Saturday, November 14, 2009

The Speaker

There has been much discussion this week about whether or not Speaker Kent Williams should be readmitted to the Republican Party, and the apparent divisions within Republican ranks in the Tennessee House, which leads to our question of the weekend for reader comments.

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posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 2:26 AM 2 comments

Friday, November 13, 2009

Corker Out On Williams

At a time when other non-legislative officials are jockying to get their licks in about whether or not Tennessee House Speaker Kent Williams should be re-enstated to the Republican Party, Bob Corker is staying out of it:

While it is becoming increasingly apparent that there is a developing fissure in the Republican Party (how "major" it is is a matter of debate) over whether or not to readmit Kent Williams as a Republican after Williams joined in league with House Democrats to make himself Tennessee House Speaker, Corker is right to stay out of the whole matter.

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posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 4:53 PM 0 comments

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Mumpower Political Suicide?

If Jason Mumpower really wants to be Speaker of the House by 2011, he is not off to the best of starts in that regard:


For Jason Mumpower to try and get the members of the House Republican Caucus to sign on to a letter "reprimanding" Tennessee Right to Life for endorsing a candidate that the caucus didn't support is akin to Mumpower and Glen Casada trying to tell their constituency groups what to do (in Casada's defense, I do not believe that if he were Leader, he would be stupid enough to do anything like this of his own accord). Tennessee Right to Life does not care about the internal issues within the Republican Party, either. Those of us who are active or semi-active in the GOP who are also committed pro-lifers do care, but we have a vested interest since we are committed to party politics-Tennessee Right to Life is not, since it is a constituency organization, but is not affiliated officially with the Republican Party.

Rather than take a page from How to Win Friends and Influence People, Jason Mumpower is shooting himself in the foot at a time when he needs to be building support rather than dividing his base. Unless Mumpower gets his head out of the clouds and back down to political reality, he will be much less likely to be Speaker of the House in 2011-and not because he would lack a Republican majority.

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posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 4:20 PM 2 comments

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Why We Are Free

On this Veterans Day, don't forget why I am free to be writing to you in this way:

As of yet, I can't be locked away for being openly critical of the President, or of Governor Bredesen, or of our Members of Congress or the General Assembly. While I am well aware that there are many people both inside and outside of government who wish that I were locked away in a closet somewhere to be shut up, I am not because a soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine took a bullet that paid for my right to speak out.

Most people are aware of the "tea party" protests around the country, and the President would love the partiers to go away. You don't have to because some boys at Lexington and Concord were so tired of a government that tried to shut them up that they opened fire on its soldiers and faced the wrath of what in those days was the most awesome power on earth so we could freely choose not to have the will of government imposed on us.

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posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 5:20 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Prodigal Son?

Despite what some may say, there is a way for Tennessee House Speaker Kent Williams to get back into the Republican Party:

I will doubtless anger some when I say that our doors should never be permanently closed to anyone, including Kent Williams. However, for Williams to be let back into the party, he has to be sorry for what he did-ideally, he should apologize to the entire House Republican Caucus and to the party as a whole for his actions last January, and do so publicly. As part of the consequences of his actions, Kent Williams must be made to stand as an independent for at least one election cycle. If Williams survives, then he wants back in the GOP of his own accord after that, it ought then to be very seriously considered.

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posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 4:12 PM 0 comments

Monday, November 09, 2009

Going Where The Votes Are

What was a major reason Knoxville Mayor and and gubernatorial candidiate Bill Haslam skipped out on a Knoxville conservative straw poll Thursday night and attended a fundraiser hosted by a Democrat instead?:

Since Tennessee has no party registration and our primaries are essentially open, Haslam may be trying to pull enough Democrats to vote in the Republican primary to impact an outcome which might go against him in a closed primary-he may see crossover Democrats as the key to his Republican primary victory.

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posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 3:43 PM 0 comments

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Joy of Man's Desiring

The Celtic Woman sing a beautiful version of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.

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posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 11:19 PM 0 comments


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