The “Uniparty” Is Alive And Well In Small Town Tennessee
The “uniparty” is alive and well in small town Tennessee, where cliques, status, and fashion outweigh principle.
Image Credit: Downtown Maryville, Tennessee / Facebook
By Mark Pulliam [Misrule of Law] –
In conservative East Tennessee, the deeply-religious heart of the Bible Belt, one would expect that respectable society would steer clear of left-wing homosexual drug addicts who disdain the community’s values.
In certain status-seeking circles, however, the miscreant’s family connections and the attraction of attending a fancy holiday gala overcome the stigma of an aberrant lifestyle. So it was when a passel of Blount County’s local “Republican” elected officials mugged for photos and hobnobbed with other tuxedo-adorned guests at a party hosted by Zac Talbott and his husband, Alan “Chip” Fuller, who operate a local methadone clinic, TLC Maryville, dispensing daily doses of opioids to hundreds of addicts out of a strip mall on Highway 411 (the Wiley Boring Center).
How quickly people forget the scandal that ensued when Fuller, then a closeted gay man teaching at Maryville High School, left his wife and children to “come out” and eventually enter into a relationship (since 2003) with a MHS student more than ten years his junior. How quickly people forget that Talbott was, by his own admission, a daily intravenous heroin user who was “academically dismissed” from the University of Tennessee.
Talbott, trading on his family name in this clannish community, now gets his photo taken with “Republican” County Mayor Ed Mitchell, and Fuller has served as a reserve deputy and chaplain (!) with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office, where, perhaps coincidentally, the Deputy Chief is Ron Talbott. Zac Talbott uses his family lineage to dramatize his “recovery” story—although he admittedly continues to take addictive opioids daily: “I came from a good family, from ‘good stock’ as we said in the south. Talbotts weren’t addicts. We were people of faith, community leaders and role models.”
Christians are forgiving, but Zac Talbott has expressed contempt for Blount County’s conservative community values and orthodox Christian doctrine. Talbott recalls his childhood in less than flattering terms:
Zac Talbott…grew up in Maryville and went to a small Southern Baptist church. That’s where he first encountered the message that homosexuality is a sin—a message that followed him home and stuck with him. “It’s hard growing up in a small Southern town and going to a small country church, where every week I hear that gays are going to hell, and knowing I didn’t choose it,” Zac says. “It killed me going to that church every week. A lot of my extended family believed, and still do believe, that I’m going to hell.”…Zac Talbott was teased at Maryville High School, but found that the administration there was supportive….Zac Talbott says his coming out erupted into an angry confrontation with his father.
I get why family connections smooth over otherwise unpardonable indiscretions in small towns, but that doesn’t explain why aspiring “conservative” politicos seek out opportunities to socialize with what amounts to Blount County’s left-wing, anti-Republican, pro-LGBTQ activists.
Talbott describes himself as a “liberal Democrat,” but his Twitter rants suggest a hard-left orientation. Partisan politics, even at the local level, is supposed to be animated by principle and philosophy, not by officials’ social climbing, status-seeking, and clique-chasing.
Alas, in Blount County, most of the “Republican” elected officials are more devoted to becoming part of the establishment than they are promoting the GOP platform. Indeed, most local elected officials regard their positions as popularity contests—just like high school student government, with a bigger budget.
In the heated comments prompted by my posting the photo above on Facebook, one of the guests, a “Republican” County Commissioner, explained that “200+ fellow Republicans” attended the party, along with the Trump-hating leftist activists Sarah Herron (former Chair of the Blount County Democratic Party and founder of the radical group Indivisible East Tennessee) and Steve Wildsmith, a self-described recovering addict who is the most outspoken (and obnoxious) advocate of left-wing causes in Blount County.
The proud attendee defended the event as promoting “unity” and “community solidarity.” Perhaps our RINO elected officials should remind themselves about the vile invective spewed by Indivisible East Tennessee and Wildsmith, on social media and otherwise. Herron organized an unruly mass demonstration at the district office of former Congressman John J. “Jimmy” Duncan, which she styled a “Kookfest.”
The liberal Daily Times predictably promoted Indivisible East Tennessee, just as Wildsmith shamelessly plugged LGBTQ causes and TLC Maryville when he still wrote for the Daily Times.
Herron’s group was formed to de-legitimize Donald Trump as soon as he was elected President in 2016.
