Editor’s notebook: Tennessee leadership bends the knee to Washington

By: J. Holly McCall

Outlets: Tennessee Lookout

Published: January 29, 2026

Words: 871

Last Updated: 3 weeks, 2 days ago

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Tennesseans have a reputation for independence and a fighting spirit.

Some of us attribute those traits to our scrappy Scotch-Irish ancestors, the ones who left England to pursue religious freedom, took up arms against England in the Revolutionary War and afterwards, headed west to Tennessee.

We take pride in our heritage. Gov. Bill Lee, for instance, often notes he’s a 7th generation Tennessean.

While we can crack jokes about our accents or …

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