Knocksville

As some of you know, I was elected a commissioner here in East Tennessee back in August.

My mayor is likely leaving for an appointment in Marsha's administration.

I have been told that Burchett is angling to stay in the House because he could rise up within the ranks of leadership fairly soon. That would put Glenn squarely in contention for the Senate spot.

However, as noted earlier, the state is aware of the liberal push into Knoxville with its growth and Jacobs was a very popular Mayor. If Burchett is willing to step into the Senate, Jacobs will undoubtedly fill the congressional spot.

A name nobody is talking about that may come out of left field (and is purposely being hidden from conversations): Former Governor Bill Haslam.

Jacobs could also take a role in Blackburn's administration within the state as well — and I see that happening should one of the other scenarios play out.

Interesting times.

Let’s do a new one - make it a bourbon/whiskey barrel half with Tennessee whiskey charcoal mellowed staves the rest with Kentucky bourbon staves and let’s roll!

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They called one on the Alabama running back too which I thought was kind of iffy.

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Agreed. Neither of those should have been penalties IMO. Good football blocks. And both of the guys that got rocked were back in the game.

The likes of Eric Berry would have been in trouble in this current generation of rules.

We will get it back next week after South Carolina storms the field in Heupel’s annual let down game.

I agree. I just hope our ground game keeps us in it and Heupel calls a smart game that limits freshman mistakes as much as possible.

I had this one marked as a L before the season. Just hope we don’t get blown out and it’s a good game regardless.

Austin Price on X

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First @ArionCarter was suspended for a $427 flight by the NCAA. An amount he paid back. Now he is donating $427 for every tackle this season to cancer research.

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Great kid making the most of a crazy situation.

Vols - 8-4 or 7-5

Freshman QB and too many unknowns. Key defensive injuries. Build the youth up, get Faizon some confidence, add DGG and anything other than 10 wins next year is a disappointment with as much as we spend in NIL.

Over the last several years, as many of y'all know, there's been a noticeable influx of people moving into deeply conservative areas from states like California, New York, Michigan, Illinois and Colorado.

Many are leaving places they believe have become too expensive, too dysfunctional or too politically extreme. They move to conservative communities like many of ours because they like the lower cost of living, safer neighborhoods, stronger sense of community and traditional culture.

But there is another group that seems determined to bring the same politics they left behind with them. I saw that firsthand this year.

In my local county commission race, there were three available seats. Heading into the primary, there were essentially only three candidates positioned to fill them, including a Democratic Socialist candidate.

That candidate had moved to the area from out West roughly two years earlier and was openly embracing socialist ideas, attacking what she called “Christian Nationalists,” criticizing the people of our region and promoting positions on social issues that are far outside the mainstream here. She was very active through TikTok and Facebook, pairing up with an even more psychotic pro-atheism socialist Congressional candidate here. They have every right to voice their opinions and spew thoughts that I disagree with. That's their right.

Why move to one of the most conservative areas in the country if you hate the values and people already here? ... Well one of their podcasts let it out of the bag. Some of these socialists and democrats are so organized on the ground level, they are moving to Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina, and more of our states on purpose because their "remote" job allows them — and it allows them to embed and spread their insane ideology. In essence, they are working to slowly takeover like those from a certain religious ideology in Europe and parts of our country.

In all of this, I discovered if someone else could qualify through the write-in process and put themselves on the general ballot, there might be an opportunity to prevent this dangerous socialist ideology from officially embedding within office in our local county.

I’m not a politician. I never planned on running for office. I've always been intrigued by and followed politics, particularly at the national level. I’m fiscally conservative, believe strongly in constitutional rights, want better educational and economic opportunities for local residents and believe office holders should actually reflect and respect the people they serve. After lots of thought and prayer, I formally filed as a write-in candidate one hour before the deadline. Turns out, nobody else had filed for my district. I was the only shot.

It was more work than I expected. As most of y'all know, write-in campaigns require voters to know exactly what they are doing. The name has to be entered correctly — mine isn't easy so there's one strike off the bat. Secondly, on our newer voting machines, people literally have to punch it in letter by letter using buttons on the left and right side, and having to hit the next page to get the second half of the alphabet, and back, without a traditional keyboard. That required a lot of education and engagement, especially with our seniors — many of whom thought they still wrote it down on a piece of paper. That experience alone gave me a completely different appreciation for campaigning. If running for a local seat required that much time and energy, I can only imagine what a serious statewide or national race demands.

When the smoke cleared in May, I had thankfully received enough votes to qualify for the general. Over the last couple of months, I stayed true to myself. I ran a clean race. I let my values stand for themselves. And I listened to anyone and everyone who reached out.

The general election was last night. I finished as the top vote-getter and won one of the available seats. The Independent finished second, the other Republican third and the Democratic candidate finished close behind.

And that last part is the reason I wrote this "Dear Facebook" novel for some of you to attention to.

She had lived in the area for approximately two years and still managed one of the strongest performances a Democratic candidate has ever had in a local race here. At the same time, Democrats won races in nearby counties that have historically been overwhelmingly conservative.

Voter apathy is real. Only around 16% of eligible voters in my county participated. You can knock doors, make calls, talk to people for months and hear hundreds of promises that someone is going to vote. When Election Day comes, many simply don't show up. And the other side will. Nearly 70% of registered Democrat voters DID vote in our county elections this time. If you're a Republican, that number alone should alarm you.

Local elections matter enormously and people should stop assuming conservative communities will remain conservative simply because they always have been. Here, people are relocating and fast and our demographics are changing. Organized groups are showing up, there are more protests, networking and voting while many longtime residents have become complacent because they assume their community will always vote the same way. It won't.

People can complain about political change after it happens, or they can participate before it happens. I was concerned and stepped up. I'm glad I did. Now my responsibility is to serve well and prove that the voters made the right decision.

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The new Smokies Double A park is fantastic. Xul Brewery is blowing up. Lots of great stuff… I do miss the strip of old. So many great times and memories.

But I agree, I hate having to keep my head on a swivel any time I’m driving through there. I-40/75 are chaos. I dread driving anywhere west in our state because you have to navigate through Knoxville to get there.

If we can pull it out over Iowa State, we will lose yet another elite eight game. I’ll have to see us actually win at this point to believe it will ever happen.

After that dismal, roller-coaster, regular season where you didn’t know which team was going to show up, we’ll take it.