The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • A17

CYANMAGYELBLK TennesseanBroadsheet Master TennesseanBroadsheet Master 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 5 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 5 TennesseanBroadsheet Master TennesseanBroadsheet Master 5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 17A OPINION www.tennessean.com THE TENNESSEAN Sunday, November 27, 2005 17A Dwight Lewis Opinion Tim Chavez Opinion Her real name was Carrie Lee Jackson, but most people simply called her by her nickname, was one of the most colorful characters that Nashville has ever seen. She attacked media photographers, embarked on a professional wrestling career for a short period of time while weighing 340 pounds, pushed and choked news reporters, tangled with the police, shouted obscenities while in a courtroom and even bumped a local judge once. She also once served as a volunteer court officer, faced child abandonment charges which were later dropped because of a lack of evidence and once was extradited to South Carolina to face criminal charges there. Still, when word came of Big recent death, some of those who knew her forget the gentle side of the woman who once boasted of taking on seven police officers here at one time in 1979. was a very colorful lady, and despite the controversy often surrounding her, she was liked by many former Metro Council member and Nashville pharmacist Morris Haddox said over the telephone this past week.

personality changed at times, but she was a gentle Nashville barber and former Metro Councilman Vernon Winfrey remembered that when it came to her wrestling career, Big Tussie wanted the real thing instead of some of the faking that often goes on in professional wrestling. first met her in 1963 when I was attending barber Winfrey said. she left Nashville and would return back home, she would often come by to get money to leave town again. She would often come to me and (former Councilman) Mansfield Douglas when she was running short of money. always treated me nice.

And her being on the heavy side, I was glad to be her Carrie Lee son, Ray Robinson of Gaithersburg, told me over the telephone Tuesday night that his mother died Nov. 17 at age 75 of natural causes in Cleveland, Ohio. He said she had lived in South Carolina for 16 years, then in Cleveland for the last three. He said one of his sisters urged his mother to come to Cleveland to be near family because she had both of her legs amputated in the late 1990s as a result of diabetes. had diabetes for 25 said Robinson, 46.

think she could have lived longer, but she also had high blood pressure and eat Nor did his mother believe in having insurance, Robinson said, and as a result, her remains are still at the William A. Gaines Funeral Home in Cleveland. been embalmed, but still collecting money to bury Robinson said. wanted to be taken back to South Carolina to be buried because she was married to a man there who died 10 years ago, but that would cost too much. think she should be buried in Nashville because that is where she was from, but we will probably bury her in Robinson told me that after his mother left Nashville in the mid- 1980s, it was still hard for her to escape the limelight for a while.

But he added that she was an avid churchgoer. loved fried chicken, ham and Robinson said. said she was going to die happy, and I think she That for a woman who had a lot of ups and downs in life, mostly downs. papers always reported the downs, but she did have a gentle side to state Supreme Court Justice Adolpho A. Birch said of Big Tussie on Wednesday after I called to see if he had heard of her death.

always treated me with kindness and added Birch, who had Jackson in his Criminal Court back in 1985 to answer forgery charges. was an icon, but I say what she represented. deep down inside she was a good human And in the end, I guess what matters most about a person, even someone as colorful as Big Tussie Jackson. Dwight Lewis is a columnist, regional editor and member of the editorial board for The Tennessean E-mail: Big Tussie leaves big mark on hearts here few minutes ago I received a call from Col. Danny Bubp, Ohio representative from the 88th District in the House of Representatives.

He asked me to send Congress a message stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message that cowards cut and run, Marines never JJeeaann oonn tthhee fflloooorr ooff tthhee HHoouussee So Thanksgiving is behind us, and smack in the thick of the shopping season. rushing here and there (and there, and there), trying to come up with the perfect gifts for those special people in our lives. Why not a Patriot? No, really why not add a little Yankee Doodle Dandy to the holidays with a purchase of an authentic Made in America and Darned Proud of It Patriot, just like the ones seen on TV? With American values under attack every day, with brave American men and women facing mortal danger in distant lands, giving a Patriot is a great way to show your loved ones that you care! An Xbox is fun. An iPod is sleek.

But only a Patriot says One of Us. thinking. a great idea! But how do I find them? And how do I make sure getting a real Patriot, and not one of those cheap foreign in luck! As part of our constant commitment to customer service, happy to present the latest edition of our Holiday Guide to Patriots everything need to spot high-quality Patriots in stores and shopping malls near you. find useful tips on every page. For instance: How does a Patriot look? easy to recognize a real Patriot.