The publisher of the Knoxville Focus, Steven Hunley, described Herron’s group as “a group of extremists, kooks and radicals [who] want a town hall meeting precisely because they want to scream and squall and get attention.”
Hunley added: “These people are so eager to claim Donald Trump’s presidency a failure that they want to make sure he cannot govern from the very beginning. For anyone paying the slightest attention to the news, it’s simply more of the same, leftists running around with their hair on fire and being outraged.”
Now that Herron is close to finishing her term on the Maryville City Council, a fluke election that she narrowly won with the support of Talbott, she recently announced that she is joining the staff of TLC Maryville, as “corporate Director of Engagement,” focusing on “community and public relations.”
Herron will be working for her political patron Talbott directly. Their agendas, always in tight alignment, are now formally joined.
The battle lines between conservatives and liberals in Blount County could not be more clearly drawn. “Community and public relations” includes schmoozing local politicians in order to extract favors. The “Republican” officials and candidates who attended the holiday gala are unwitting dupes who got played by a transparent strategy of gaining influence through “wining and dining.”
Leftists like Herron and Wildsmith worked tirelessly to tear down President Trump, but we are supposed to regard RINOs partying with them as “unity” and “solidarity”?
It is nothing but proof that some of our local “Republican” elected officials are RINOs more interested in cavorting at fancy parties than standing up for political principle.
No wonder Blount County residents feel that their local government is adrift. It is well past time for candidates and officials professing to be Republican to start acting like it.
President Trump carried Blount County by a 71% to 27% margin in 2020. He will almost certainly be the GOP nominee in 2024.
The question Blount County residents should be asking their local “Republican” officials is “Whose side are you on?”
About the Author: Mark Pulliam writes from East Tennessee. A Big Law veteran, he retired as a partner in a large law firm after practicing for 30 years. A contributing editor to Law & Liberty since 2015, Mark also blogs at Misrule of Law. He considers himself a fully-recovered lawyer.
Honestly this guy is just mad because he didnt get an invite to the company party. He constantly complains about everything, and offers no solutions, just complaints. He doesnt fit in, and he wants to change us to fit him.. sorry marky it aint going to happen.
It’s concerning that a politician and/or Christian would want an invite to such a party. I agree to be cordial with opposing parties but partying with them is a totally different matter. We must vote them out or we will be another California and New York.
No worries nancy, we will never be anything that you have mentioned… way to many uniparty folks here keep our nice area in balance…
The “event” in question is our family’s private Christmas Party. It’s was not politically themed or a political event. It was not a “gala” or a fundraiser. It was a family’s private Christmas Party. The invite list for the private Christmas party included our family and friends. Some of them happened to be elected officials, but they were invited because they are our friends.
The vast majority of our family and friends who attended our private Christmas Party happen to be Republicans, including a majority of those who happened to be elected officials. As is the case in most families (those who speak to each other, anyway), both major political parties as well as the apolitical and a potential sprinkling of third party adherents have some degree of representation as well.
Thankfully neither one’s politics nor one’s party affiliation (or lack thereof) have any bearing on one’s ability to celebrate the birth of Our Lord.
There’s not one thing conservative about spinning a family’s private Christmas Party into click bait that lands on a libelous blog post riddled with inaccuracies, intentional spin, and outright lies. This “blogger” from California wouldn’t even be able to write a Wikipedia entry with his broken hyperlinks and complete dereliction in fact checking.
The Californian “blogger” whose libel Tennessee Conservative News re-printed verbatim here conveniently cropped out the following words just below the screenshot he included of the website we used for RSVP tracking:
“The Annual Christmas Party hosted by Mr. Alan Joseph Fuller and Mr. Zachary Charles Talbott, along with their families, in celebration of the birth of His Divine Majesty, Jesus of Nazereth, and the hope His teachings afford humanity.”
Go to http://www.FullerTalbott.com and see for yourselves, if you wish, you just will not be able to find your name through the RSVP feature if you weren’t invited to the private party. Many have pondered whether the Californian’s true grievance surrounds the reality that he was not invited to the Party.
