Free Republic

A racially charged Democratic primary campaign ended Thursday with an incumbent congressman trouncing the opponent who ran an ad linking him to the Ku Klux Klan. Early, unofficial results showed Democrat Steve Cohen with 79 percent of the vote to 19 percent for Nikki Tinker, a black corporate lawyer who was his chief opponent in the district that covers Memphis.

With only hours to go before the polls close, former 9th District congressman Harold Ford Jr., now head of the Democratic Leadership Council, has joined in on the mounting chorus of criticism of recent TV ads by Nikki Tinker, who is challenging current incumbent Steve Cohen in today's Democratic primary. Ford's statement is as follows: "Whenever race, religion or gender is invoked in a political contest, it generally means the candidate has run out of legitimate arguments for why he/she should be elected. Communities and nations are always made weaker when political figures try to divide us for political advantage....

When polls opened at 7 a.m. in precincts throughout Shelby County, coverage of the State and Federal Primary and County General Election had extended to national newspapers and websites closely following Greater Memphis's two contested Congressional elections. Much of the coverage focused on the 9th Congressional District Democratic Primary, where incumbent Steve Cohen was in a rematch of sorts with corporate lawyer Nikki Tinker in a heated campaign that pushed to a boil in the hours before polls opened. State Rep. Joe Towns Jr. is also on the ballot, as are two others. The New York Times ran a 700-word...

Former Shelby County Commissioner Walter Bailey said Monday that the Nikki Tinker ad featuring pictures of a Ku Klux Klan rally and denunciations of incumbent Congressman Steve Cohen's vote not to remove the statue and remains of Nathan Bedford Forrest from a Memphis park "has nothing to do with race." Asked if injecting the incendiary television images into Thursday's 9th Congressional District Democratic Primary contest would be seen as racially divisive, Bailey said: "That may be an ancillary side of it, but that's not the main focus, and it's not the intended focus." Cohen's campaign pushed back vigorously on the...

In his two most recent campaign commercials, 9th District Congressman Steve Cohen spends valuable seconds of airtime explaining a most mundane electoral process. "You need to ask for a Democratic ballot on Thursday to vote for me," he says in the latest, created especially to run on Comedy Central's satirical late-night show, "The Colbert Report." He said the same thing in another spot, "Greatest Honor," and Memphis radio listeners have heard Cohen provide instructions in even greater detail. In his attempt to run up votes in the Democratic primary contest against Nikki Tinker, Joe Towns Jr. and two other candidates,...

While first-term U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen was on the floor of the House on Tuesday, guiding passage of a historic resolution apologizing to African-American citizens for slavery and Jim Crow laws, his most prominent and well-funded Democratic primary opponent was out in the Memphis heat trying to win voters. Nikki Tinker likes to wear a baseball cap and athletic shoes to go with a skirt, giving her the look of a woman hard at work, and she would often show voters the tan line on her arms as evidence of it. She said she worked outside at the early-voting sites...

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- An Air Force member killed his two children before killing himself in a military campus house at Tinker Air Force Base on Monday, authorities said. According to Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel, a military member and his ex-wife were involved in an altercation just before 2:30 p.m. The ex-wife left the home and heard gunshots, Whetsel said. Tactical teams arrived by about 2:40 p.m. Nearly two hours later, they gained entry into the home, where they found three people dead -- including two children, ages 4 and 8. Whetsel said his department is investigating...

According to a report in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, [Nikki] Tinker “declined to answer” questions about the flier, which was condemned by the Anti-Defamation League. The flier reportedly states that “Memphis Congressman Steve Cohen and the JEWS HATE Jesus. So Memphis Christians must united and support ONE Black Christian to represent Memphis in the United States Congress in 2008.” [Memphis Commercial Appeal, 2/13/08 and 2/11/08]

Three men described as Middle Eastern-looking were seen aiming a rocket launcher at a low-flying B-1 Bomber near Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. Air Force security pursued the suspects, who got away, but left behind their rocket launcher, according to a July 14 Air Force staff directive obtained by WND. The three suspects were observed outside the perimeter of the air base, looking through binoculars and aiming the weapon at chest level, according to the report. The FBI and Air Force security are investigating the incident, which suggests a threat to military and commercial flights within the U.S. from...

The following "REAL WORLD" notice was just received from an SFTT supporter. The full notice is a 2-page document posted below. The danger to US commercial & military aircraft in CONUS appears to be very real. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- REAL WORLD TEAM TINKER BATTLE STAFF DIRECTIVE (BSD) BSD # 41 DTG 140825L Jul 05L OPR: All SUSPENSE: Upon receipt SUBJECT: BSD# 40 Amendment SITUATION: On 14 Jul 05, three individuals were observed outside of the perimeter of Tinker AFB, OK. They were looking through binoculars, taking pictures and one appeared to be holding a large weapon at chest level. The weapon appeared...

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The FBI says a report about a possible terrorist threat at Tinker Air Force Base at Midwest City was not credible, but the agency isn't saying why. A July 13th report said three people who appeared to be Middle Eastern were seen near Tinker looking through binoculars, taking photos and pointing what appeared to be a rocket launcher at an airplane flying over the base. An early description of the incident wound up circulating among Air Force personnel and on the Internet. FBI spokesman Gary Johnson says police were notified, but after a thorough investigation no...

This week, New Jersey Transit officials joined the New York Police Department in performing hapless random searches of Granny's knitting bag and Junior's Thomas the Tank backpack to prevent the next al-Qaida attack. But not everyone is fighting the War on Terror blind. Some U.S. military personnel have been given a very clear and un-politically correct mission: Be on the lookout for Middle Easterners carrying rocket launchers. Yup, that's right. Many readers have e-mailed me about a recent report floating on the Internet that reveals military concerns about a suspicious trio of Middle Eastern men who apparently pointed a rocket...

This week, New Jersey Transit officials joined the New York Police Department in performing hapless random searches of Granny's knitting bag and Junior's Thomas the Tank backpack to prevent the next al Qaeda attack. But not everyone is fighting the War on Terror blind. Some U.S. military personnel have been given a very clear and un-p.c. mission: Be on the lookout for Middle Easterners carrying rocket launchers. Yup, that's right. Many readers have e-mailed me about a recent report floating on the Internet that reveals military concerns about a suspicious trio of Middle Eastern men who apparently pointed a rocket...