Tennessee Republicans practically riot after Dems elect Republican House speaker
By SilentPatriot Thursday Jan 15, 2009 7:15pmThis is just a whole lot of awesomeness. Long story short, Tennesse Democrats decided to mess around with state Republicans and voted to elect the first GOP speaker of the statehouse in almost forty years. Watch the frantic elephant stampede in all it's glory above and read all the pissypants quotes below.
New Tennessee Speaker of the House Kent Williams "lied" to fellow Republicans Tuesday by ignoring the party's choice for the job and joining with 49 Democrats in voting for himself, new state Rep. Joe Carr said.
"There is history in Tennessee politics for this kind of shenanigans," Carr, a newly elected Republican from the Lascassas community northeast of Murfreesboro, said during a phone interview.
AdvertisementCarr was one of 49 Republicans voting in the minority for Rep. Jason Mumpower of Bristol to be the next speaker.
"I don't think we should be surprised," he said of the vote. "What caught us off guard is that someone went back on their word. Then he votes for himself to do the very thing he said he wouldn't do, which is self-serving politics."
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*LOL* pwned.
They got spanked, I mean to go so far and change the government website before the vote. Got what they deserved if you ask me.
i cant tell from here in the midwest. either way, its beautiful!
Hey Tom Delay (and all you extremist GOP whiners), payback is a Motherf*cker!
If the Republicans kick him out of their party?
he will get to keep it as either an Independent or a Democrat. that is why they Red Team is up in arms. they will cut off their nose to spite their faces. like the 3 year olds that they are.
and then those grandious plans of useing there renewed control to take over again goes down the drain.
D if they do or d if they don't
As a democratic who voted for Obama in TN it was music to my ears. The republicans want to push through some strong bills. If they had their way they would outlaw abortions and every would be manadated to carry a gun. What a bunch of crack head. He also said he wouldn't become a democratic.
"Then he votes . . . to do the very thing he said he wouldn't do, which is self-serving politics."
Yes, something you would know all about, Republican scumbag. Happy New Year, sore loser!
Man they hate when the dems use their sneeky tricky ways to get things done.
BWAAAAAHAHAHAHHA! way to go! once they kick him out of the party the blue team effectively controls the state house in Tennessee again.
smartest move i have seen in awhile. straight out of the British House of Lords party maneuvering.
wow, democrats elect a republican and call it a victory.
It is a 'victory', they clearly got exactly what they wanted.
Williams is very, very different in outlook from the majority of the Tennessee GOP.
He's a hell of a lot better than Mumpower. Better any Democrat than a Republican, but better a moderate Republican than a neo-con.
Sometimes you have to get creative.
the TVA so that Tennesseeans can taste some of that Enron style free market magic.
Pardon me while I delight in some schadenfreude. Nice job to kick these lamo, egotistic political pansies in the balls.
ought to give Harry, Nancy and Stenny a seminar.
could learn a few things from these Tennessee Democrats. At least they challenge the Republican party. Funny story.
Republicans are caught off guard by a Republican going back on their word?
Are these the most naive organisms on the planet?
LOL
"We will have decorum in this house." Jeebuz, my mother moved to Tennessee!
That was almost as good as Rick spanking the plumber.
to a body of real elected officials is a bit off. And my condolences to your mama. I spent a year as a Vol.
at least you got out. I however have been here 15 yrs. I hate it we moved here to help my in-laws who at the time were very old. Father-in-law was great, he past first. He was a dieheart democrat also we had alot in common. Mother-in-law was fine until father-in-law died. Mother-in-law was OK. She would complain to my husband because I wasn't at her house right away when she needed me I always did what she wanted until I finally had enough and told her I gave up alot to move to this redneck town and if she didn't like it I was going to move back east. Finally after 7 more yrs she died. But time has past and only have one child and grandchild. We are to old to move now.
Laaaaaaaaaaawl
I love my state lol :)
So much for that constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriages.
and what part of self-serving politics does
the gop not understand since this is all they
have done for at least the last 50+ years.
maybe they would be better served if they
were not all bent over kissing each other's
asses.
Sometimes you need to stand back and check out the full context in order to have a sense of perspective on what's happenin'.
Here's a key part of the big picture that Ol' Ron Ramsey knows but ain't mentionin' in his public comments.
It was Republicans Reps. Stacey Campfield and Glen Casada - and certain other Republicans, includin' Ronnie Ramsey's protege, that cute li'l nightly-comic-book-readin' Jason Mumpower - who went WAY out of their way last summer to try and defeat Kent Williams in his primary. And they failed. (Oops.)
Despite the efforts of Stacey, Glen, Jason, Ron, and others, ol' Kent Williams won with a healthy majority of the votes in both the primary and the general election.
Kent basically won because he explained to his voters that he would work for their best interests with both Republicans and Democrats, instead of pursuing a partisan political agenda and votin' in lockstep the way he is told by "party leaders." In other words, Kent Williams is more of a Ronald Reagan/Dwight Eisenhower/Howard Baker Republican than a George Bush/Dick Cheney/Karl Rove Republican.
Then after the election, when the Tennessee GOP unexpectedly won a House majority, they came after Kent again, and theatened him with various dire consequences if he didn't sign their li'l pledge. Oh, yeah, I'm sure that was an effective way to gain Kent's loyalty - and I also recall somethin' about how a pledge signed under duress ain't exactly bindin'.
