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Saturday, November 14, 2026Nov 14

Cook: Narcissistic buffoons, cultural rot and fighting words

Andreas Fath, a world-record-holding endurance swimmer and professor of Medical and Life Sciences at Furtwangen University in Germany, swims alongside Juri Jander down the Tennessee River Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Jander is a student where Fath teaches who is doing his thesis on micro-plastics.
Andreas Fath, a world-record-holding endurance swimmer and professor of Medical and Life Sciences at Furtwangen University in Germany, swims alongside Juri Jander down the Tennessee River Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Jander is a student where Fath teaches who is doing his thesis on micro-plastics.
photo David Cook

One week ago, I wrote that Tennessee Republicans had lost their moral center, no longer reflecting the values and virtues conservatism once held.

This, you might imagine, generated a lot of response.

“Stupid,” one email began.

Today’s column, then, belongs to you – your praise and your criticism.

What follows is a fair sampling of messages from this past week. Maybe we can learn from each other.