The LPGA is getting into the intolerance act by requiring its golfers to communicate only in English. It may or may not have the intended effect:

Effectively what the LPGA is doing by implementing this policy is buying a lawsuit. Because it will be challenged and it will take forever to wind through the court system. The players who are challenging the ruling will probably receive an injunction which allows them to continue on tour until the policy runs the course in the legal system. After every court ruling the same headlines will recur, the same issues will be discussed, and the same bad publicity will ensue. Eventually, after six or seven years, the LPGA’s policy will be deemed legal or illegal. (See Martin, Casey). Is this contentious path really worth it to the LPGA?

Predictably, the LPGA is already backpedaling from their public relations mess. Noting that their attorney’s vetted the proposal before it was announced. Which is always the refuge of the idiots. Because the LPGA’s policy may very well be legal. The LPGA’s true issue isn’t with the legality of the proposed policy, but with the public reaction to that policy. Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s smart.

I originally picked the headline for this post as a parody of the tired fashion expression, “pink is the new black.” The idea had nothing to do with race, but then I realized the unintended pun I had created by using the word “black.” (All of my funniest puns are unplanned.) Maybe there’s truth in that play on words, though: Is racism being replaced by cultural discrimination? It’s starting to seem that way.

So say the backers of English Only:

Attorneys supporting English Only will file a lawsuit in Chancery Court this afternoon challenging the Davidson County Election Commission’s vote to keep the charter amendment off the November ballot. Jonathan Crisp, an English Only supporter, said attorney Jim Roberts planned to file today and would seek an expedited ruling so the proposed charter amendment could still appear on the Nov. 4 ballot … Crisp vowed to take the legal challenge to the Tennessee Supreme Court if necessary.

Imagine what English Only supporters might accomplish if they directed their time, energy and money toward positive outcomes, such as outreach to immigrants regarding the benefits of learning English and developing ways that make it easier for them to do so. What a novel concept: Welcoming people to our community rather than kicking them in the teeth for having the gall to choose to live in Nashville.

It may be a technicality, and it may be short-lived, but anything that makes English Only less likely to become law is a good thing, in my opinion:

[Metro legal director Sue] Cain’s Monday ruling said petition-driven charter amendments can only be submitted every two years. Cain’s ruling interprets the word “submitted” to mean when the voters weigh in on the proposed charter amendment. Davidson County voters approved the charter amendment requiring voter approval for property tax increases on Nov. 7, 2006. The English Only amendment proposal would be on the Nov. 4 ballot, which according to Cain means it falls short of the two-year waiting period by three days.

Maybe this will buy time for a stronger opposition to what I think is shortsighted and intolerant legislation that will do little else beyond serving as a lightning rod, and maybe it will energize an apathetic electorate. I’m not really sure, but I’m glad that, at least for now, this wrongheaded amendment will not be on the ballot this November.

Alas, Evan Bayh as vice-president wasn’t meant to be, though it may be good news for Barack Obama’s presidential hopes: The presumptive Democratic candidate selected Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his running mate. Though others are already pointing out flaws in Obama’s pick and some are upset that Obama’s promised text message to supporters arrived around 3 a.m. today, I like Biden and think he is a wise choise and a good counterbalance to Obama.

I chose email over text message to receive the news from Obama’s camp. I found out the pick from NPR at 7:30 or so, and my email from Obama arrived shortly after eight. It’s just not that big a deal to me.

There will be no abiding Ken Whitehouse now: The same reporter who broke the story that the Nashville Predators might be sold to Blackberry co-founder Jim Balsillie dropped an even bigger bombshell today:

NashvillePost.com has learned that senior campaign officials from the Barack Obama Presidential campaign are being dispatched from various locations around the country and are converging in Indianapolis for a “major event” to take place on Saturday. Saturday is the same day that Obama is expected to make his first public appearance with his yet to be announced vice presidential running mate. Indiana is the home state of Democratic Senator Evan Bayh, widely considered to be on the short list of Democratic vice presidential contenders.

CBS News, among others, is citing Nashville Post as its source for speculation about Obama’s choice for vice president. This is a huge scoop for a local news organization that’s become an invaluable part of Nashville’s local media landscape over the past several years. Way to go, Ken!

I didn’t see this coming, but country star Toby Keith says he’s a Democrat and that he likes Barack Obama:

“I think [Obama's] the best Democratic candidate we’ve had since Bill Clinton. And that’s coming from a Democrat.”

I thought Keith’s signature anthem, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” was at first patriotic and later arrogant (once the war on terrorism migrated from Afghanistan to Iraq). I would not have expected to see Keith, who’s song has been adopted by many red-meat conservatives, on the left side of the aisle. That’s a refreshing surprise.

It’s no wonder that Councilmember Eric Crafton has been reluctant to disclose the funding source behind the English Only public referendum:

Dr. John H. Tanton, a retired eye surgeon, started both ProEnglish and the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). The Southern Poverty Law Center identified FAIR as a hate group last winter based on its acceptance of $1.2 million from a white supremacist organization, employees’ ties to other such groups and a history of “anti-Latino and anti-Catholic attitudes.”

In my opinion, this is yet another indication that the English Only amendment does virtually nothing to help Nashville or its residents, and it does plenty to give the city a black eye.

It would be great for Nashville to host either the Democratic or Republican Convention in the future, but only if private parties are footing the bill.

“I can’t think of anything that pushes a city up in the world of conventions more than a political convention,” [Former Deputy Mayor Bill] Phillips said. “But you’re talking about two years of commitment. It is a huge burden on the local people to go out and raise that money. A community needs to think carefully about that.”

[Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau CEO Butch] Spyridon said there will be no full-court press to land one of the conventions here any time soon. The Belmont debate, he said, “gives us almost equal exposure for a significantly lower price tag. We’ll have a more focused national and international press.”

With our schools in dire need of improvement, the hotel-motel tax about to increase and the city budget stretched awfully thin, this isn’t the right time for Nashville to take on another big-ticket item, even one that would promise huge positive attention. I think this idea should wait, unless private citizens are willing to step up to fund it.

It may be a technicality, but if it helps to derail this misguided, hateful and intolerant initiative, I’m all for it:

The Metro Law Department has been made aware of a legal technicality, which could potentially derail the proposed English Only charter amendment and prevent it from being on the ballot in November. Nashville attorney Gregg Ramos, of the firm North, Pursell, Ramos & Jameson, has called the department’s attention to the intricate wording of the Metro Charter on when proposed amendments can be submitted.

According to the charter, a petition-driven amendment proposal, like English Only, may only be submitted once every two years. “The council shall not adopt a resolution proposing amendments to this charter more often than twice during the term of office of members of said council,” the charter reads, “nor shall any such amendment or amendments be submitted by petition more often than once in each two years.”

“The council shall not adopt a resolution proposing amendments to this charter more often than twice during the term of office of members of said council,” the charter reads, “nor shall any such amendment or amendments be submitted by petition more often than once in each two years.” In 2006, Davidson County passed a petition-driven charter amendment, giving voters the power to approve property tax increases. The amendment passed on Nov. 7, 2006.

Normally I’d say such a close call should be overlooked. In the case of an amendment that benefits no one and hurts the city and some of its most vulnerable residents, though, I’m all for anything that will keep it from becoming law.

Surely there’s an interesting story behind this house in Sylvan Park, which features both a John McCain and a Barack Obama yard sign. I bet the dinner conversation can get interesting in that dining room. Maybe it’s a husband and wife who disagree about the best candidate for president, or maybe it’s a house with a mother-in-law apartment. Maybe it’s just someone hedging their bets.

Regardless, I’m happy to see two parties that share a roof respect each other’s divergent political views. That’s a lesson that we could all stand to learn … and remember. Bravo.

… you completely blank on the Nashville Scene’s You Are So Nashville If deadline and miss submitting your entries by a couple of days. At least that’s true in my case. I remembered that I hadn’t thought about the deadline in awhile on June 25. Oops.

I’m disappointed that the entries I compiled will not make the pages of the latest YASNI issue, which makes its debut today. (It isn’t online as of this writing, but it should be appearing later today.) It would be a shame to keep these silly notions of what makes our city such an eclectic and intriguing place to live under wraps, though, so here they are. Enjoy.

• Your Messiah didn’t speak English, but your landscaper sure better.
• You can’t decide what scares you more: turning into Atlanta or turning into Memphis.
• The closest your SUV has come to off-road is the Hill Center parking garage.
• You think that Orange County and New York have nothing on the Real Housewives of Green Hills.
• You wonder whether Bill Hobbs has a soul.
• Your Juvenile Court Clerk spends more time in his bathrobe than his office.
• You’re outraged that Davidson County voter registration data was stolen, but relieved because you’re not registered.
• Your gay community opens its doors to churchgoers marching for family values, not the other way around.
• You hear Out Loud is an excellent stereo shop.
• Vanderbilt is the team you hate to love.
• You wish Catherine Darnell were still around to distinguish the Harding Road “Hill Center” and the Green Hills “Hill Center” in snooty socioeconomic terms.
• You’re hoping Karl Dean will have a chance to address the non-hockey items on his mayoral agenda by his second term.
• Your solution to homelessness is destroying panhandlers’ natural habitats.
• Your blue blindfold obscures your view of the Hustler Hollywood store–and the homeless man begging for lunch across the street.
• You brag about switching to Green Power–and your second place finish in Metro’s annual holiday lights contest.
• You’re OK with Gaylord building a new convention center of their own, so long as it features a Flume Zoom.
• You carry your iPhone as a badge of honor because *you* stood in line for it at the mall–instead of having your record label’s intern do it for you.
• You’re outraged that Microsoft Word thinks “Opry” isn’t a word. (WordPress agrees.)
• You have season passes for the Schermerhorn *and* the Music City Motorplex.
• You’re thrilled that Bart Durham finally landed Nashville its “first soap opera.”
• You’re concerned that Nashville can’t possibly support Ghost Ballet for the East Nashville Machineworks *and* the Nutcracker.
• You find yourself wondering just how hot the Hot Yoga really is.
• You’ve started cheering for the ghosts instead of rooting for Pacman.
• You think Pacman has had a few too many power pellets.
• You fondly recall the era when Pacman was just a video game, not a public nuisance.

AT&T will axe the Cingular brand name now that it has acquired BellSouth. I think this is a big mistake. I am a Verizon customer, but I didn’t choose Verizon because of its name. I chose it because it offered me a better deal through my office than I could get as a consumer.

Cingular has invested billions of dollars creating and promoting this unique moniker. BellSouth abandoned the name BellSouth Mobility in order to do that. AT&T is claiming dollar savings and increased opportunity for bundling services by making the change, but I tend to agree with this take:

But with its long and complicated history, AT&T may face customer confusion over its name, marketing experts said. Also, Cingular built up a reputation among younger customers who may not easily associate with the AT&T brand.

Furthermore, if customers do associate AT&T with wireless phones, here’s what they think:

The new AT&T was formed in the merger of SBC Communications and AT&T Corp. in late 2005. Adding to the mix, in late 2004 Cingular bought AT&T Wireless, eradicating that brand because of its poor reputation among customers.

In a somewhat related note, someone please acquire Vonage and get rid of that excruciating theme song. I mute the TV every time it comes on. Aargh.