Speaker: Major Mark Lenhart

For our banquet speaker on Dec. 1, we are honored to have Major Mark Lenhart with the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment. As many of you know, the 278th last deployed to Iraq in 2004. They are again preparing to deploy having received a mobilization order this summer.

Christmas Banquet and Cake Auction, Dec. 1

We are excited to have our annual Christmas Banquet and Cake Auction on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at First Baptist Church (downtown). We will be in Trentham Hall starting at 5:30 PM for a social hour with the banquet beginning at 6:30 PM.

Tickets are $15 for adults.

For more information or to donate a cake for the auction, contact David Page (607- 8192) or Lorraine Coffey (660- 3677). We look forward to seeing you there!

November: Brad Anders Speaker

At our November meeting, we are happy to have Brad Anders (County Commissioner for the 6th District) as our speaker. As usual, our meeting will be at 7:00 PM in the library of the Karns Middle School on Tuesday, November 3. We look forward to seeing you there.

Speaker: Fred Sisk

At our October meeting, we are happy to have Fred Sisk (Knox County Trustee) as our speaker. As usual, our meeting will be at 7:00 PM in the library of the Karns Middle School on Tuesday, October 6th. We look forward to seeing you there.

Follow us on Twitter!

We are now on twitter. Our account is karnsgop. You can follow using the link to the right.

September Meeting: Speaker, Sherry Witt

At our September meeting, we are happy to have Sherry Witt (Knox County Register of Deeds) as our speaker. As usual, our meeting will be at 7:00 PM in the library of the Karns Middle School on Tuesday, September 1st. We look forward to seeing you there.

August Meeting: Judge Bob McGhee

At our August meeting, we are happy to have Judge Bob McGee as our speaker. As usual, our meeting will be at 7:00 PM in the library of the Karns Middle School on Tuesday, August 4th. We look forward to seeing you there.

Book Recommendation: Glen Beck

Glen Beck's new book Common Sense offers an engaging new look at politics in America. As his title suggests, his insights and wisdom are inspired by Thomas Paine.

Book Recommendation: Jay Heinrichs

Jay Heinrich has authored a great book on the classical art of rhetoric. The title of the book is Thank You for Arguing, and its a great how-to book on winning a debate. A key point of his book is that we should all learn how to argue and to do so without anger. An interesting perspective in the often tenacious world of politics.

See you at the fair!

It's Fair Time! Come see our booth at the Karns Fair on Saturday, July 25th! The fair is sponsored by the good folks at the Karns Business Association. We appreciate all the hard work and planning they have to put into this event and we look forward to seeing everyone there!

July Meeting: Prepare for Karns Fair

The Karns Fair is just around the corner! At our July meeting, we will be preparing for our booth at the Karns Fair. The meeting will be at 7:00 PM in the library of the Karns Middle School on Tuesday, July 7th. We look forward to seeing you there.

June Meeting: Criminal Court - Joy R. McCroskey, Clerk

At our June meeting, we are happy to have Criminal Court Clerk Joy McCroskey to speak. As usual, our meeting will be at 7:00 PM in the library of the Karns Middle School on Tuesday, June 2nd. We look forward to seeing you there.

May Meeting: Ray Jenkins

For our May meeting, we are happy to have the Knox County GOP Chairman Ray Jenkins to speak with us. As usual, our meeting will be at 7:00 PM in the library of the Karns Middle School on Tuesday, May 5. We look forward to seeing you there.

Lincoln Day Dinner

The Lincoln Day dinner is scheduled for April 14th at Rothchilds. Tickets are for sale through office holders. The speakers will be gubernatorial candidates for 2010. Hope to see you there!

April Meeting: By Laws

For our April meeting, we will be discussing our by laws and forming a committee to update them. As usual, our meeting will be at 7:00 PM in the library of the Karns Middle School on Tuesday, April 7. We look forward to seeing you there.

March Meeting: Healthcare Discussion

At the March meeting, we will be discussing health care with points of interest from Newt Gingrich's new book. As usual, our meeting will be at 7:00 PM in the library of the Karns Middle School on Tuesday, March 3rd. We look forward to seeing you there.

February Meeting: Dr. Paul Crilly

CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER!

For our February meeting, we will have Dr. Paul Crilly, the GOP member of the Knox County Election Commission. As usual, our meeting will be at 7:00 PM in the library of the Karns Middle School on Tuesday, February 3rd. Dr. Crilly will speak about the role of the Election Commission. We look forward to seeing you there.

Book Recommendation: Capitalism and Freedom

First publilshed in 1962, Capitalism and Freedom is a classic book by the renowned economist Milton Friedman. As we move forward in this uncertain time, Friedman is a great source to understand the balance between government and individual freedom. Friedman was writing in the shadow of FDR and the dawn of LBJ and yet forshadows the rise of Ronald Reagan.

January Meeting: All Business

For our January meeting (Tuesday the 6th), we are planning to have a business meeting to discuss and prepare for the New Year. As usual, we will meet at 7:00 PM in the library of Karns Middle School.

We encourage your to come join us whether your a new member or long-time Karns GOP'er. Bring your ideas and help us make 2009 a successful Republican year.

See you Tuesday night!

P.S. We are planning to meet at Gatti's in Karns at 6:00PM prior to the meeting. We hope to make this casual precursor to our regular meeting a regular event.

Race for Governor

The race for Governor in Tennessee became very interesting on Monday as former U.S. Senator Bill Frist announced that he will not run as reported in the Knoxville News Sentinel. See article.

Many GOP'ers have been waiting in the wings to see what Frist would do. Now that he's officially out, the anticipation is that Knoxville's Mayor, Bill Haslam, will run. Haslam may even make an announcement as early as Tuesday. See article. Other prominent GOP gubernatorial candidates include both Zack Wamp and Bill Gibbons. Wamp is an eight-term U.S. Representative from Chattanooga. He serves the third Congressional district of Tennessee, which includes Oak Ridge. From the west side of the state, Gibbons is District Attorney for Shelby Count, which includes Memphis.

As an interesting side note, rumors have swirled since 2006 that the country music star Tim McGraw may through his hat into the governor's race for the Democrats. Stay tuned, y'all!

Book Recommendation

In Founding Brothers, Joseph Ellis eloquently peals away the onion-and thus the often glossed over mystery-of the forming of our nation. Ellis tells us in this Pulitzer -Prize winning book how a group of ordinary men-ordinary in that they possessed mortal flaws as any other man-pulled together extraordinary compromises as they ushered our republic, the United States of America, through its early days. Ellis goes beyond the grandeur that we most often associate with men like Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, and Adams to reveal new insights.