No matter where she goes or what she does, she makes her love for this country perfectly clear, even in the things she wears. Who else but a Patriot would go before the nation all decked out in red, white and blue, positively resplendent in stars and stripes? an ensemble that proclaims, more American than you How does a Patriot act? A Patriot loves her country so deeply that she be held back by those outdated traditions of seniority or respect. A true Patriot can be the newest member of a large and long- established group and still not hesitate to take the floor to trash a highly respected fellow member. What does a Patriot say, and how does a Patriot say it? A Patriot is inclusive in her comments. Rather than taking all the credit for the words she utters, perfectly willing to pass along something that somebody else supposedly said if it will help her achieve the desired effect.

A Patriot is subtle. She have to spell things out. She can simply imply that a decorated war veteran is a for instance, without ever quite saying the particular words in that particular order. That way, if anybody objects to her comments, the Patriot can withdraw them and insist that she never meant them personally. A Patriot is modest.

If the principal reaction to her words is widespread revulsion, perfectly able to say she had no idea attract so much attention. If necessary, the Patriot can even say with a straight face that her comments were misinterpreted and blown out of proportion by the media. And forget: A Patriot is sensitive to bruised feelings especially her own. If the revulsion over her comments continues to grow, a Patriot has no problem insisting that the real victim. She sounds great, she? Inspiring.

Decorative. And easy to care for. The Patriot. She deserves a place under tree. Rick Horowitz is a syndicated columnist.

E-mail: rick- Nothing says insulting a decorated veteran Rick Horowitz Opinion AP Rep. Jean Schmidt, an Ohio Republican, had harsh words for her Democratic colleague John Murtha after he called for removing U.S. troops from Iraq. NEW YORK In a Nov. 13 New York Times Magazine story about the movie Left Behind: World at War based on the best-selling book series by Jerry B.

Jenkins and Tim LaHaye Peter Lalonde, co- CEO of Cloud Ten Pictures, which produced the film, had this to say about the forthcoming film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe TLTWTW film, but nothing Christian about Hallelujah! Perhaps not since the 1981 best picture Chariots of Fire has there been a film that so subtly and wonderfully appeals to the spirit and lets the audience decide if it wishes to go further. Compared to the schlock that has been shown in church basements over the years, in which the script would not have measured up to minimal standards in any writing class and the acting and directing were so bad that anyone seeking to make a living in this genre would surely have starved to death, TLTWTW is a masterpiece of counter- programming. Everything those awful movies were, this one It faithfully follows the storyline conceived by C.S. Lewis, the Belfast native, gigantic intellect, Christian apologist and Oxford professor, who died 42 years ago but whose work continues to sell and challenge the self-indulgent and disbelieving spirit of the age. Lewis believed in taking on the popular philosophies of his day on their own turf, not retreating into religious catacombs.

In addition to his teaching and writing, during World War II, Lewis delivered lectures on the BBC on marriage, the Christian faith and other subjects. He have been more mainstream than that. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe adapted from popular book series, opens nationally Dec. 9 with one of the largest rollouts in film history. The Walt Disney along with co-producer Walden Media, have faith that the film will not only drive many Christians and conservatives to see it, but that people who share beliefs will buy tickets for the adventure story, the spectacular special effects and the characters who find faith and courage in a most unlikely place: the mythical land of Narnia, where it has been winter, but never until they arrive.

This is an important film because it offers a better strategy for Christians and conservatives than Hollywood- bashing. Movies have been a source of moral controversy from the first one- reelers more than a century ago. Politicians and religious leaders denounced them for scenes that would today seem tame. In 1922, Congress threatened to censor movies unless the industry cleaned up its act. Film producers selected Will H.

Hays President Warren campaign manager, a Presbyterian elder and a Republican to set up a commission that would review films before their release. In 1934, the Roman Catholic Church formed the Legion of Decency to combat immoral movies and told Catholics which films they could see and which were and forbidden to them. Faced with millions of unsold tickets, the movie industry established the Production Code Administration, which strictly monitored stringent decency guidelines, better known as the Hays Code, and granted seals of approval to films they liked and fined producers $25,000 for releasing films without the seal. It until 1968 that this system was scrapped and replaced with letter ratings. Most conservatives and Christians, rather than advocating for better movies, have been content to boycott films, make really bad ones or criticize what was being produced.

