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.....

Gee, anything happen today?

Holy moly, what a day. 

In case you've been in a cave, an East Tennessee Republican was elected Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives today.  Only, his name was NOT Jason Mumpower.

Meet Speaker of the House Kent Williams (R-Elizabethton), who fulfilled his oath to vote for a Republican for Speaker by voting for himself.  Coincidentally, all 49 Democrats voted for the more moderate Williams over the staunch right-winger Mumpower of neighboring Bristol, giving Williams a one-vote landslide victory.

Williams then allowed the outgoing Naifeh the chance to finish the day as the Speaker, nice touch, eh?  

Excuse me for a moment, I can't really keep this in any longer, I'm sorry... BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PWNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! W00T!

Ok, thanks for indulging me, at least I didn't go and uh, wait, oh hell, here it comes:

Ok, so that's rubbing it in, I'm sorry, I'll try to do better.

My understanding is that Williams initially got elected by beating one of Mumpower's folks in the 2006 primary, and that Mumpower tried to beat Williams with the same guy last year, but couldn't.  Now, it could be just me, but might Mumpower not have thought that maybe Williams might just be ready for a little payback, especially since they don't see eye-to-eye on the direction of the Republican Party?  I guess not, Mumpower thought he had a massive mandate for change, even with a ONE-VOTE MAJORITY.

Jeff Woods at the Nashville Scene has this account of how it went down:

The plot was hatched over coffee during the Thanksgiving weekend. House Democratic leader Gary Odom went to Elizabethton to meet Kent Williams at his restaurant, Dino's. Out of the blue, Odom asked Williams how he'd like to be the speaker of the House.

"I think his first reaction was he thought I was joking because he knew Speaker Naifeh was working diligently to find the 50th vote," Odom told reporters a few minutes ago. "We were looking for an alternative in case it became necessary, and it became necessary."

That didn't happen, though, until 5 o'clock last night when Naifeh finally gave up on his own hopes and went to Williams to seal their deal. When the session started today, many Democrats weren't even aware of what was about to happen, Naifeh said. That's why Democrats moved for a 30-minute recess, to give themselves time to brief the party's members. (The wily Odom told the House he wanted the recess to give everyone time to take pictures with families in attendance on opening day.) Freshman Republican Terri Lynn Weaver, a gospel singer and apparently not the sharpest knife, unwittingly played into Naifeh's hands when she pushed the wrong button and mistakenly voted with the Democrats to allow the recess.

"It was not widely known and it had to be explained to the members of the House Democratic Caucus," Naifeh told reporters. But if Weaver had voted as she intended, "We would have found another way," Naifeh said.

Wow. 

By and large, the best coverage of the day if you weren't watching it unfold online, was Adam Kleinheider, who has this covered from every angle possible.

Just sit back, read Post Politics and take it all in.  If you were a Democrat, it was awesome.  If not, well......

Other coverage:

Aunt B.

GoldnI

Sean Braisted

KnoxViews

Southern Beale

Wintermute

S-Town Mike

Captain Kona!