Kent Williams to Support Beth Harwell for Speaker

Well, it's official that Kent Williams won't be running for speaker of the Tennessee House. He says he is going to support Beth Harwell. Ah, Kent won't run because he knows he'll get spanked, so I naturally must inquire about his reasons for supporting Beth Harwell.

It seems the two have quite the history. She moved to get the ethics complaint against him dismissed (an ethics complaint which, according to the blog post, was "for telling Rep. Susan Lynn that he’d give a week’s pay to see her naked"). She opposed Williams' removal from the Republican party, to no avail. But more offensive to me, she voted against overriding the governor's veto of the law that allows concealed handgun permit holders to carry their guns in restaurants that serve alcohol. On top of that, she has "supported" Democrats in recent election. That is no way to advance a conservative agenda.

Sounds to me like Beth Harwell is a bad idea for Speaker of the House. The support from Kent Williams is enough to make me doubt her, but when you look at the rest of the story, it is certainly troubling. You know full well that Kent Williams' support is all about Kent Williams. My guess is that he is thinking that if he supports her, she will bless him with a nice committee assignment. It wouldn't surprise me if he already had a "back room" deal with her. After all, his election to Speaker came as a result of a "back room" deal with Democrats. Without someone like Harwell to scratch his back, he will be powerless and ineffectual in Nashville, as he should be.

Sometimes the Scum Rises to the Top

Usually, the "cream rises to the top." It looks like that in Carter County, the scum has risen to the top this time, with disgraced former Republican Kent Williams being re-elected to the Tennessee House. WJHL just reported that Williams said that he didn't think he would be chosen again as Speaker of the House. Well.....duh.

Jerome Cochran reportedly stated that he had no other political aspirations. Well, that's probably a good thing. Mr. Cochran is a very nice, upstanding guy. I have a lot of respect for him, but I think he has a difficult time connecting with the voters in Carter County. Of course, Mr. Cochran also had to run against the constant pro-Williams bias of the Elizabethton Star and the Johnson City [de]Press[ed]. I seldom read the dePressed, because I refuse to give my money to such a leftist newspaper. I read the Star on occasion, and it seems that they were relentless in their positive exposure for Williams and in their negative exposure for Cochran. I have no idea if the Star endorsed a candidate, but they didn't need to. Their support for Williams was obvious from the content of its stories.

Carter County needs a strong conservative to step forward to defeat Kent Williams in the next election. I predict that the need for that will become more apparent during this term for Williams. His day in the sun is over. He will be relegated to nothingness in Nashville as he is a man without a party. Carter County will pay the price for sending him back to Nashville, as I predict he will be completely ineffectual.

A tool to check the power of the federal government

Here's something that Tennessee politicians should consider as well: an Article V call for a Constitutional convention to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would allow for 2/3 of the states to nullify any act of Congress.

Two points: (1) You probably wouldn't need this if you repealed the 17th amendment (direct election of senators), and (2) You could probably count on Kent Williams to vote with the Democrats to make sure this never made it out of the Tennessee legislature.

Why doesn't Tennessee sue over Obamacare?

My understanding is that Tennessee would be joining in the lawsuit with the 20 states who are suing the federal government if the bill authorizing it had passed the Tennessee house. Jerome Cochran says that the reason is that Kent Williams joined with the Tenessee House Democrats to defeat the bill.

Kent Williams needs to be sent back to Carter County to retire. He's a tax and spend RINO who cannot even be trusted by his own (former) party. For more background on Mr. Williams, start with the famous "Judas" photo.

I think a lot of people in Carter County think that Judas Williams brings something "to the table" because he is the Speaker of the House. However, when you think ahead a little bit, it is easy to see that Judas Williams' days as Speaker are likely over. A vote for Williams is probably a vote for Jimmy Naifeh, a Democrat, as Speaker. Judas Williams was elected as Speaker as part of back room, shady deal. It is unlikely that he will ever be able to pull that deal off in the future. He'd probably join up with the Democrats today if he didn't know that it would kill his chances of getting elected in Carter County.

No Duh Story of the Day

Kent Williams vows to run for reelection. Reports are that the liberal rag known as the Johnson City dePressed had several people call in sick to work today upon reading this news. Apparently they are so overjoyed by the news that they are overcome with emotion. Either that or they are just resting up to continue the work on his reelection campaign that they began several months ago.

If you are one of the eleven people who still read the Johnson City dePressed, don't go there expecting to find a word that is critical of Mr. Williams.

Kent Williams signals he is ready to follow the Bredesen line

Kent Williams, the disgraced former Republican from Carter County who currently serves as Speaker of the House, signals that he is willing to "compromise" to close the FONCE "loophole." Kent, it isn't a loophole. While Kent was busy serving up lasagna to the locals, the legislature knew full well what it was doing when the FONCE exemption was enacted. It is not a loophole, but I am not surprised to see Mr. Backroom Politics ready to pay tribute to his Democratic overlords.