This approach has had minimal influence on the film industry and has contributed little that was positive to the cul- ture wars. With TLTWTW there is no going back to the church basement. This film should slam the door and take viewers to the main level. It deserves the patronage of all who have lamented the loss of and who believe they have a far more compelling and entertaining message than the sex, violence and profanity that Hollywood has, for too long, produced unchallenged. As with The Passion of the Christ (an openly religious film) and Chariots of Fire the public must buy tickets to TLTWTW and make this and its sequels big moneymakers for Disney and Walden.

Large profits are the key to ensuring more good films. If all of the energy put into the failed boycott of Disney for at Walt Disney World now goes into praising Disney and Walden for creating a magnificent work, this will overcome that other C.S. Lewis got it. So will you after seeing this movie and cheering the ultimate triumph of good over evil. Cal Thomas is a syndicated columnist and a commentator for Fox News.

Write: Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Suite 114, Buffalo, N.Y. 14207. Web site: www.calthomas.com. class act among Christian films Cal Thomas Opinion BUENA VISTA GAMES A new video game from Buena Vista Games, a Disney company, capitalizes on the upcoming film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Patricia Bridges of Sparta represents the kind of TennCare enrollee who many Tennesseans would say deserves support.

Bridges, 51, stayed at home and raised her three children. Now they are contributing members of society in California, Florida and Tennessee. Meanwhile, her husband supported the family by working. Breast cancer struck 10 years ago, but it has since been in remission. Her husband had to quit his job due to back trouble, but TennCare helped through the breast cancer and monitored the disease afterward.

Last May, however, Bridges was diagnosed with cancer in the liver and lungs. She has started chemotherapy, but her white-cell count got so low that treatment had to be delayed and restarted. Costly medicine also is needed to fight nausea. Two months ago, she received notice that her TennCare coverage would be cut after December. She appealed and received a hearing date.

Earlier this month, she and her husband and a friend went to give their side. There, she faced a state hearing officer and a voice coming from a little black box that made the case against her. The voice started throwing out a lot of numbers. Bridges made it very clear that she did not understand. A security guard knocked on the hearing room door to inquire if he was needed, confirmed Barbara Reynolds, former dean of the School of Nursing at Tennessee Tech and chairwoman of a Tenn- Care advocacy group.

wasted my Bridges said. I pregnant, have breast cancer or cervical cancer, if I have children at home, then I qualify for coverage. I raised three kids. What do I want with more Bridges also is not under 21 and is not in a nursing home two other criteria that would allow her to keep coverage. The state also has grants to pay for treatment of breast and cervical cancer.

Two stacks of documents Bridges had from her doctor were never considered. While much attention has been focused on the unnecessary spending by the Bredesen administration of more than $1 million for attorneys to hear the TennCare appeals, another outrage is transpiring inside these hearing rooms as sick Tennesseans fight for their survival. And these proceedings are not what we learned about America and our rights and due process in middle school civics class. State Rep. Ben West, D-Nashville, sat in on two hearings earlier this fall.

First, however, he had to negotiate two sets of security guards. Before one hearing, he heard the hearing officer tell the Tenn- Care attorney on the black box: you want to go over your exhibits as we So the hearing officer and TennCare attorney already had discussed the case before the enrollee got there. whole process was atrocious to those human beings whose medical coverage has been West said. whole process was an affront to the TennCare basic survival. In our society, you get to face your accuser.

The TennCare enrollees did not. have more West, too, listened as the TennCare attorney threw out a bunch of numbers while the enrollee repeatedly pleaded that she did not understand. He said he was so shocked and angry at what he was seeing that he left before the second hearing was finished. He told the enrollee from Antioch to call him if she needed any help. Despite the rejection of her appeal, Bridges is still trying to help herself.

tried to get a she said. soon as I mention cancer, the answer is I have my good days and bad days. tried to get insurance, but I get turned down because of pre-existing condition case shows why the Tenn- Care cuts are so unfair and so outside the values of Tennessee. She has lived a contributing life. She raised her kids and now they are contributing.

She represents Tennesseans who are paying taxes, and our government says to them in their time of need. And like thousands of Tennesseans, she has had to be battered by a faceless accuser in an atmosphere of intimidation where security guards are present if you fight too hard for your survival. This China or the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. This is supposed to be Tennessee in the United States of America. But the politically driven TennCare cuts have turned this state into a moral and legal monster that will only turn uglier and more lethal in the days and months to come.

Tim Chavez is a columnist for The Tennessean 615-771-5428 or have more than TennCare appellants City.