Elsewhere, in state politics, the General Assembly continues its quest to make itself the biggest laughingstock in the country. When state leaders aren’t pushing religion in schools and creating anti-gay legislation, they’re backing NRA-based measures designed to allow gun owners to carry weapons in vehicles in the parking lots of private companies, schools, colleges and universities.
That pro-gun legislation, which Gov. Bill Haslam predicts will fail, has raised the ire of none other than Volkswagen in Chattanooga, who claim the measures violate their property rights and jeopardizes employee safety.
“That’s a sort of thing that makes us a bit nervous,” VW Chairman and CEO Frank Fischer told the AP. Or, as we might put it: Achtung, Douchebags!
Could it be that when Volkswagen tells these legislators they’re going too far, the hammer falls?
Even if that’s not the case, we can imagine any pressure from the likes of the German car company—a prize in Tennessee’s economic revival bucket—makes a difference. We’d like to think there’s a big red “NEIN” button on the governor’s phone that lights up whenever this happens. “OK,” we like to imagine Haslam telling his cohorts, “VW says we have to stop being douchebags, so let’s move on to something else.”
Thanks, VW!