And this is why a lot of folks are kinda laughin' when Stacey and Glen and others complain and stomp their feet, because Stacey and Glen and Jason and others haven't been able to defeat Kent, and they haven't been able to bully Kent into voting the way they tell him he has to vote.
Stacey, Glen, and Jason remind me of 6th-grade school-yard bullies who get rough with their classmate Kent outside and threaten him and try to take away his lunch money, but then they pitch a fit when their "buddy" Kent doesn't pick them to play on his basketball team during gym.
Folks here in Tennessee would tend to be better off if ALL of our lawmakers - includin' Jimmy Naifeh and Jason Mumpower and Ron Ramsey - spent more time workin' on good health care and good education and good jobs for Tennesseans, and less time worryin' about partisan politics.
Here, here. I didn't know that information. Of course I very rarely listen to the local news except in the early morning. I think that is a good lesson for All the states to take away.
Are you sure? I thought it was OK to stab your party in the back.
Right, Joe Lieberman? Right, Harry Reid?
Hmmm... unlike Democrats, perhaps the Republicans think these sort of
actions should have political consequences...
Stabbing backs are also fair game with republicans. If you noticed when DeLay was in congress they called him the hammer. God forbid if a representative really wanted to represent the people that voted for him DeLay would force them to vote the way the president wanted. Look at how many moderate republicans are left in the house and remember Jeffords who they forced him in the end to change and become a independent because he would be pressured to vote the way they wanted him to vote. That is why they lost a lot of sits in the northeast in 2006. The conservatives have been forcing moderate republicans out of the party. I say keep it up conservatives you will keep losing elections. So I tell you don't throw stones at the democratics because the republicans do the very same thing. They tried hard to recruit Libermann. Personnelly I think these kinds of guys are not really representing the people that voted for them. I tell you the next time around Liberman will go gone. Jeffords did not run again.
Not only did they out maneuver the republicans but they tricked them into kicking Williams out of the republican party. If Williams joins the Democratic Party then they will regain their majority and Williams can transform into the Democratic Speaker of the House. Wouldn’t that be teh awesome.
Your dreaming friend. He already said he wouldn't change parties.
The Republican party is diseased, controlled by fanatics; this needs to change. One way is by letting the party wither and die, but they have too many electoral supporters who are brand-loyal, and who despise Democrats for various scummy things (real or believed) Dems have done in the past. What would be better is for grown-ups to reclaim control of the Republican party, OR for the grown-ups in the Republican party to break off and form their own conservative-but-not-crazy party. As a Republican or independent Speaker, Williams can help either or both of those scenarios along, by rallying moderate Republicans (in the House and/or in the electorate). As a Democratic Speaker, he stops becoming a symbol and simply reinforce the fanatical view of the world as good-vs-evil, Republican-vs-Democrat.
OK, as great as this is, here's what really gets me:
"What caught us off guard is that someone went back on their word. Then he votes for himself to do the very thing he said he wouldn't do, which is self-serving politics."
A *republican* complaining about self serving politics?
Dear Kettle,
I would like to discuss with you some growing concerns of mine over the heavy shading of your hue.
Love,
The Pot
Love it.
NOW thats funny. Nice to see the whiney pissy GOPers start to eat each other. In Canada , we dont have as much lockstep party politics. I know in my riding (district), we kinda lean towards the best man for the job. Not so much about who can bring home the pork but more of who will represent us best in Ottawa. Harper is trying to transform the Canadian Conservative Party into some lockstep ,sheeple,lemmings party too. Its all good. Will just bring about their downfall sooner. I actually voted Conservative once many years ago. He was clearly the best guy to help my city and represent us.Id be embarrassed to admit i ever voted for half of the fools that make their way to Washington.
Muuuummmmmmmmm-powuh!
Hilarious.
I gathr they do not realize that state of affirs of this country they barely still call America.
When did you ever see a republican do what he said he would do?
He promised to vote for a Republican and did. Tennessee state legislators are probably a tad crazier and more corrupt than most, so this bit of political street theater is typical. In any case, payback is a bitch for the Republicans.
these assholes who whenever it's something in their favor they cry "Up or Down Vote!" they always want to let the vote decide, except when the vote is against their wishes and then they don't like the "Up or Down Vote" anymore.
Well, maybe all these sorry ass state repugs can go to Washington DC and have a good cry with Boehner!
My lungs are not big enough to contain the laughter that wants to emanate from my lips! Pwned, indeed!
What we're seeing here is a taste of what is common in other countries: a coalition government. I'd like to see more of this; maybe more of the dwindling number of moderate Republicans will follow this example and split off, not to join the Democrats necessarily, but to form their own voting bloc.
Tennessee is becoming nationally known as a laundry for OC money because of inadequate bank reporting.
I know that Sen. Wamp and the Napolitanos in his district are Capone family members--heard it with my own two big ears--now I'm getting rumors that Bredeson (forgive me, oh Lord, I voted for him and contributed some campaign material for labor) is a New York Capone.
Can someone provide info on this to confirm or deny?
This is for sure--the etymology of the term "hillbilly" comes from a statement by Buffalo Bill Cody himself. After much negative experience, he refused to hire Williamses and Codys from East Tennessee, stating that those "hill Billys" who claimed to be his cousins were stealing him out of business! Look for even bigger state tax deficits, but please, please don't give these rogues an income tax to plunder for their personal bailouts!
...and he did.
Pwn3d!!
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