Friends in low places

From Americans for Prosperity who have a planned balloon launch to call more attention to Al Gore's climate beliefs.

Roy Wilson, the director of the Board of Parks and Recreation, has even reportedly told one of our staffers on the ground that Nashville police officers will be on hand and will physically restrain members of our crew if they attempt to launch the balloon.

(snip)

UPDATE 3:00 pm Eastern time: Roy Wilson at the Nashville Parks Department must not have liked our earlier post, since he just completely revoked our permit -- even though his department's own rules state that he can't do that unless we break a law or one of the department's rules, which we haven't done and have no intention of doing. Then he hung up on our legal counsel. Get ready for the FOIAs, Mr. Wilson. If you've gotten any e-mails or phone calls from any of Al Gore's cronies, we want the world to know about it.

This is unfortunate. The event could have been portrayed as just another political stunt and quietly gone away after a couple of days had it gone on as planned. Now it's got longer legs and life. How Mr. Wilson couldn't have known what the AFP plans were seem beyond belief since it's been widely reported in the media. If it comes out that he's doing Gore a favor and didn't have the authority to do this, he needs to lose his job. I'll be surprised if Chief Serpas actually allows his officer's to be drawn into this pettiness.

This is the sort of stuff that makes Nashville look like a hick political town and for what gain?

UPDATE: Mapquest says the park and the Gore home are more than 6 miles apart. How much real inconvenience is this going to be to the Gores? Are they even home today? Seriously, if it actually does fly over the house, it's a balloon not a buzzing crop duster. What more privacy could they lose than what Google has already violated?










Hat tip: Instapundit