Carlson calls out Kincannon

By Steve Hunley, Publisher

publisher@knoxfocus.com

Last Wednesday night, Knoxville got some unexpected national publicity.  Tucker Carlson hosts the highest rated talk show on cable television.  In his broadcast, Carlson said, “The formerly peaceful city of Knoxville, Tennessee, for example, is now on track for its deadliest year in history, even worse than last year, which set the previous record.  So what happened to Knoxville?  The same thing that always happen to places that decline: terrible leadership.  Neoliberal nonsense.  Frenzies of guilt-fueled professional-class self-hatred.”  Then Tucker Carlson verbally hosed Mayor Indya Kincannon.  “Elected morons like Indya Kincannon,” Carlson said.  “Indya Kincannon is somehow the mayor of Knoxville.  She recently announced that she would personally join in painting a BLM mural.”  Carlson then quoted Kincannon as saying, “’I understand now more than ever it is not OK just to stand up to justice inequity,’ Kincannon told reporters.  ‘We must all be actively anti-racists.’”

So Knoxville is getting some national attention, not for the budget just passed for subsidized housing and solar panels, money which the City government doesn’t have, incidentally, but for the murder rate, which is higher than that of Chicago on a per capita basis, by the way.  One of the biggest businesses in Tennessee is tourism.  The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the most popular destinations in the country.  Tourism is one of the biggest businesses in the State of Tennessee, which is one reason we are able to live off the sales tax.  Much of that sales tax is paid by out-of-state visitors vacationing or visiting destinations in Tennessee.  Few states have as much to offer as the Great Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee, Music City in Middle Tennessee, and historic Memphis.  Not that leftist give a fig about where the money comes from, but let’s face it, without that revenue, the tax burden would fall squarely upon the shoulders of the people of Tennessee.  Somehow, I doubt it is good for our public image.  If a Chamber of Commerce still exists in Knoxville, they are all probably baldheaded by now as they have doubtless pulled all their hair out by the roots.  Yet, how could anyone be surprised?  For the past couple of months, The Knoxville Focus has cast a beacon on the ineptitude of the Great Incompetent, Indya Kincannon.

The increasing crime and violence in Knoxville remains the elephant in the room.  Nobody in city government wants to talk about it; instead the conversation, what little there is, centers not around Kincannon’s utterly incomprehensible decision to pull the KPD officers from the school system.  Instead, the conversation now is centered around the foolishness promoted by leftists about the board of education’s need for a facilitator to revamp the entire Memorandum of Agreement between the school system, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and the City of Knoxville.  That conversation is being driven by the two people on the board who can’t shut up: Daniel Watson and Virginia Babb.  The problem is centered in one community and the City of Knoxville for that matter.  Yet Li’l Dan’l and Virginia Babble keep nudging the ball.  Babb likely expects to be promoted by her fellow board members to chair that body, yet she doesn’t have the strength to have a conversation with the people.  Nobody has quite explained why the board needs someone to lead a conversation between the board and their constituencies.  If any elected body needs a facilitator, it would be the city council.

In the meantime, the incompetents running the city divert our attention by virtue signaling and doing little or nothing to actually address the rising crime and violence.  They are aided and abetted by their apologists in the media.  These are the same people who ignore the fact recruitment of new police officers is seriously down – – – and who would be surprised by that? – – – perhaps as much as 30%.  The City already doesn’t take in enough revenue to pay for its current expenditures, so what did the Great Incompetent and her city council do?  They spent $50 million more of your tax dollars they don’t have.  How much of it went for signing bonuses for new officers or retention bonuses?  None that I know of; not a penny.  Yet here we are being recognized for the achievements of the Great Incompetent and her minions.  This is an election year inside the City of Knoxville and to date, none of the challengers for the city council have talked about safety either.  Now that a national audience has heard about it, do you suppose it might become an issue?

Whether it does or not, I do know one thing: it IS an issue and will become more of one in the days ahead.

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