Robin Smith, the chair of Tennessee's Republican party who condones exploiting people's fears and prejudices, remains a member of Tennessee's Human Rights Commission.
Smith's term expired June 30, but Gov. Phil Bredesen has not announced a new appointment. Officials at the Commission tell us that it sometimes takes months for new nominees to be announced and until they are, the current appointees remain in position.
Smith needs to go and Gov. Bredesen should act soon to make sure she knows how to find the door.
Smith led TNGOP when it stirred up a nationwide controversy over Barack
Obama's middle name. TNGOP wanted everyone to hear the name "Hussein"
because they knew it would play into people's fears.
Smith saw no problem with the position, saying
"We have a duty to inform the Republican base" that Obama's middle name is Hussein and that he is a Muslim. Yeah, that's relevant information.
Smith serves as a member of a commission which is "charged with preventing and eradicating discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and housing." These are values she clearly doesn't hold. Discrimination is just another tool in the right wing's box of tricks. Her actions demonstrate she is unqualified to serve on an agency intended to guarantee fairness to all the state's citizens.
Time's a wastin', Mr. Governor. Send Smith back to the shadows out of which she came.
-- Jim Grinstead
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