Former Senator And Gubernatorial Candidate Jim Bryson Started A Blog Yesterday
Posted on March 5, 2009 at 4:41 pmAnd, already, it is embroiled in controversy. House Democratic Leader Gary Odom and Rep. Ty Cobb have issued a press release denouncing today words Bryson penned not 12 hours ago on his blog. At issue is Bryson’s assertion that GM should “die with dignity.”
I feel bad for people who will lose their jobs. However, GM has been uncompetitive for a long time. When the government doesn’t allow non-competitive businesses to die, it undermines our economic system. It is time to allow GM to go into bankruptcy. If they can work out their issues and emerge, more power to them. If not, let more competitive company take over their assets and employees.
Odom and Cobb are calling for House GOP Caucus Chair Glen Casada specifically and the entire Williamson County delegation at large to rebuke the former legislator and constitutional officer candidate for his blog post.
UPDATE: Bryson reacts
Rep. Gary Odom Apologizes To Caucus For Talking To Reporters
Posted on March 3, 2009 at 1:45 pmOdom addresses the controversy which erupted after he was quoted by Jackson Baker taking credit for the Speaker Williams coup and blaming Jimmy Naifeh for Democratic losses ths past November:
“Gary Odom got up and apologized to the caucus and to the speaker, and that’s pretty much the gist of it,” says Rep. Charles Curtiss, who had been openly critical of Odom for his remarks. “Then Speaker Naifeh got up and said that, for the benefit of the caucus, he wanted to put the whole episode behind us and move forward. Everybody seemed to be in agreement, and we left out of there hopefully all going in the same direction.”
Curtiss says Odom claimed he was misquoted in the Flyer. “He apologized for talking to the press, and I’m sinning right now talking to you,” Curtiss says. “He said that things were added to what he had to say and it distorted exactly what he intended to say. I have no way of knowing one way or the other. He seemed sincere to me. Nobody said anything negative to be honest with you. He spoke and Speaker Naifeh spoke and that was pretty much the gist of it.”
SEE ALSO:
Jackson Baker reflects on the controversy.
Andy Sher weaves the whole contro together quite nicely.
Odom In The Wind After Colleagues Question His Role In Williams Coup
Posted on February 26, 2009 at 12:06 pmJeff Woods reports:
House Democratic leader Gary Odom, who would normally break an arm to jump in front of a camera, failed to show today for his party caucus’ weekly news conference. He had an appointment that he just had to keep, his top minion, Skip Cauthorn, told the press.
PREVIOUSLY:
Odom’s role questioned
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Odom’s Role In Williams Speakermaking Questioned
Posted on February 25, 2009 at 2:33 pmBy his colleagues in the House:
Rep. Mike Turner, the House Democratic Caucus Chairman, and Rep. John Litz of Morristown sat down with reporters to give a new timeline, one that leaves Odom almost completely out of the picture. In this version, Litz begins asking around about a Republican candidate who could play the foil to Rep. Jason Mumpower. By the second week of December, Williams comes to Litz to see if the Democrats can deliver, but Litz only tells “Speaker Naifeh and one other individual that day,” according to a timeline he released.
Odom, who says Naifeh was out of the loop, is mentioned once in Litz’s timeline: The two speak during a caucus meeting, during which Odom “informed me that he had spoken to Rep. Williams and mentioned the Speakership to him around Thanksgiving.” Litz says at that point he and Naifeh decided to keep the Williams Plan quiet until the day of the vote.
Turner said in today’s interview that Litz’s timeline was not meant to contradict Odom, but it’s obvious that House Democrats are quickly coming to the defense of Naifeh, and at the expense of Odom.
Is this the first shot across the bow in that attempted coup we’ve heard about recently?
UPDATE: Much more from Woods.
Is Chip Forrester A Tool Of Gary Odom?
Posted on February 23, 2009 at 7:46 amJeff Woods gets in on the controversy over the Republican donations of the new Tennessee Democratic Party treasurer:
So the party has itself a fat-cat treasurer who has helped Republicans beat Democrats, who thinks the state shouldn’t try to make commercial real-estate tycoons like himself pay their fair share of taxes in a time of fiscal meltdown. Pith predicts Forrester can now officially forget about fund-raising help from the governor. Already, as Schelzig reports, Bredesen aide Will Pinkston has told Forrester to stop trying to raise money using Bredesen’s name for the Governor’s Roundtable.
Yes, Forrester has definitely stepped in it this time. How do you think his young liberal supporters feel about this new party alignment? On the other hand, what does the governor’s office expect Forrester to do? Rebuffed by Bredesen, he runs into Odom’s arms. He has no where else to turn.
SEE ALSO: Liberadio
Former Rep. Nathan Vaughn Is Coming Back
Posted on February 22, 2009 at 6:59 pmSooner rather than later it would seem:
“Let’s make this a campaign kickoff,” House Democratic Leader Gary Odom of Nashville told Vaughn’s supporters.
Vaughn said he wasn’t making any announcements about his political future but indicated he will have one.
“I just know that I’m not dead yet,” Vaughn said. “I intend to be involved in the community. I intend to be involved in the state. It is not my intent to basically go away. This is not a celebration of my retirement.”
There was also plenty of venting about the campaign tactics used last fall against Vaughn, Northeast Tennessee’s first African-American state lawmaker, in his narrow loss to Republican Tony Shipley.
One Shot, Two Kills: Odom Was The Mastermind Of The Speaker Williams Coup
Posted on February 20, 2009 at 8:16 amJackson Baker reveals that Speaker Jimmy Naifeh was not aware of the plan to get all 49 Democrats to collude in electing Rep. Williams Speaker until the last moment:
Longtime House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh was never a party to the arrangement and only came to know of it at 5 p.m. the day before the scheduled Speaker election. Naifeh had in fact consistently importuned Williams (along with other friendly Republicans) to vote for him as Speaker right up until the eve of the vote. “And I couldn’t vote for Speaker Naifeh. I just couldn’t,” says Williams, who bases that resolve on his having given a now famous public vow to vote “for a Republican.”
