Gee, what a shock.

Ophelia Ford was ousted from the Senate today by a 26-6 vote. Lieutenant Governor John Wilder did not vote; the five Senators who joined Ford in voting against the ouster were Kathryn Bowers and our own Steve Cohen (yes, he did the RIGHT thing here), along with Ward Crutchfield of Chattanooga, Thelma Harper of Nashville, and Joe Haynes of Goodlettsville, all Democrats.

UPDATE: Hey, Jim Kyle, WTF???? It's not as if YOU are going to face hardcore Republican opposition, so just what the hell are you thinking here? You know, she's going to win in August and in November, and she's going to be working right along side you again. Way to stand up for your fellow caucus member, Jim.

Now, back to our story.

Now, the Republican-majority County Commission will presumably do the stupid thing and appoint Terry Roland to fill the slot on a 7-6 party-line vote. If they do that, there will be a SERIOUS blowback against anything and anyone Republican, like I pointed out earlier.

The state and county GOPs will push them HARD to do this, even though it will increase turnout in heavily Democratic areas. Why? Because they're just dumb enough to believe that if they got away with disenfranchising voters this time, they can keep doing it.

As I have said before, I supported Steve Haley last year, not Ophelia Ford. What happened today is about far more than Ophelia Ford or anyone else named Ford, for that matter. This is about stopping the GOP in their tracks in their constant attempts to intimidate and disenfranchise minority voters, who are far less likely to vote GOP.

It didn't start today, and it won't end today, either.

FURTHER UPDATE: The West Tennessee Liberal his own self weighs in on the Ford ouster..