Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Legislature / Politics / Woods Magic 8-Ball Says House Ethics Committee Will Roll Over for Williams
Posted by Jeff Woods on Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 5:13 AM
"Speaker Williams's actions of sexual harassment were bad enough to begin with. Denying that the events ever occurred, in effect calling Rep. Lynn a liar, is like spitting in the face of his victim," says Kelsey, who wants Williams removed as speaker and then reprimanded or kicked out of the House.
It seems like a fine example of something that needs investigating but, as you know, logic is irrelevant in our beloved state House. With Williams overseeing the appointments, the committee is split 6-6 along party lines. All the Democrats will vote to drop the complaint. The chairman, Ulysses Jones, is a little fuzzy on questions of ethics. He's still upset because the law no longer permits eating and drinking all night on the lobbyists' tab. Also on the committee is Democratic leader Gary Odom, the guy who claims to have crowned Williams as speaker. Cutting that backroom deal is Odom's proudest moment. No question how he'll vote.
Even among the committee's Republicans, the new speaker can count on at least one vote. That would be Steve McDaniel's. Williams didn't name McDaniel deputy speaker for nothing.
McDaniel, never one to toe the party line, has already dismissed the idea that he might excuse himself from the vote because he's beholden to Williams for his new appointment.
Asked whether he would, McDaniel said: "I don't know any reason I should. I'm a member of this House just like any other member."
The new speaker agrees and takes the opportunity to stroke McDaniel's ego while he's at it. "A true leader is going to take it on its merits and that's how he's going to vote," Williams says. "Steve McDaniel is a true leader."
Comments (2)
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I had wondered how it was that the great state of Tennessee could have sent forth a statesman the likes of Sen. David Crocket, and then embarrassingly a couple of centuries later VP. Al Gore? That’s right; the frontiersman left Tennessee in disgust over this legislature and its lack of veracity and went to fight to the death at the Alamo. Crocket had principle and a sense of righteous values, while Gore was somehow possessed to claim he invented the Internet. Now however, as the body of government is so readily able, we can see where the lies and bent sense of justice in this state have their validations. The same legislature that fosters a blind eye to “Sexual harassment”, and then continues by ignoring the violation of its own “codified ethics” is not to be trusted. And the same, when they walk into church on Sunday, are to be looked upon as a danger to family, their wives, and to their children; need we say anything about their relationship to God. It is sad, very sad, because the legislature has many voices, and all seem silent to the ill treatment received by Rep. Susan Lynn. The very same individuals, who lay the foundation of how government and the protections of the people are to be maintained, violate them and carry on with their lies. This state has become an embarrassment!
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Gee. Could it be that the charges will be dropped because Reps. Lynn and Taggart have decided that they, as the only witnesses to the alleged behavior, don't welcome the spotlight they will be bringing on themselves? That they are worried about entering into a "he said, she said" case without any corroborative evidence, in fact it's even possible there are witnesses who will testify that Rep. Williams was not drunk at the time of the alleged event.
It's possible that backroom chicanery would be behind the dropping of charges. It's also possible that the plaintiff doesn't have adequate proof to press charges. Why not let all possibilities penetrate somewhere into your analysis?