This “blogger” has openly and consistently bad mouthed signature accomplishments of the Trump Administration, such as President Trump’s successfully mandating, for the first time in history, that Medicare as well as every state and territorial Medicaid plan across our federal republic cover *all* FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder (Buprenorphine, Methadone, and Naltrexone are the 3 FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder presently available). It was President Trump’s administration, after all, that convened the first-in-history opioid commission and then called for an expansion of the evidence-based care our company provides.
Anyone peddling the type of misinformation this particular blogger has about medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) are knowingly and willfully spreading misinformation and perpetuating stigma that prevents individuals in need from receiving life-sustaining care. They also stand diametrically opposite President Trump as well as Congressional Republicans on these issues. Perhaps this blogger prefers the rule of violent Mexican drug cartels across international crime empires that cross with ease our country’s currently unsecured borders.
Working against overwhelmingly proven strategies that support and preserve human life may be this Californian’s version of being ‘Pro-Life.’ I suppose it would make at least as much sense as the blogger’s conflating a family’s private Christmas Party with a political convention, which make no sense at all.
The left coast blogger who wrote this “post” only recently came to Eastern Tennessee, making our great state and region his latest stop in a series of states and towns beginning in Southern California then winding through Texas and, as it pertains to his most recent wife, parts of the Midwest
I challenge each person reading this to view skeptically the author of this piece as well as any other individual or strategy whose point of departure is to lie, attack, divide, criticize, and censor.
Big gov’t totalitarians with hopes of weaponizing the gov’t to force a form of theocracy on all citizens stand diametrically opposite life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and other core American and conservative principles. Such individuals have no place in the conservative movement, as they are not principled conservatives in any way. They seek to divide the movement amongst itself. They are also most unlikely to find fellow advocates of an ever-larger and more-intrusive gov’t in our region. Perhaps him returning to the left coast will yield better results.
🎄 With best wishes for a merry Christmastide,
Zac Talbott, MSW
-The Miscreant-
Nice rebuttal, and I’m sure pulliam has read it and is fuming now. Any of us that can think for ourselves knows pulliam has nothing to offer the town but complaints, and as you pointed out, they are often wrong.
100%!!
This must be the terrorists that are behind the Covenant Manifesto not being made public?
The LGBTQ (?) is one of the most hateful violent communities in the States.
It is a Southern California born and bred Domestic Terrorist Organization endorsed by Fascist Nancy Pelosi who bragged that California would rule the Nation.
Individuals no go into politics to get rich and not uphold the Constitution and laws.
Might be a good idea if politicians stopped calling America a democracy.
America is a Constitutional Representative Republic with a Democratic Process and not a Socialist Democracy.
Learn the difference people.
There also is no such thing as Fossil Fuel.
WHat the heck are you talking about.
Why are you here, twink?
What the heck are talking about power bottom conservative
As a Conservative Bible Belt resident, it is imperative that we take a stand or loose all that we have. Continuing to compromise in order to be included or accepted is a path to destruction. Either you serve God and walk in righteousness or you are damned to hell. There is no middle ground. I pray that those that are entertaining evil will be awaken and choose righteousness and the citizens will elect men and women of integrity.
Shirley, thankfully not everyone sees with the hate in your eyes that you do.. Its ok to accept others that do not look the way you do, and think the way you do. When you do not accept those things then you are not living a life of a christian.. and we have all seen that in your actions anyways. Please join mark in moving out of state to where ever it is that will make you and him happy. Blount county has existed very well with rinos and neighbors helping each other until folks like him showed up.
There is no middle ground! Some of the younger city/County officials struggle with trying to being accepted and not offending opposing individual/groups. It’s naïve to think that you have to be accepted, and not willing to take flack for standing up for righteousness! The Bible says let your yes be yes, and your no be no, No lukewarm faith/principles. Conservative residents need to communicate our requests for those officials to follow the law, stand up for what is right, and practice/implement conservative methods within their capacity to do so. Holding them accountable is essential!
Serious question, Ladonna. Why can’t a holiday party just be a party? Are you suggesting that old acquaintances and friendships and the ability to come together and celebrate Christmas should be discarded because other attendees see the world through a different lens? Is that what we’ve come to? Zac and Chip are both long time members of this community. Their connections to those who attended go back decades. I can assure you, politics were not discussed by those gathered on that night. For one thing, we wouldn’t have been able to hear one another over the amazing band playing!
