2/21/2005 08:08:00 AM|||Nathan Moore|||

Modern Tennessee politics has always been known for two things 1) good ole boy corruption, and 2) the circus-like existence of the Ford family in Shelby County (as a disclaimer, I do not throw Harold Ford, Jr., the current Democratic congressman, into that mix).

His uncle, however, is a different story entirely. Today it is revealed that he threatened resignation over the passage of real Senate ethics rules. Uncle John, long proven insane, has had a myriad of ethical troubles. If I be so callous, in my view his threat of resignation calls for a big "whoopty do!", accompanied by the deepest heartfelt sincerity of the sentiment known commonly as "good riddance". The latest in his saga of public malfeasance was the underreporting of income, and failure to report the source of that income, to presumably pay as little as possible in child support to

Then there's this gem

In Ford's latest controversy, he verbally attacked what he calls the "white media" out to get him.

Yes, John, you're right - it is not tax and child support fraud, it's Whitey Whiteofferson, the racist media mogul. Exemplited best by The Tennessean, currently in running for the most Democrat-friendly newspaper in the state with this burning question

Why isn't the state Senate doing something about Sen. John Ford?

Why hasn't the Senate Ethics Committee already launched its own probe into alleged ethics violations? Why hasn't Lt. Gov. John Wilder vowed to get to the bottom of the reports of misconduct?

Good questions all. If two Republicans hadn't decided to commit political suicide, the last question could be rephrased, substituting a good man from Blount County. But I digress.

Then there's the allegation, uncontroverted, that the senator spent campaign funds on his daughter's wedding. Then there's the sexual harassment verdict against him in 1996, and then there's the new child, seven months along now, that is on the way. There is no word on the senator's intentions to make an "honest woman" out of the mother-to-be (see it all here). Color me cynically unsurprised.

So, two great traditions of Tennessee politics intersect. The Tennessean's questions are noteworthy. The more legitimate question brings to bear the judgment of the people of Senate District 29 in Memphis. What are you thinking? I know this man is a "Ford", but this begs the question. He is an embarrasment, not only to himself, but to everyone who comes into contact with him, and more to the point, to those who vote for him.

It somewhat reminds me of the confusion I suffered when Marion Berry was reelected mayor of DC. I couldn't understand that, and I can't understand this.

OK...the power is blinking on and off now. I will post more later.

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