Speaker Emeritus, Part 2, and other things.

Judging from the post below, and comments on Rep. Campfield's Facebook page (He is one of my Facebook friends because I find him fascinating, even if we agree on little), the Republicans are PETRIFIED of the Speaker Emeritus idea for Jimmy Naifeh.

Now, if this turns out to be anything more than an honorary title, then I have problems with it, OK? So, far, NOTHING indicates that this is anything more than an honorary title for someone who served in the office longer than anybody, IIRC. Remember, the Speaker can ask ANYONE from the House membership to sit in the chair if he chooses; this is done frequently in Washington, and I believe it can be done here.

I also note that Speaker Williams voted with the Republicans on all three constitutional offices (although, as The Rep has noted, each race was effectively over after the Senate gave each Republican a five-vote lead coming out of there) and he is in charge. Now, it appears that the committee assignments have yet to be done; however, the Lege is on recess until February 9, so we should know something by then.

At that point, we will get some idea of how this is going to shake out. Right now, Kent Williams is the most powerful person in the legislature, because he is the 50th House vote. He is no liberal by any means, and while Mumpower and his troops will not have the carte blanche they thought they were getting, I suspect that they won't be shut out, either.

Does Williams owe Naifeh and Odom? Well, hell yes he does, but to what extent? Williams knows if he looks like a puppet for EITHER Naifeh or Mumpower, it will hurt him back home. His area is OLD-SCHOOL Republican, long before the new breed of Gingrichites arrived. Williams beat Mumpower's guy TWICE, so Williams knows if he does what his district wants, rather than what the party tells him to do, he will be just fine, even if he's not Speaker in the 107th General Assembly.

There needs to be serious reflection for Mumpower, Casada and the other 47 in his group, as there are a few in that group for whom I have a deep respect. Stories like this make the Mumpower group look like bumpkins who've come to the big city for the first time, not people who have been asked to govern. As is often said to football players who over-celebrate a touchdown, act like you've been there. Even if you haven't.

We are three weeks away from the actual work of the session, with committee assignments and the Governor's undoubtedly dire budget address. There's a hell of a lot of work to do for this state and not much time to do it. EVERYONE needs to focus and remember why they are there, and it's not about your press clippings. As we were reminded this week, it ain't about the talk, it's about the walk.

In other news, I am an idiot for not telling you about this, because for the last two weeks I have been devouring a new website set up by Sadcox and our beloved Newscoma called NewsTechZilla. It's all about news, technology, journalism, and lots and lots of good stuff. Go check it out, you should subscribe to either the email or RSS feed, or both, as I have done. It's got the 'Coma touch, so it's top-notch! You'll also find it below and to the right in THE ENDLESS BLOGROLL, of course.

Now, to my crackpot predictions for the NFL.

It's an all-BIRD Super Bowl, my friends, as the Arizona Cardinals, (the Norman Chad Team of Destiny) led by 78-year-old Kurt Warner, will defeat the Philadelphia Eagles and face the Baltimore Ravens of rookie sensation Joe Flacco and ultimate gangstas Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, who will send Ben Roethlisberger to the emergency ward while humiliating the Steelers at Heinz Field. Remember, with these picks, you're getting your money's worth!

That's enough for now, I ponder a FGF pick for the morning.....

Oh heavens, the GOP is in FULL PANIC mode again.

I really think that Speaker Williams ought to have a cardboard cutout of Jimmy Naifeh to put in the Speaker's chair whenever he has to step away for a moment; the Mumpower 49 would have multiple coronaries.

The latest comes from a WSMV report that a resolution may be introduced in the House tomorrow to create a CEREMONIAL title for Naifeh, that of Speaker Emeritus, and the GOP is going BERSERK.  Go watch GOP Assistant House Leader Glen Casada in that video, and see if he isn't on the verge of collapse.

IT'S A CEREMONIAL TITLE, PEOPLE, NOT THE FREAKING KEYS TO THE KINGDOM.  BREATHE, WILL YOU?

Even our own Aunt B., for heaven's sakes, got the twitches about this, for some reason.

What this suggests to me is that Mumpower and Casada, by apparently NOT considering for a moment that they needed to do some SERIOUS ass-kissing for a guy they tried to beat TWICE and failed, sealed their own doom. 

They are idealogues and zealots and haven't the faintest idea how to actually RUN anything, and they have proved that running the Tennessee House of Representatives is WAY above their capabilities.

There ARE good people on the other side of the aisle, folks; I would mention some of them by name, except that I'm afraid the mullahs in charge of the Mumpower Jihad would make their lives a living hell and question their motives.  They are going to be hurt by this, and, by extension, so are we.

We need TWO strong, capable, parties in this country, and clearly nationally, and in the Tennessee House, we only have one functional party.  The sooner the House Republicans figure out that they will wind up tossed out if they keep following Mumpower, the better off they will be.

I'm not holding my breath.

Now, if we could just build a statue of Naifeh outside the House chambers.......

So what do the Mumpower Republicans do at this point?

Speaker Williams has apparently promised to appoint BOTH Republicans and Democrats to committee chairmanships.  

Should the Mumpower 49 turn up their nose at the chance to share power and look like overly partisan fools at a time of financial calamity in the state, or do they take what's offered and call the bluff of the Williams 50?  

The average Tennessee voter doesn't give two shits about the inside-baseball stuff that you and I love to the pit of our souls (if you didn't, you wouldn't be here reading about this, now, would you?), and we know that hurt Democrats when it came to the Kurita situation.  WE knew what happened, but the average voter didn't want to know, or care.  They just knew that Kurita won her election and had it taken away from her by those evil Democrats.

And they made us PAY.

So, Mr. Almost-Speaker-But Still-GOP-Leader Mumpower, what are y'all going to do?  Are you going to spend the next two years in a snit, bitching about what could have been, or are you going to learn what it means to govern?

The people of Tennessee are watching.