Geoff Pender: it’s not just whether you’re against Common Core, but whether you’re really against Common Core.

In an article applauding Chris McDaniel's efforts in persuading Gov Phil Bryant to veto the Common Core Bill passed last session the Clarion Ledgers Geoff Pender gave McDaniel a thumbs up:  McDaniel wins one, Bryant gets tea party groove back  

Pender summarized:

"A political operative not too long ago told me they had never seen polling numbers so strong as those against Common Core among Mississippi Republicans.
It’s being viewed as a stalking horse for the Obama Administration to take over states’ public education, and it’s already become a major issue for 2016 presidential politics.
In 2015 Mississippi Republican politics, it’s not just whether you’re against Common Core, but whether you’re really against Common Core. [Chris] McDaniel was ahead of the curve on this GOP issue."

One Note About One Quote: Phil Bryant & Race Relations Edition

Phil Bryant

“I think our race relations are better than other communities around the nation. I think our people are just simply better behaved and more respectful of authority than they might be in other communities. I think that would discourage the type of involvement that you’ve seen." --Phil Bryant 05.01.15 (WAPT) 

Z Richards

Z-Note: It seems, though, in our current condition, that until a policeman shoots somebody we won't know for sure. Also, Al Sharpton needs to weigh in.  Just Sayin..

Ole Miss Professsor & Journalist Joe Atkins Critiques Mississippi Republicans and it Ain't Pretty

Mississippi journalist and journalism professor at the University of Mississippi has a column posted at the Jackson Free Press.

You can read the entire column HERE.  Some of the rants and raves (mostly rants) are about:

Mississippi Republicans and Gov Phil Bryant:

• Look at Mississippi under Republican grass-eater rule in both the governor's mansion and state Legislature. A lopsided tax system that favors corporations and the rich has contributed to one of the biggest income gaps between the rich and poor of any state in the country. 

Republican House Speaker Phillip Gunn:

•  Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn's solution? Phase out the state income tax and the $1.7 billion in state revenue it provides.
  Thank goodness House Democrats killed Gunn's plan and prevented Mississippi from becoming another Kansas, where Republicans succeeded and nearly wrecked the state's budget while flat-lining its economy.

Missisippi's Prison System:

•  Corruption at the highest levels and medieval conditions within its private prisons have the system's reputation in shambles. 

Missisippi Public Schools & Funding:

•  Once again, the state Legislature ended its most recent session underfunding public schools, this time by $211 million under rules it set for itself in the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP). Initiative 42 is an effort to fix this. Quite clearly, a grass-eating core within the Republican Party wants to privatize public education. Charter schools and vouchers are merely Trojan horses in that cause. 

In the end, Atkins makes a plea for Initiative 42:

•  Mississippi voters have a chance to change things next election. Will they vote for Initiative 42 and for politicians who serve rather than oppose their interests? I'm hoping, but I'm not placing any bets.

Some Mississippi state-owned parks ban guns despite open carry law

By Steve Wilson | Mississippi Watchdog

“Don’t take your guns to town,” a mother warns her son in a song by Johnny Cash.
A move by the state-owned Pat Harrison Waterway District, which manages several parks in the Pascagoula River basin, builds on that theme.
Don’t take your guns to our park, either.

Allen Wright is parks director for the Waterway District. The district’s board of directors, he says, has maintained a no-gun policy for several years now.

“Right now, it’s policy that weapons aren’t allowed in the parks,” Wright said. “To allow someone to carry one on their hip and walk around the park with it, no, that’s just a recipe for disaster, in my opinion.”
Senate Bill 2862, signed by Gov. Phil Bryant in 2010, changed Mississippi law to allow people to carry guns in parks. The law removed the prohibition in Mississippi Code pertaining to guns in parks, except in the case of political rallies, athletic events not involving firearms or concerts. House Bill 2, passed in 2013 and upheld by the Mississippi Supreme Court, allowed gun owners to legally carry their weapons in the open with a few restrictions.

State Rep. Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, said the Pat Harrison Waterway District isn’t complying with state law, which doesn’t include parks as one of the protected areas — such as courthouses, police stations and jails — where open and concealed carry of firearms aren’t allowed. He said state law, which allows anyone older than 18 to carry a concealed weapon in their car or truck, trumps any restriction by the district board.
House Bill 314, which was passed last year and was signed by Bryant, restricts the rights of counties and municipalities to pass restrictive ordinances on firearms and creates an appeal process, handled by the state attorney general’s office. The problem, Gipson said, is that HB 314 doesn’t cover state entities like the Pat Harrison Waterway District, and he may consider addressing that in next year’s legislative session.
“A concealed carry license holder should be able to have their firearm concealed, open or however they want to carry it in a public park,” Gipson told Mississippi Watchdog. “With all of those statutes, I don’t see any authority for any state board or district to ban the carrying of firearms for people to protect themselves and their families.”

Lt Gov Tate Reeves on Gov Bryant's veto of SB2161: "those that support Common Core are celebrating"

From FaceBook:

Gov. Bryant’s veto of a bill that 93 Legislative Republicans supported ensures that Common Core will remain in Mississippi schools. SB 2161 ensured that student privacy would be protected, prohibited school districts from administering psychological or socio-emotional surveys, put in state law that PARCC test could not be mandated by the State Department of Education, and created a group of Mississippians (of which the Governor had more appointments than anyone) to create a set of high standards for Mississippi school children.
To put this in simple terms, those that support Common Core are celebrating tonight.