By Steve Hunley

Give Some Credit Where Credit Is Due

The Knox County Democratic Party has latched onto the Juneteenth holiday by turning it into a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King. I wonder if the Democrats have taken pains to invite those responsible for making Juneteenth a holiday here in Knox County?

Commissioner Kyle Ward, a Republican, was the original sponsor of making Juneteenth a holiday in Knox County. No Democrat on the county commission had uttered a single word or even a sound about making Juneteenth a holiday. Commissioner Dasha Lundy had to run like the dickens to jump on board the train as a cosponsor at the invitation of Kyle Ward. Lundy took off her high heels and ran after the train as it was leaving the station.

Probably no other member of the Knox County Commission could have managed to make Juneteenth a county holiday with less fanfare or trouble. Ward was the chair of the commission's redistricting committee and did a fine job in that respect. Commissioner Ward has a knack for putting together enough votes to pass a measure.

Another key figure in making Juneteenth a county holiday was Mayor Glenn Jacobs. County employees have the day off this Monday so folks can celebrate it.

Most folks probably don't realize it was the county government who made Juneteenth an official holiday, well in advance of the supposed progressive Indya Kincannon and her city council minions. The City government followed suit a year later.

The local Democrats have organized their march to celebrate Dr. King, preferring to parade in the heat rather than the cold when the rest of the country celebrates MLK Day in January. It is well to remember not a single Democrat raised his/her voice to make Juneteenth a holiday here, aside from Dasha Lundy and Courtney Durrett AFTER Kyle Ward was already carrying the ball across the finish line. To my knowledge, the leadership of the local Democratic Party didn't have a thing to say about it.

And while we're on the subject of Juneteenth, it is as good a time as any to remember that it was Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, who freed the slaves, ending a heinous practice.

The march will be a bunch of people who never lifted up their voices to make Juneteenth a holiday here in Knox County, waving American flags. Rather than giving credit where it is due, the celebrants apparently prefer credit amnesia.

The truth is some credit ought to go to Kyle Ward and Glenn Jacobs.

Liberals Won't Answer Questions

Congressman Dan Crenshaw of Texas put Meredithe McNamara, an assistant professor at the Yale School of Medicine, on the spot during a congressional hearing about his bill to withdraw federal funding from some hospitals that provide "surgeries, puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to transgender minors." Crenshaw posed a question to McNamara that was as simple as it was direct: "You've said that we cherry-picked data. How do you mean that?"

The answer was worthy of Malibu Barbie. "So, it is very unscientific and flawed to pick a single study or a single statistic and discuss it in isolation," McNamara replied. "Medical experts are able to talk about all the evidence as a whole."

Crenshaw said he totally agreed with that statement. The Texas congressman went on to quote the British Journal of Medicine, which examined 61 systemic reviews and concluded, "There is great uncertainty about the effects of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries in young people." Crenshaw told Professor McNamara the Journal of the Endocrine Society had reached the very same conclusion, as did the American Academy of Pediatrics. "They all cite the lack of evidence," Crenshaw said. Crenshaw stated, "If you're doing therapy, and it's, you know, temporary, fine, whatever, maybe let's try it and see if it works. But when you're talking about permanent physiological changes, do you not agree, just from an ethical standpoint, that you might want extremely strong evidence of the benefits? There's no systemic review that states there's strong evidence of benefits."

"Sir, are you aware of how the quality of evidence grading system works and how it's applied," Professor McNamara asked, condescension dripping from her voice.

Congressman Crenshaw assured her that he did, which is why he cited the journals he did. Crenshaw asked McNamara, "Which journal says something different? Tell me a journal that has done systematic reviews that cites different evidence, that cites strong evidence of benefits for these therapies."

The professor, smugly assuming an air of superiority, started with, "The standards of care were developed based on extensive . . ."

Crenshaw interrupted, "You're not telling me any study, don't say 'standards of care.'" McNamara sat there for a moment and the Texas congressman demanded, "Tell me one."

Malibu Barbie was back. "So, um, the standards of care," the professor said.

"The standards of care," Crenshaw reminded her. "That's not a journal, that's not a study. That's not an organization. That's not an institution. You're just saying words. Name one study."

Malibu Barbie, the assistant professor at Yale Medical School, couldn't cite a single source to support her contention. Her smug and self-righteous expression had faded a little. She must have been a diversity hire.

Bob Booker, A Great Columnist

Robert J. Booker publishes the best column in the Knoxville News Sentinel. I think it is fair to say there is nothing printed in the daily newspaper that surpasses anything Bob Booker sees fit to print. Booker's column is always informative, interesting and entertaining. If every newspaper in this country followed those same standards, they would be thriving instead of dying off. The Sentinel is too busy shoveling its daily heaping helping of wokeism instead.

Booker's last column was about the wooden Gay Street Bridge that spanned the river into downtown Knoxville. As Booker detailed, the bridge was struck by a wind storm on May 1, 1875, and came crashing down into the river.

It was a great column. I'm just surprised the Sentinel didn't attribute the disaster to climate change.

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