But seriously, Nick Bright is my brother-in-law. Should he avoid celebrating the holidays with my family on political principle? I’ve known Misty Davis for 20 years, long before she ever got involved in politics. Should she avoid social functions that I’ll be attending, based on political principle? Kevin McNeill and I had a lovely conversation at the party about areas of community life upon which we both agree, and kicked around ideas of ways both sides of the political spectrum can work together to accomplish common goals. Should he have avoided speaking to me all night?
I’ll never be able to understand living with such suspicion and paranoia that some folks would avoid common discourse based on political ideology. Just because I think Donald Trump is evil doesn’t mean I am. Just because you think Joe Biden is evil doesn’t mean you are. Identity politics is what got us to this place. Thank God for small towns and old friends, who won’t let what others think of them define their character, and who will work with anyone, left or right, to make this a better place.
Ladonna, genuine question: When is a holiday party just a holiday party? Should “principles” mean we discard friendships and even family relationships if it means breaking bread with those whose ideologies don’t exactly align with our own?
I’ve known Misty Davis for 20 years, long before she got involved in politics. Should she avoid any social function I’m at because she’s a conservative and I’m a liberal? Nick Bright is my brother-in-law. Should he disinvite his sister and his niece and nephew to Christmas dinner because I’ll be accompanying them? Kevin McNeill and I had a lovely conversation about common ground and issues on which we see eye to eye. Should we have ignored one another?
There was no flaunting of law or principle at this particular party. We laughed, we smiled, we danced, we ate, we drank … together, under one roof, because for one night, it served as a microcosm of what this community is: a place where everyone has a spot at the table. Just because Nick, Kevin, Misty and dozens of other Republicans attended doesn’t mean they were trying to impress anyone, were attempting to be accepted, or hesitated because they thought they might offend somebody. (I mean, have you not MET Misty Davis???)
It was a party, one of dozens that happened to be taking place that night, and for hay to be made out of who showed up and what the hosts do for a living is ridiculous. If such litmus tests are required to obtain your vote, or your respect, then perhaps that says more about you than it does those who simply showed up to have a good time.
Ladonna.. ladonna ladonna.. if you think there is no middle ground then you also moved to the wrong area. Its not the bright red maga paradise you must have dreamt it was. We pretty much are a rino area.. love it or leave it..
“Christians” tolerating evil is why we’re in this mess. God’s word PLAINLY and repeatedly says homosex is an abomination in the eyes of God.
Revelation 21:8
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
This might surprise you but not everyone believes the same thing you do, and not everyone is a christian. There are many more views out there besides yours. Just because you and them dont share the same view doesn’t mean they are wrong and you are right.
Not that I expect “TeNeNeSeE cOnSeRvAtIvE nEwS” to give a tinker’s damn about facts, but I’m going to offer these corrections and clarifications anyway, simply because Mr. Pulliam’s “opinion piece” is so one-sided, sloppy and egregious in its codification of errors and outright untruths. Let’s dive in, shall we?
1) Clarification: “… who operate a local methadone clinic”: While technically correct, that’s a woeful simplification of what TLC (Talbott Legacy Centers) actually does: “Talbott Legacy Centers (TLC) provides comprehensive treatment for opioid use disorder using FDA-approved agonist, partial agonist, or antagonist medications (i.e. methadone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone) along with individual and group counseling, ongoing medical evaluation, recovery support services, case management/care coordination, and other services within TLC’s facility and/or through referral to and collaborative agreement with outside agencies.” Why the distinction? Because it doesn’t take .5 seconds to find evidence of the effectiveness of MAT (medication-assisted treatment) [1]: “A wealth of evidence about medications to treat OUD has been amassed over the past half century from clinical studies, randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. The verdict is clear: effective agonist medication used for an indefinite period of time is the safest option for treating OUD. According to a recent review of medications to treat OUD, “the evidence for efficacy both in reducing opioid use and retaining patients in care is strongest for agonist treatment.’ [2]”
2) Context: “… dispensing daily doses of opioids to hundreds of addicts out of a strip mall on Highway 411 (Wiley Boring Center)”: Again, while technically correct, these opioids – methadone and buprenorphine, as cited above – are prescription narcotics regulated by the federal government. There’s no one from TLC standing in the shadow of the building, clandestinely slinging bags of dope. Know what else is illuminating about this particular claim? Less than a mile away, at 131 Montgomery Lane (just off of Highway 411), is Blount Discount Pharmacy West. Curious how it took all of 5 minutes to discover that this particular establishment, from 2006-2019, ranked third out of all pharmacies in Blount County for the dispensation of prescription opioids: 7,209,810 pills dispensed during those years [3]. But hey, the gay man running an MAT center makes for a much more effective boogeyman.
