The Dishonor
In the wake of the slick, tawdry, backroom dealing done by Tennessee Democrats to make Kent Williams Speaker of the Tennessee House, I must admit that my opinions of certain Democrats has changed, and none for the better.Some days ago I said that I thought House Democratic Leader Gary Odom was an honorable man. It was Odom who went to Carter County over Thanksgiving to strike the deal which made Kent Williams the faux-Speaker. What was the deal? Williams becomes the Speaker, with all of the prestige attached to that position, while the Democrats get everything else. Forget the fact that we had an election, that Kent Williams ran as a Republican, that the Republicans won a one-vote majority, and that the caucus nominee for Speaker was Jason Mumpower. Odom didn't like the election result, so he used the Speakership vote as a bribe for a weak man to overturn an election. Odom thinks he is getting a good deal out of this whole affair as well, because he believes that within two years, he will be Speaker of the House.
I know that Mike Turner is a regular reader of this blog, so Representative Turner should read and ponder this very carefully: You ought to be ashamed of yourself. You know that Williams will slow the business of the House to a turtle's pace because he hasn't a clue what he is doing, and you could have joined other principled people to stall or stop this before it began, but instead you sided with Judas. If the situation were reversed, and 49 Republicans made a turncoat Democrat Speaker, I'll bet all of you would have a different opinion.
Kent Williams should be thrown out of the Republican Party, because we would rather have a principled minority than a sell-out majority.
Labels: Democrats, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 3:30 PM
10 Comments:
DAVID I DO READ YOUR BLOG ALMOST DAILEY, I FIND THAT THE INSIDE BASEBALL INFO THAT YOU COME UP WITH IS VERY INSIGHTFUL. WE AS DEMOCRATS FELT LIKE WE COULD BETTER SERVE THE PEOPLE OF TENNESSEE IN A BI-PARTISON COALITION, I WAS ON THE SENATE FLOOR WHEN KURITA VOTED F0R RAMSEY, I DIDN'T LIKE IT. SO I UNDERSTAND HOW YOU FEEL. HOWEVER I STILL THINK WE DID THE RIGHT THING. SORRY FOR THE DISAPPOINTMENT.
Rep. Turner -
You did the right thing - for you, for your party, for Naifeh, for Odom, for Williams.
The price of that action was paid by Tennessee's citizens, the voters of Carter County, and every man, woman, and child that looks to the government for hope, honesty, and order.
Like it or not, every Representative that voted for Williams enabled the failure of this General Assembly. David is right - you should feel shame.
Cheers,
Rob
It's a little early to say this is a failure. Calm down, step back and let Kent be speaker. If he is above his pay grade then that's how to attack him. But as of right now, the politics are over and he is Speaker of the House. The office is bigger than the party. The first challenge to him is to raise money for Republicans to insure a continued majority in the house. If he refuses that then he should face sanctions. Right now everyone is crying foul for their favorite candidate not winning.
Basically, give him enough rope and see if he hangs himself. Mumpower needs to be the better statesman right now.
Rep. Turner,
How this backroom deal by Democrats makes for a "bipartisan coalition" is absurd. One turncoat Republican out on his own and 49 Democrats is NOT bipartisan. What it came down to was Democrats didn't want to give up their power and they made an underhanded deal to keep it. They can put whatever slant they want and self-righteously say it was to "better serve the people of Tennessee," but it was a desperate grab to keep their power.
Dude! If Williams is Judas does that make Mumpower Jesus?
I find great amusement in the new-found religion of the Republican Party in Tennessee. For years, the Republicans cobbled together a coalition to keep John Wilder as Speaker of the Senate - and got committee chairmanships in exchange. Don't tell me it's not the same thing - it is - it's politics, not pattycake. If Mumpower was so incompetent that couldn't keep his troops together that's his fault,not the Democrats. It should also remind him what happens when you get involved in primaries against sitting members - they're not likely to play nice with you if they end up winning.
Now, STFU and get to work dealing with the problems Tennessee is facing. I'll give you a hint, it's not abortion, it's not prayer in schools and it's not guns.
P.S. - Oatney, put down your bag of Cheetos and grab a dose of reality. This ain't "treason", it's just a guy who saw an opportunity and took advantage of it. Go grab a slice of cheese to go with your whine.
Person Who Did Not Have the Nads to Post Their Name -
You want people to get to work solving the problems facing Tennessee. Undoubtedly, all Tennesseans want that. The problem is (and it amazing that you fail to see it) that this political maneuver has created an atmosphere of partisanship on steroids. Nothing will get done in this General Assembly - and Tennessee will suffer due to the personal political ambition of a few.
Cheers,
Rob
David, Rob,
NOTHING will get done? Excuse me but isn't 49+1 greater than 49? Lots of things can be done and I suspect they will. It may not be what you like/want BUT that's what happens when you overplay your hand, and that's exactly what you did.
SteveMule
Rob,
For the past 20 years, people like you have been driving the excessive partisanship in this state and country - hate-filled vitriol about Democrats, liberals, baby-killers, commie scum, etc, etc, etc. People like you have created this atmosphere and now you see where it has brought us.
It was Republicans making death threats against Kent Williams and throwing around the F-bomb on the House floor - something you never saw from the Democrats when the Republicans threw the Senate speaker's job to Wilder. Yet the Democrats buckled down and did the business of the people. I suspect the Mumpower's of the world are mad because they can't do their agendas - the crazy anti-abortion bills, crazy anti-tax bills, crazy bills to systematically destroy the rights of ordinary Tennesseans. In the end, the Republicans either need to step up to the plate and get to work or they need to get out of town. They are there to do the peoples business, not their own. Stop being such big cry-babies and get to work!
P.S. - I value my reputation too much to have it soiled by letting people know I stumbled across this screeching hate site and bothered to read it.
You guys are giving to much credit to odom and williams, I hear that it was Naifeh and Turner and Litz that worked out the deal then approach williams. Odom didn't even know about it till the day before. One day we may know what really happened.
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