MORNING RANT - The Memphis Situation: Tennessee Shouldn't Need Federal Help; “Bake the Cake” Rules Should Apply to Pizza Parlor Denying Service to Guardsmen

There is a story that I somehow missed a few months ago about a Memphis pizzeria that refused to serve National Guard troops. I have some thoughts about that incident, which I’ll get to in a moment, but this also reminds me of something I meant to write about the larger Memphis situation, but never got around to.

Specifically, it is a disgrace to the state of Tennessee that we have a failed city that has sunk to a such a state of lawlessness and anarchy that the federal government had to take control of the streets. To be clear, the National Guard troops in Memphis are from Tennessee, but the greater overall Memphis Safe Task Force (“MSTF”) is headed by President Trump, run by the U.S. Marshalls, and has involvement from the FBI, DEA, ATF and other federal agencies.

The MSTF has been a tremendous success. Per a 9/29/2026 press release from the US Marshalls service, in the year since the National Guard moved in, Memphis has seen an overall 38% decrease in serious crimes, including:

• Murders down 37%
• Sexual assaults down 30%
• Robberies down 47%
• Aggravated assault down 29%

I am grateful to President Trump for coming to Memphis’ rescue, but Tennessee shouldn’t have to run to Uncle Sam to police our prominent failed city. If Memphis needs a takeover, the state should do it. I hope Marsha Blackburn will be more assertive as governor when it comes to dealing with Memphis than Governor Bill Lee has been.

If Memphis cannot be rehabilitated, it should be dissolved into smaller municipalities. Those sub-sections of Memphis that are capable of becoming self-governing cities should be given that chance. Any remaining parts of Memphis that are not capable of self-government should become a ward of the state until they can be reconstructed into a functioning municipal entity. The same applies to Shelby County as a whole. Whatever restrictions there might be in Tennessee law that would impede this can easily be fixed by amending the state constitution.

To be fair to Governor Lee, he did sign legislation a few months ago authorizing the state to take over Memphis’ failed schools. In accordance with the new law, the governor appointed an oversight board for Memphis schools, but Federal District Judge Waverly Crenshaw (an Obama appointee, of course) put a temporary restraining order on the new board. Fortunately, that restraining order is about to expire and it looks like the state will start administering Memphis schools. That is a start.

As for the pizza incident involving the National Guard…

“Memphis pizza joint owner under fire for denying service to National Guard troops” [NY Post – 7/16/2026]

A Memphis pizzeria owner is facing fierce backlash after refusing over the weekend to serve members of the National Guard deployed to the city to combat crime.

Miles Tamboli, proprietor of Tamboli’s Pasta & Pizza, sparked the controversy by turning away troops stationed in the city since September 2025 — and he declared in a Thursday statement that he would “make the same decision tomorrow.”

Tamboli argued that utilizing soldiers trained for overseas combat in local law enforcement roles has compromised city safety.

I would defend Mr. Tamboli’s right to refuse service to National Guardsmen - no matter how vulgar his actions might seem to me - if conservative business owners had a similar right to refuse service based on conscience, beliefs, and values. But that is not the case. There are two sets of rules based on the politics of the business owner.

Per Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, public accommodations (which includes private businesses) may not deny service based on race, color, religion, or national origin. Tamboli’s Pizza is apparently free to deny service to Americans wearing their country’s military uniform, but Patriot Pizza is prohibited from denying service to gang members, cross-dressing men, or jihadis.

The extent of how one-sided the denial-of-service rules are was evidenced by the Masterpiece Cakeshop case. Jack Phillips, a Christian, was willing to sell a gay couple a wedding cake, but he refused to create a custom cake with two groom toppers on it. The state of Colorado Civil Rights Commission pursued punitive actions, including mandatory re-education for Phillips and his staff for the purpose of making them endorse sex between two men. The case went to the Supreme Court where Justice Roberts and the Supremes effectively punted on the case, allowing the state of Colorado to continue its persecution of Mr. Phillips.

Based on the Masterpiece Cakeshop precedent, it is only fair that Tamboli’s should be forced to make a custom pizza with “Support the National Guard” spelled out in pepperonis.

Again, my original principles would be that both Masterpiece Cakeshop and Tamboli’s Pizza should be able to refuse service to anyone they want, including soldiers or gay men. But that is not to be. My succeeding principle is that the left must abide by the rules they impose on conservatives.

Bake the pizza, bigot.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

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