Friday, June 19, 2009
Hicks From the Sticks / Legislature / Politics Stupid is as Stupid Does: A Republican's Regret Over the Sherri Goforth Affair
Posted by Pete Kotz on Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 11:54 AM
Comments (9)
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Lots of folks could have told you this train wreck was coming. Diane Black is exactly as the pundits have represented her.
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Be on the look-out for the resurrection of protest the likes of the 1960s, launched all over again very soon, by this writer-preacher, Rev. George Brooks and, and my organization, based in Murfreesboro, TN. and Los Angeles, CA. Because we blacks have had it with all of this continuation of racism and disrespect. Sherri Goforth is NOT going to have any peace until she vacates her job with the Tennessee legislature. And the protest will consist of a number of tactics, which I'm not letting out of the bag, so those that have been calling me may as well just wait and see. We will also be calling for a "no return" of black Memphis representative, "Uncle" John DeBerry, chair of the Black Caucus, when election day comes around again. For some strange and possibly "secret" reason, he has sided with Goforth and Senator Diane Black. And y'all need to see the pictures in my next newsletter about these two Hicks and Uncle John.
But folks, this woman is a state employee. Can you say "Civil Service?" She is protected from many aspects of being fired arbitrarily. She cannot be dismissed by Diane Black. She has to be given due process. If what she has done has been determined to be " gross misconduct" the State DOP will have the lead in terminating her. It seems to me that she has probably had to fill out the same computer and system usage agreements that all state employees have to sign off on on a yearly basis. If so, she could be terminated. She knew it was against the rules. She did it. But it must come from the Department of Personnel, perhaps at Diane Black's request and with her support.
I am a center right, Asian American, 49 yr old HNW....desparately seeking fiscally conservative but morally compassionate leadership...from any party. I have voted republican in the past as well as democratic, depending on the individual. As much as I disagree with overspending in Congress, I cannot continue my support of the republican party...and this incident in Tennessee is symptomatic of why. The republican message is now one of exclusion, hatred and witch hunting. While I am sure of the conviction of the beliefs of the Haniity's, Limbaugh's, Cheney's, There is a very clear tolerance of any morally corrupt action as long as it serves the GOP right-ists...a willingness to look the other way. The current party's reasoning skills rival that of a petulant 3rd grader wanting to get their toy back in the sandbox. Any party who can actually stand by Palin in her claims of foreign policy experience by virtue of proximity to Russia is a party low on the IQ meter. I wish the GOP can do better by returning to fiscal conservatism and leave behind the sexism, racism and intolerance that dominates its thinking right now. That would be the GOP that I return to.
While it may be true that Black can't fire Ms. Goforth summarily, that doesn't excuse Black's timidly worded "reprimand," which reads more like a mild rebuke than something Black was genuinely displeased about. More exemplary would have been for Black to send Ms. Goforth home, with pay, until the appropriate state officials dismisses or reassigned her. My message to Goforth, as her employer, would have been: "Just because I can't fire you doesn't mean I have to let you work in my office."
Ms. Goforth is a legislative employee. As such, civil service rules do not apply. Legislative employees can be hired at different pay ranges and can be given raises in years civil service employees get no raises. I remember 2 legislative employees who were caught using their state computers to look at porn while I worked at the legislature. They were fired immediately. I remember an intern being fired because of poor judgment at a local bar. Ultimately, the speaker of each house has the authority to terminate employees. Ramsey could have and should have fired her immediately. Wilder certainly did when an aide was looking at porn. Diane Black is a joke and always will be a joke. Congratulations Tennessee. I hope you appreciate what happens when you let preachers and the NRA run your state. Hell even Kent Williams fired an aide this week for something that frankly wasn't as offensive as what Goforth sent.
I would like to thank "Jeff Woods and cronies," for there one sided view of politics.It's funny though.But typical!We have the worst group to ever grace the White House. Yet! You hear nothing of the graveyard of skeletons and scandal,from the deep thinkers on the left.Hmmm!