3) Clarification: “… when Fuller, then a closeted gay man teaching at Maryville High School, left his wife and children to ‘come out’ and eventually enter into a relationship (since 2003) with a MHS student more than ten years his junior …”: Speculation and hearsay make for juicy tidbits – for example, rumors that Mr. Pulliam is estranged from his own wife and adult children, who won’t even speak to him – abound in Blount County. However, divorce records from the time indicate it was Mrs. Fuller who filed for divorce, and Mr. Pulliam conveniently leaves out the fact that Mr. Talbott graduated from Maryville High School in 2001. But again, it’s always more convenient for the narrative to word it in a way that suggests salaciousness.
4) Correction: “although he admittedly continues to take addictive opioids daily …”: The Vice article to which Mr. Pulliam refers was written in 2015. I can confirm from Mr. Talbott himself that while he was indeed on MAT for 20 years – which clearly allowed him to develop a successful practice and a rewarding life, naysayers aside – he no longer takes “opioids daily.”
5) Clarification: “Zac Talbott has expressed contempt for Blount County’s conservative community values and orthodox Christian doctrine. Talbott recalls his childhood in less than flattering terms”: The quotes from the article to which Mr. Pulliam alludes were written in … April 2001. More than two decades ago. Mr. Talbott was 18 at the time. Judging by the number of conservatives and liberals alike who attended the gala that seems to have gotten under Mr. Pulliam’s skin … from Pulliam’s friend and conservative cohort Kevin O’Neill to pastor Buzz Thomas, from Judge Kelly Thomas to City Councilwoman Sarah Herron … it seems that such a broad cross-section of attendees says much more about the changing nature of Mr. Talbott’s views OVER TWO DECADES than it does any long-simmering resentments Mr. Pulliam seems to be implying.
6) Point of order: “Steve Wildsmith, a self-described recovering addict who is the most outspoken (and obnoxious) advocate of left-wing causes in Blount County”: Well, I don’t know if I qualify for such a place of distinction, but I thank Mr. Pulliam for the compliment.
7) Correction: “just as Wildsmith shamelessly plugged LGBTQ causes and TLC Maryville when he still wrote for the Daily Times”: The former? Absolutely. The latter. False. I never interviewed Zac or wrote about TLC during my years as a Daily Times reporter and columnist, and the link Mr. Pulliam seems to be using as evidence for such a claim is actually a news story written by former Daily Times City Editor Bob Norris.
8) Observation: “Hunley added: “These people are so eager to claim Donald Trump’s presidency a failure that they want to make sure he cannot govern from the very beginning.” I’m unsure how a group called “Indivisible East Tennessee” can “make sure” any federal leader is unable to govern, but if that’s the case, various East Tennessee Republican and conservative clubs would be making a much bigger dent in President Biden’s successes.
9) Observation: “The ‘Republican’ officials and candidates who attended the holiday gala are unwitting dupes who got played by a transparent strategy of gaining influence through ‘wining and dining.’” Someone let Misty Davis, Jessica Hannum, Nick Bright, Kevin O’Neill and multiple other Republicans who ran as conservative and govern as conservative that they’re “unwitting dupes.” Thank goodness Mr. Pulliam’s uncanny ability to see a holiday party for what it actually was can lead them out of their stupidity. /sarcasm
10) Clarification: “No wonder Blount County residents feel that their local government is adrift.” A small gaggle of squawking conservatives is not tantamount to all “Blount County residents.”
Finally … it must be a miserable existence to not see that sometimes, a party is a party … that folks around here have known each other long before anyone got involved in politics or Trump took office … and the ability to coexist is exactly what’s made Blount County such a bucolic place that outsiders like Mr. Pulliam want to make it a home here.
I would suggest that he keep that in mind before disparaging and attacking his own allies. It might make his life so much easier.
[1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541393/
[2]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25747920/
[3]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2023/opioid-epidemic-pain-pills-sold-oxycodone-hydrocodone/
Well I’ll be! I eat my words with salt and pepper. Thank you for the platform for a response!
