Most travellers of the internet know of the contentious “Chickengate” scandal. Most newspapers and talk radio shows across the state hosted “Chickengate” coverage. All fine and good.

But let’s look at what hasn’t been covered in this heated primary. There have been no tough stories or hard questioning regarding the documents uncovered from the then Immigration and Naturalization Service ( warnings.pdf, arrests.pdf and ) that showed Bob Corker’s company Bencor as being cited for the hiring of illegal aliens. Illegal immigration is THE main issue in our country right now…and this story deserved a lot of coverage and investigation.
There has been no media pressure on the fact that Mr. Corker hasn’t released his full tax returns. No media outlet of which I am aware, has checked into the web of non-profits and for-profit businesses that Corker has run, sent federal and state tax dollars to, etc. Did Mr. Corker use his status as Mayor to direct government funds to enterprises in which he has a stakehold? Did he use his status as Mayor, where he regularly handled federal grants, to influence elections and possibly violate the Hatch Act?
There has been scant (none that I know of in the Knoxville News Sentinel or the Tennessean) regarding a corruption scandal going on in Chattanooga that is quickly moving forward. Corker was at the helm when the scandal began and as Mayor, it appears that he chose to ignore the corruption rather than deal with it. It appears to me that he chose to tactitly endorse it rather than immediately stopping the corruption, and preventing more.

I ask the gentle readers, is information uncovered by a campaign just not information?

Are Tennesseans incapable of understanding anything more than stories of a dressed up chicken?

I don’t think so. I think we Tennesseans are capable of understanding and figuring out quite a bit more.

When Jack Abramoff went down, the media grilled him. Abramoff has been crucified, sliced, diced, and now those connected to him find their political lives in jeopardy. Is it unfair to perhaps suggest that a watchful media might have prevented a Jack Abramoff?

I know a lot of players surrounding Mr. Corker. I know many questions to ask. But many of our papers and air media have not asked them. That may be a favor to the candidates running for election, but is a failure for Tennesseans who will be served by the eventual victor.
Our media should be running and printing more than the sound bytes and rhetoric from each campaign. Media should help Tennesseans vet candidates so that later down the line, we, as Tennesseans, don’t have to be embarassed should a scandal as large as Jack Abramoff erupt in our fine state.

There’s a story to Mr. Corker’s administrative failures in Chattanooga. His self-congratulatory praise for his work as Mayor is unbridled. But no one in the media has ever stopped his speech to ask why he looked the other way with regard to a employee who has now been indicted for using tax dollars to purchase such items as diamond earrings.
On Friday, Kenardo Curry, Bob Corker’s Administrator of Chattanooga’s Neighborhood Services Department was arraigned on criminal charges of theft and misuse of office.
Here is the document revealing that the corruption was reported to Corker:

performance_review_citing_criminal_offenses.pdf
Here is the true bill:

indictment_citing_fraud_reported_to_Corker.pdf

This is a story. And it should be a statewide story that includes answers from Mr. Corker regarding his failure to pursue reported fraud.