WKNO TRANSCRIPT
CHRISTOPHER BLANK (Host): As America celebrates its 250th birthday this weekend, partisan politics enters the chat locally and nationally. Does it put a damper on the occasion? With us again is political analyst Otis Sanford. Welcome back!
OTIS SANFORD: Thank you, Chris. Good to be with you.
BLANK: Well, first let's catch up on some events this week--local politics. The latest twist in the state takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools. On Wednesday, a federal judge put the whole thing on hold with a temporary restraining order. You know, the courts have been unpredictable when it comes to pausing Tennessee's controversial laws. They did not stop the new congressional districts, for example. Why do you imagine this judge isn't just letting the state-appointed oversight board do its work until this case is settled?
SANFORD: Well, it appears to me that he may see some issues here that need to be addressed in court before allowing this board to just, sort of, take over. You know, very seldom do federal judges even grant temporary restraining orders unless they believe that there could be some success on the merits of the case. And I believe that this judge probably sees some merit in what the plaintiffs here-- what the county government and the MSCS schools are saying-- that this is too disruptive. It's certainly going to be disruptive for the next school year and it needs to be hashed out in the courts.
BLANK: Well, so where does this put the school system right now? Can they do any business until there's a decision?
SANFORD: Well, actually the school system and the elected school board can, because the temporary restraining order re-establishes the status quo, meaning it goes back to the way it was before this appointed board was even set up. So yes, the school board can continue to function and they are. I mean, they let a lot of contracts just the other day. It is the appointed board that cannot do anything. They canceled the meeting, their first Memphis meeting, the other day. So they are the ones that are sort of stalled here.
BLANK: Well, tomorrow is a very special 4th of July, the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. And Otis, I've been reading your autobiography, "Newsman," which just came out. You've been running around signing copies everywhere.
SANFORD: I have. Thank you.
BLANK: And I see here in chapter one, you were at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. What was that like?
SANFORD: (Laughs.) Actually, I was a little late. My buggy had a flat tire.
BLANK: Well, okay, so you were not there in 1776, but you were there in 1976, the Bicentennial. You were a brand new reporter down in Jackson, Mississippi. And there were, of course, politics going on then. There was a presidential election. Do you remember, what was the mood of the country like at that time?
SANFORD: Thank you for asking that question, Chris. Obviously, we were just coming out of the Watergate scandal. Richard Nixon had resigned as president in August of 1974. We were coming out of the Vietnam War, so there was a lot of dissension and and division related to that. But I do recall that the federal government -- and that included the president at the time who was Gerald Ford -- took great pains to make this a national celebration, not concentrated in Washington, D.C. or Philadelphia where the founding of the country was. It was a national thing. And people had a lot more patriotic fervor. There was joy around the 200th Anniversary. I do remember that there were a lot of parades and events. It was a much different time than we are looking at right now with the 250th.
BLANK: I know back in 1966, Congress created a commission, ten years ahead of the Bicentennial to make plans. Do you think that the federal government has, maybe, dropped the ball this year on the way we should be, as a country, coming together for this celebration?
SANFORD: Well, not only have they dropped the ball, but the current president has taken total control of the ball and has it all to himself. It's all about politics, and because of that what I'm looking at is a complete a lack of enthusiasm about what's going on here.
BLANK: So what are you going to do this weekend, Otis?
SANFORD: I'm going to be... It's very very low key. Stay here at home and we're going to have hot dogs and burgers. Just me and Elaine, and maybe one or two of the kids will come over, the grandson might be here. I remember so fondly, Chris, back in 1976. And that was just a lot of patriotic interest then. That's not now, because this president has made it all about him. So, I'm going to be very low-key and stay at home.
BLANK: Well, if you need a public radio host to come over and recite the Declaration of Independence, we're all trained to do it, and we work for hot dogs, so...
SANFORD: You are more than welcome to come over and I will put an extra hot dog on for you and put any condiment you want on it.
BLANK: Well, thank you so much and happy Fourth of July.
