how their pipeline projects bring in jobs -that was the big argument in North Dakota -except the vast majority of those jobs are either highly specialized and require trained workers from outside the area, or they employ contract workers in the industry who travel the country from pipeline project to pipeline project. The small number of local jobs that might be created disappear as soon as the pipeline is finished.

One thing energy companies don’t want is public opposition. When such opposition reaches the level of on-site protests, such companies have utilized their political power to have state governments intervene (sometimes violently) on their behalf, and/or have utilized their financial power to control the media and ensure that either the situation does not get reported on or that it is extremely one-sided. Since 2017 (the year the Dakota situation ended in the pipeline’s approved completion), red states around the country (including Tennessee) have passed laws making it specifically illegal, sometimes a felony, to protest on the site of a pipeline, and in some cases to grant immunity to anyone who runs over protesters with their car.

But there are other ways to fight these things, including the one looming over the Upper Cumberland. Local groups like SAGE (Safe, Affordable, Good Energy for Tennessee) have joined forces with larger groups such as the Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, and now the Tennessee chapter of AIM (American Indian Movement)-Indian Territory to organize peaceful campaigns putting pressure on the TVA to reject the Enbridge bid and go a different route. A similar campaign worked in West Tennessee not long ago.

If you are interested in learning more about all of this, and to participate in the effort to protect the Upper Cumberland from this pipeline, go online and search for the TVA’s Ridgeline Pipeline Expansion project. You’ll mostly get PR from the TVA and Enbridge, so also search for the organizations I mentioned above.

We can make a difference.

 --Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech and serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee Democratic Party. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.

Buy the book A Liberal Dose: Communiques from the Holler by Troy D. Smith HERE

You can find all previous entries in this weekly column HERE

A list of other historical essays that have appeared on this blog can be found HERE

Author's website: www.troyduanesmith.com

The author's historical lectures on youtube can be found HERE