He even mentioned it in all new post, of course he tried to discount it as meaningless. At least he got to read the response and Im guessing he read my comments above. Time to move along pullium… find a new place to live.. we like the uniparty here in East TN.
Not to spam the comments section, but since I did advocate for transparency and truthfulness, I’m resubmitting this to correct some inaccuracies of my own (specifically in points 3 and 4). Again, Mr. Pulliam’s “opinion piece” is so one-sided, sloppy and egregious in its codification of errors and outright untruths that certain points need to be raised. Let’s dive in, shall we?
1) Clarification: “… who operate a local methadone clinic”: While technically correct, that’s a woeful simplification of what TLC (Talbott Legacy Centers) actually does: “Talbott Legacy Centers (TLC) provides comprehensive treatment for opioid use disorder using FDA-approved agonist, partial agonist, or antagonist medications (i.e. methadone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone) along with individual and group counseling, ongoing medical evaluation, recovery support services, case management/care coordination, and other services within TLC’s facility and/or through referral to and collaborative agreement with outside agencies.” Why the distinction? Because it doesn’t take .5 seconds to find evidence of the effectiveness of MAT (medication-assisted treatment) [1]: “A wealth of evidence about medications to treat OUD has been amassed over the past half century from clinical studies, randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. The verdict is clear: effective agonist medication used for an indefinite period of time is the safest option for treating OUD. According to a recent review of medications to treat OUD, “the evidence for efficacy both in reducing opioid use and retaining patients in care is strongest for agonist treatment.’ [2]”
2) Context: “… dispensing daily doses of opioids to hundreds of addicts out of a strip mall on Highway 411 (Wiley Boring Center)”: Again, while technically correct, these opioids – methadone and buprenorphine, as cited above – are prescription narcotics regulated by the federal government. There’s no one from TLC standing in the shadow of the building, clandestinely slinging bags of dope. Know what else is illuminating about this particular claim? Less than a mile away, at 131 Montgomery Lane (just off of Highway 411), is Blount Discount Pharmacy West. Curious how it took all of 5 minutes to discover that this particular establishment, from 2006-2019, ranked third out of all pharmacies in Blount County for the dispensation of prescription opioids: 7,209,810 pills dispensed during those years [3]. But hey, the gay man running an MAT center makes for a much more effective boogeyman.
3) Clarification: “… when Fuller, then a closeted gay man teaching at Maryville High School, left his wife and children to ‘come out’ and eventually enter into a relationship (since 2003) with a MHS student more than ten years his junior …”: Speculation and hearsay make for juicy tidbits – for example, rumors that Mr. Pulliam is estranged from his own wife and adult children, who won’t even speak to him – abound in Blount County. However, the facts are these: Mr. Fuller and Mr. Talbott didn’t start dating until two months after the former’s divorce was final … in 2013, not 2003. Secondly, the “since 2003” hyperlink is broken. Thirdly, divorce records from the time indicate it was Mrs. Fuller who filed for divorce, and Mr. Fuller was teaching (and serving as assistant athletic director at HERITAGE High School, not Maryville, at the time of their separation. Finally, despite his erroneous claims that Mr. Fuller and Mr. Talbott began dating in 2003, Mr. Pulliam still conveniently leaves out the fact that Mr. Talbott graduated from Maryville High School in 2001. But again, it’s always more convenient for the narrative to word it in a way that suggests salaciousness.
4) Correction: “although he admittedly continues to take addictive opioids daily …”: The Vice article to which Mr. Pulliam refers was written in 2015. I can confirm from Mr. Talbott himself that while he was indeed on MAT for 10 years – which clearly allowed him to develop a successful practice and a rewarding life, naysayers aside – he no longer takes “opioids daily.”
5) Clarification: “Zac Talbott has expressed contempt for Blount County’s conservative community values and orthodox Christian doctrine. Talbott recalls his childhood in less than flattering terms”: The quotes from the article to which Mr. Pulliam alludes were written in … April 2001. More than two decades ago. Mr. Talbott was 18 at the time. Judging by the number of conservatives and liberals alike who attended the gala that seems to have gotten under Mr. Pulliam’s skin … from Pulliam’s friend and conservative cohort Kevin O’Neill to pastor Buzz Thomas, from Judge Kelly Thomas to City Councilwoman Sarah Herron … it seems that such a broad cross-section of attendees says much more about the changing nature of Mr. Talbott’s views OVER TWO DECADES than it does any long-simmering resentments Mr. Pulliam seems to be implying.
