Roberts Strategies

By Bo Roberts As the sand runs out on the Bill Haslam gubernatorial time clock, there were two major accomplishments during his eight years that few recognize, but which will change the culture of state government and higher education. Gov. Haslam’s major achievements, particularly in education, have rightly been praised in these pages and nationally, as well. A prime example

Maybe, just maybe (based on a personal experience years ago), there might be some hope in President Donald Trump’s recent meeting with Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s leader. As one who detests the performance of just about anything Trump does, and as an American, I truly hope this venture is successful beyond the momentous photo opportunity it provided for both

A burning cross in my front yard, and being labeled a communist on the front page of their national publication: these were the results of my first encounter with the Ku Klux five decades ago. As events unfolded recently in Charlottesville, and closer to home in Shelbyville and Murfreesboro, my Klan interaction came flooding back. During my twenties, when I

I couldn’t tell if it was an admonition or a threat when Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s told his GOP cohorts that if they didn’t pass some version of the health care bill, they would……OMG!…..have to work with the Democrats to reach a solution. For some perspective, let’s not lose sight of the fact that eight years ago, Democrats

It was a sweltering August day seven summers ago when my loyalty and allegiance to esteemed state Sen. Douglas Henry (a friend of four decades and a marvelous mentor to many), momentarily turned me from a person of steadfast conviction into a bit of a political hypocrite. This story actually began in early 2009 when I made an appointment to

Was Donald Trump’s election victory America’s “last straw?” The idiom “last straw” comes from the 19th century English proverb: “The final straw that broke the camel’s back.” My answer: I think not. While as many as half of American voters feared this astounding upset, I don’t believe that we have quite reached our limits. Look at how many “last straws”

A message to Metro School Board members: To coin a phrase from that highly regarded 20th century philosopher Groucho Marx, “I wouldn’t hire someone who would come to work for me.” Groucho’s reference was to not belonging to a club that would have him as a member. His words came instantly to mind while assessing the Board’s dysfunctional operations during

The vibe. The people. Oh, and some music, too. Those three sentences summarize my visit as a novice to Bonnaroo on Friday the 13th. It seemed to be my lucky day, even though I might have been one of the very few attendees who had already been drawing Social Security for a while. Taking advantage of the one-day, round-trip offer

To most of us, $19 million is a whole lot of money; it’s certainly much more than the oft-referenced cost of a cup of coffee. But, that’s the specific amount sliced from Tennessee’s allocation to public higher education institutions for the fiscal year beginning on July 1. While the governor was forced to reduce his entire budget after a lackluster

Have you ever pondered the origin of the term “doubleheader”? Surprisingly, it was hatched in reference to a transit need. During the late 19th century, as New York City baseball teams began scheduling two games for the price of a single admission on the same day, train operators coined the phrase. Why? Because they had to add a second engine