Blue Collar Muse

UPDATE: Welcome to our Instapundit visitors! You can click here to see the rest of BCM’s coverage of this story!

Tennessee ConserVOLiance bloggers Kay Brooks, Kate from An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings and I represented the New Media at Joy Ford’s Monday press conference. We were joined by WTN radio’s Phil Valentine, Fox 17 News’ John Dunn, the Tennessean’s Chas Sisk and camera crews from two other local TV stations, sadly without accompanying reporters.

In the videos below, Scott Bullock of the Institute for Justice, Ford’s counsel in the matter, announces Ford will not be going down without a fight. It may be that Nashville government and Houston developers will get to bulldoze Joy’s building - but they will never bulldoze Joy! Since Joy’s husband died in 1999, she has fielded and rejected a steady stream of offers to buy her property. The latest came with an interesting twist. It wasn’t just a developer wanting her land, the city of Nashville was party to the deal.

As is always the case when government gets involved, there’s an iron fist in that velvet glove. Unlike developers who came-a-courtin’, the government wouldn’t take Joy Ford’s “No!” for an answer. When governmental chocolate and flowers didn’t work, Joy’s bureaucratic suitor decided to get a little rough. If he had been an actual man, we’d call his behavior ‘rape’ and prosecute him. Because it’s the government, Miss Joy is supposed to accept being violated and understand since the city is paying her, it’s OK. If that sounds suspiciously like a man’s rationale that he spent lots of money on this date and is therefore entitled to take what he wants if his date is unwilling, you won’t be far off the mark.

Faced with the threat of arrogant and powerful government seizing her property, Joy Ford had two choices. She could give up and quit or she could stand up and fight. Joy chose to fight. Some will question that choice. Who is she to stand in the way of development? She’s just one person and this is for the good of the city. Blah, blah, blah …

Let’s not forget - Joy is the injured party here. She was attacked first and is defending herself. She was minding her own business, literally, when she was forced into a conflict. She’s not fighting against City Hall, she’s fighting back against City Hall. There’s a difference. They drew first blood. The press conference videos below show how the battle lines are shaping up. In the meantime, drop Miss Joy a note and tell her you’re on her side. Send a donation to the Institute for Justice to help them stand up for her. Blog about the issue or talk about it with your family and friends. If we all do what we can, this is a fight we’ll win!

Thanks and a techie hat tip go out to Kay Brooks for her help and guidance in teaching me the ins and outs of Movie Maker so that I could post these videos. Being a bit dense, it still took a day or so to figure it out. I apologize for not having the video up sooner. Thanks, Kay!

Blue Collar Muse

SEE ALSO:

MDHA Eminent Domain … “This Condemnation Violates Tennessee Law” by Truman Bean at Truman’s Take.

Friends Fortify Ford by Kay Brooks.

Who Else? also by Kay Brooks.

News From Fox 17 on Miss Joy by Kate at An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings.

Fight the Power by Bill Hobbs.

Eminent Domain Battle on Music Row by Fox 17’s John Dunn.

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Tags: , Country International Records, Eminent Domain, Institute for Justice, Joy Ford, Scott Bullock

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 at 7:47 am and is filed under 5th Amendment, Blogging, Constitution Issues, Eminent Domain, Joy Ford, Nashville Nuggets, Tennesee Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.