Memphis Local, Sports, Business & Food News | Daily Memphian | Michael Nelson https://dailymemphian.com/feed/authors/68 The Daily Memphian is the must-read, daily online newspaper for in-depth, local journalism in Memphis and the Mid-South. Sign up for morning and evening editions, plus breaking news. (c) 2024 Nelson: For Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, it all started in Memphis https://dailymemphian.com/article/3402 <p>Paul Manafort and Roger Stone were young, politically ambitious, and determined to advance their careers by coming to Memphis for the Young Republican National Convention in 1977.&nbsp;</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) https://dailymemphian.com/article/3402 Tue, 21 Mar 2023 21:06:37 -0500 Ten weeks from Election Day, does Biden have a chance in Mid-South? https://dailymemphian.com/article/16327 One convention down, one to go, and one question on many people&rsquo;s minds: Who&rsquo;s going to win the presidential election? mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/16327 Mon, 24 Aug 2020 16:53:26 -0500 Nelson: 'Are you really the Republican or Democrat you think you are?' https://dailymemphian.com/article/16220 <p>Two online quizzes want to help you find out which party is truly aligned with your beliefs. One questionnaire is better than the other, but both might surprise you.</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/16220 Mon, 17 Aug 2020 04:00:13 -0500 'He was Memphis’ Indiana Jones, Marco Polo, P.T Barnum and James Bond' https://dailymemphian.com/article/16067 <p>Richard Halliburton spent his short life &ldquo;living poetry instead of writing it.&rdquo;</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/16067 Mon, 10 Aug 2020 10:57:00 -0500 Nelson: Can the Democrats win November Senate elections in Tennessee and Mississippi? https://dailymemphian.com/article/16010 <p>Stranger things have happened. Heck, Ronald Reagan carried New York &ndash; twice.&nbsp;</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Front Page Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/16010 Fri, 7 Aug 2020 13:09:57 -0500 Opinion: Are historians trying to cancel Andrew Jackson? https://dailymemphian.com/article/15871 <p>Eighteen cities bear his name as do counties in 22 states. Fourteen presidents have gone to his home to pay homage.&nbsp;But stock in Jackson's historical reputation, which has been declining for several years, just took another major hit.</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Opinion Front Page https://dailymemphian.com/article/15871 Mon, 3 Aug 2020 04:00:06 -0500 Opinion: Conservatives should wear masks, but liberals make it unnecessarily hard https://dailymemphian.com/article/15700 <p>One of John Stuart Mill's arguments in &ldquo;On Liberty&rdquo; is often reduced to this sentence: Your freedom ends where my nose begins.&nbsp;Never has that way of putting it seemed more literal, noses being the coronavirus&rsquo;s main point of entry into our bodies.</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Front Page Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/15700 Mon, 27 Jul 2020 04:00:13 -0500 Nelson: How is the Aug. 6 election screwy? Let me count the ways, part 2 https://dailymemphian.com/article/15564 <p>Local elections are always a mess. Here are ways they&rsquo;re especially messy this year.</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/15564 Tue, 21 Jul 2020 04:00:07 -0500 Opinion: How is the Aug. 6 election screwy? Let me count the ways, Part 1 https://dailymemphian.com/article/15545 <p>Local elections ought to be straightforward affairs for voters.&nbsp; Here are six ways our leaders always deny us this right &ndash; three today and three tomorrow.</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/15545 Mon, 20 Jul 2020 06:06:39 -0500 How Memphis helped win the Battle of Vicksburg, and the Civil War https://dailymemphian.com/article/15397 <p>Historian Donald L. Miller&rsquo;s spellbinding book about the campaign is titled &ldquo;Vicksburg,&rdquo; but it could just as easily have been called &ldquo;Memphis.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/15397 Mon, 13 Jul 2020 04:00:04 -0500 Fred Smith helps make Washington's NFL team do the right thing https://dailymemphian.com/article/15269 <p>The team name in question, of course, is Redskins. It has been a standing insult to our country&rsquo;s first peoples since the team was created in 1933.&nbsp;</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Front Page Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/15269 Mon, 6 Jul 2020 09:36:40 -0500 Nelson: Strickland should be an agent of restraint https://dailymemphian.com/article/15207 <p>Public safety includes not taking actions that risk turning up the city&rsquo;s temperature at a volatile time.&nbsp;In those moments the mayor needs to be an agent of restraint. &nbsp;</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Opinion Front Page https://dailymemphian.com/article/15207 Wed, 1 Jul 2020 15:51:31 -0500 Nelson: In these conflicted times, Mississippi shows the way https://dailymemphian.com/article/15138 <p>"Nuance and process are the boring but essential virtues we need to make good decisions about matters like state flags, Confederate monuments and public holidays."</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Front Page Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/15138 Sun, 28 Jun 2020 15:53:10 -0500 How the Supreme Court saved the day for a Memphis family https://dailymemphian.com/article/15010 <p>A year ago this week, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the green light to the new owners of Kimbrough Fine Wine &amp; Spirits. But their victory may be Pyrrhic.</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Front Page Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/15010 Mon, 22 Jun 2020 04:00:03 -0500 We survived 1968. We'll thrive in 2020 https://dailymemphian.com/article/14847 <p>Wonder why you don&rsquo;t see Memphis in the national news?&nbsp; Because when a city doesn&rsquo;t bleed that city doesn&rsquo;t lead.</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/14847 Mon, 15 Jun 2020 04:00:13 -0500 We lack what the Mid-South needs – two-party competition https://dailymemphian.com/article/14685 <p>With Republicans in the driver&rsquo;s seat in all three Mid-South Senate elections, are there competitive contests anywhere else on the ballot?&nbsp;The short answer: No.</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/14685 Mon, 8 Jun 2020 04:00:00 -0500 Never mind how we're going to vote. What are we voting on? https://dailymemphian.com/article/14489 <p>Believe it or not, something important is on the August ballot.</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/14489 Mon, 1 Jun 2020 04:00:10 -0500 Sports betting is coming to Memphis, in the right way at the right time https://dailymemphian.com/article/14316 <p>And if the lottery board were less greedy, the state would actually make more money.</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/14316 Mon, 25 May 2020 09:50:03 -0500 When the Civil War siege of Corinth ended, the conquest of Memphis began https://dailymemphian.com/article/14087 <p>Even though Corinth was a small town of about 1,200, its location made it the key to controlling the western half of the Confederacy and its most important city, Memphis.</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Opinion Front Page https://dailymemphian.com/article/14087 Mon, 18 May 2020 04:00:02 -0500 Tennessean for vice president? No, but how about the Supreme Court https://dailymemphian.com/article/13851 <p>With no current Tennessee Democrat available to fulfill Biden&rsquo;s pledge to choose a woman VP, how about his other promise: to &ldquo;appoint the first black woman to the Supreme Court&rdquo;?&nbsp;</p> mnelson@dailymemphian.com (Michael Nelson) Opinion https://dailymemphian.com/article/13851 Mon, 11 May 2020 04:00:05 -0500