By Bo Roberts Nearly 50 years ago this week, in an unexpected move, five veteran Democratic state senators bolted away from their caucus, joining their minority GOP colleagues to re-elect Bill Snodgrass as the Comptroller of the state of Tennessee. In the view of many, their uncommon action was a textbook example of cooler heads prevailing, as their votes were crucial

A modest, honorable, former Republican president leaned in close to a modest, honorable, congressional Democrat leader, and, speaking through his face mask, said: “Joe Biden is the only one who could have been elected.” Those words, relayed by receiver Rep. Jim Clyburn of S.C., stood out most amidst all the immensely moving speeches, poems and songs heard on Inauguration Day

Tennessee headed for embarrassing Senate representation By Bo Roberts A long, impressive era of noteworthy U.S. senate representation in the Volunteer State is hurtling headlong towards its demise, as was illustrated so pointedly over the July Fourth weekend. It is the end of literate, ethical, non-partisan strain of politics that began with and encompassed the essence of the brilliantly diplomatic

The constant refrains from Mayor David Briley’s challengers highlights the negatives while providing zero solutions. Mayor Briley discusses Nashville’s public schools during his State of Metro address. Mayor David Briley, Facebook.com livestream You know what? I like Nashville and I kinda like living here. Actually, I like living here a lot. Don’t you? It makes me wonder if the candidates

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

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

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