Dolly the uniter

Give Dolly Parton a Statue Already The Tennessee General Assembly’s vote to do so should be unanimous.

NASHVILLE — To call the Republican supermajority of the Tennessee General Assembly extremist is merely to state a fact.

These legislators have refused to expand Medicaid, a decision that is opposed by 63 percent of Tennesseans. They are considering a bill that would allow people to carry a gun without a permit, though a new poll shows that 93 percent of recent Tennessee voters support permit requirements. The General Assembly has also just reappointed a secretary of state who opposes expanding access to absentee ballots, never mind that Tennesseans shattered records by taking advantage of temporary absentee voting options during the pandemic.

It almost seems like Republican legislators don’t care what their constituents want.

In at least one respect, however, the General Assembly is in lock step with the rest of us: We love Dolly Parton, and our lawmakers love her, too. John Mark Windle, a Democrat from Livingston, is sponsoring a bill to erect a statue of Dolly Parton on the Capitol grounds at a site that faces the Ryman Auditorium, known here as the Mother Church of Country Music.

“She accepts everyone. She’s nonjudgmental,” Mr. Windle said. “She is the example of what I think a Christian ought to be.” (continues)

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/15/opinion/tennessee-dolly-parton-statue.html?smid=em-share