6) Point of order: “Steve Wildsmith, a self-described recovering addict who is the most outspoken (and obnoxious) advocate of left-wing causes in Blount County”: Well, I don’t know if I qualify for such a place of distinction, but I thank Mr. Pulliam for the compliment.
7) Correction: “just as Wildsmith shamelessly plugged LGBTQ causes and TLC Maryville when he still wrote for the Daily Times”: The former? Absolutely. The latter. False. I never interviewed Zac or wrote about TLC during my years as a Daily Times reporter and columnist, and the link Mr. Pulliam seems to be using as evidence for such a claim is actually a news story written by former Daily Times City Editor Bob Norris.
8) Observation: “Hunley added: “These people are so eager to claim Donald Trump’s presidency a failure that they want to make sure he cannot govern from the very beginning.” I’m unsure how a group called “Indivisible East Tennessee” can “make sure” any federal leader is unable to govern, but if that’s the case, various East Tennessee Republican and conservative clubs would be making a much bigger dent in President Biden’s successes.
9) Observation: “The ‘Republican’ officials and candidates who attended the holiday gala are unwitting dupes who got played by a transparent strategy of gaining influence through ‘wining and dining.’” Someone let Misty Davis, Jessica Hannah, Nick Bright, Kevin O’Neill and multiple other Republicans who ran as conservative and govern as conservative that they’re “unwitting dupes.” Thank goodness Mr. Pulliam’s uncanny ability to see a holiday party for what it actually was can lead them out of their stupidity. /sarcasm
10) Clarification: “No wonder Blount County residents feel that their local government is adrift.” A small gaggle of squawking conservatives is not tantamount to all “Blount County residents.”
Finally … it must be a miserable existence to not see that sometimes, a party is a party … that folks around here have known each other long before anyone got involved in politics or Trump took office … and the ability to coexist is exactly what’s made Blount County such a bucolic place that outsiders like Mr. Pulliam want to make it a home here.
I would suggest that he keep that in mind before disparaging and attacking his own allies. It might make his life so much easier.
[1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541393/
[2]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25747920/
[3]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2023/opioid-epidemic-pain-pills-sold-oxycodone-hydrocodone/
Eye opening!
The #1 answer to this sort of wishy washy behavior and lack of commitment to important conservative issues is to get MORE involved! Grassroots have taken for granted our party officers will do the right thing … they do not.
This party featured in this opinion piece does not seem to take the GOP Platform seriously and seems to value their social standing over their political stance, mission and commitments.
This sort of thing is happening in several small towns/counties in our state. In some cases, the county party “leaders” don’t want to actually work and support conservative issues … they just want the status and influence. Interesting to investigate how many county and state officers use their party office to directly help themselves, their family and their best buddies via jobs, election decisions, “donations” party money raised by the members to their best friends, bosses and business parters, etc. So sad to small community unethical relationships.
Too often, good ol’ boys (and the women who continue to enable them) just take up the office for the title but don’t do the work or take on the responsibilities. We see them working to maintain the status quo of their friends and family rather than than to take a stand on conservative issues and make a difference for our communities, state and country.
the good news is that the grassroots are learning to watch closely and with the growth in population the grip of the good ol’ boys is quickly being broken and their days are numbered.
We are learning to join in the local and state party so that we have a vote rather than just being disgusted by current officials and forfeiting our party to them.
Same goes at the state level party. We are watching the state party SEC assume it is their right to be elected on the ballot, their party to control, their right to dictate to the grassroots, rather than a privilege to represent the grassroots who elected them
thank you for bringing to light some who may be enjoying their influence, their party position perks, etc., rather than standing strong on conservative issues.
Honestly why does he think the way our town is run is a bad thing? It attracted him enough to want to move here? Its a pretty nice place, we all get along for the most part, everyone wants to help each other and wave to you when you drive down the street? Yet he complains about everything…. dude move along.. this was not a good choice for you.. But I hear divorces are cheap here, you might want to wait till after that to move.
Apparently, cogent and thoughtful comments don’t get approved on Sundays. Here’s hoping for tomorrow.