Again, Williams insists and Odom concurs that Naifeh was utterly ignorant of the plot and knew nothing of it until the last minute, as it were, and then, with his own dreams of retaining the Speakership expiring, merely acquiesced.
This directly contradicts a widespread suspicion among Republicans and, for that matter, some Democrats not now serving in the legislature that the wily Naifeh must have had a hand in the undertaking. (One such Democrat was former state representative Kim McMillan of Clarksville, who served as majority leader under Naifeh and is now a candidate for governor. While making a visit of her own to Memphis on Wednesday night, McMillan, a Naifeh loyalist, made it clear she thought the longtime Speaker had to have been a participant in the plot. “That just sounds like Speaker Naifeh!” she said with an admiring smile.
But not so. In point of fact, Odom – who had intended to challenge Naifeh for the Speakership had the Democrats maintained their majority – chose, when asked point-blank, not to dispute the interpretation that his involvement in the Williams affair had been aimed at both Naifeh and Mumpower.
SEE ALSO:
Jeff Woods
Mediaverse
But Wouldn’t Naifeh Just Have Straight Flipped Him?
Posted on February 13, 2009 at 7:19 amNewscoma ain’t buying the conventional wisdom that it was Rep. Gary Odom who ultimately persuaded Rep. Kent Williams that he could be Speaker:
This is my opinion and my opinion only: Gary Odom was not the mastermind behind the Kent Williams Speaker grab last month. I’m just saying. He may have been a foot soldier, and I’m not saying he didn’t play a part in it, but come on, everyone with a brain knows that it was Jimmy Naifeh who came up with this.
We’re Just As Corrupt As They Are Is Not Usually A Good Defense
Posted on January 30, 2009 at 12:43 pmDavid Oatney on Brian Kelsey’s Textortiongate:
When the right people do it, it is normal procedure. Brian Kelsey isn’t allowed in on the bargaining, as he is a conservative. Now House Democratic Leader Gary Odom is calling on Kelsey to resign. Really? Is this the same Odom that made his way up to Carter County on Tanksgiving to bargain with Kent Williams about being Speaker of the House? I wonder if it is the selfsame Gary Odom who has served as the Executive Director of the Tennessee Optometric Association, which employs lobbyists on the Hill (what conflict of interest)? Since Gary Odom is now so big on purity of ethics, because of these backroom dealings and conflicts of interest, I call on Gary Odom to resign. Oh, I forgot, Odom’s standards do not apply to himself or other Democrats, only to conservative Republicans, hence Odom will go nowhere-but we should all demand that Brian Kelsey should resign for asking for a Chairmanship…
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Kelsey Interviewed On Textortiongate
Posted on at 9:07 amPREVIOUSLY:
Um, I Think You’re Supposed To Do That Kind Of Thing Verbally
You’re Damn Right He Did: Kelsey Admits Sending The Text Message
Gary Odom Calls On Rep. Brian Kelsey To Resign
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Gary Odom Calls On Rep. Brian Kelsey To Resign
Posted on at 8:01 amRevelations that the Germantown legislator sent a text message to the new House speaker offer to resolve differences in exchange for a committee chairmanship has led to calls for resignation:
Kelsey did not return calls for questions about the new allegation and Odom’s suggestion that it amounts to extortion, and his call to resign.
In his statement, Kelsey said he filed the ethics complaint knowing that he would not win a chairmanship but before he knew Williams appointed him chairman of the civil practice subcommittee.
The text message was sent to Williams’ office while he and Republican and Democratic leaders met to appoint committees and their highly sought chairmanships.
Williams would only say that he read the text out loud and then told his staff “to handle it however they thought it was appropriate.”
Odom said he believes Kelsey committed an ethics violation.
“He demanded a full committee chairmanship — indicated that if that took place, it would resolve his differences with the speaker,” Odom said. “When that didn’t happen, he filed a sexual harassment complaint about an incident in which he wasn’t involved nor was a witness to.”
MORE:
Jeff Woods
Theo Emery
You’re Damn Right He Did: Kelsey Admits Sending The Text Message
Posted on January 29, 2009 at 5:33 pmIn a statement, Rep. Brian Kelsey concedes he sent the text message that Democrats have interpreted as an offer to drop his fierce opposition and criticism of the speaker in exchange for a committee chairmanship. But, ya know, it’s not what it looks like:
“The first day Representative Williams was elected speaker, we had a public disagreement on the House floor in which he asked me whether I had a problem with his being speaker. I answered in the affirmative. After reflecting upon the occurrence over the weekend, I decided to make a peace offering. I realized that, my personal feelings aside, we would both have to work together over the next two years for the good of the people of Tennessee. I sent his assistant a text message saying, “Tell Kent I’m willing to talk about reconciliation if he’s willing to talk about chairman of the full committee.” I sent the message at 9:50 a.m. on January 20th to offer reconciliation and to request my preference regarding committee assignments—the discussions for which were just beginning among the leaders. I had never turned in a committee preference form to Representative Naifeh or Representative Williams, as had other members, because I did not expect either of them to be elected Speaker. Committee assignment discussions began the morning of the 20th and lasted throughout the day of the 20th and 21st.
“The afternoon of January 20th I read the new Speaker’s public statement in which he, in essence, called Rep. Lynn and others liars by denying that he had ever told her he would give a week’s pay to see her naked and by denying he was ever reprimanded by Leader Mumpower for doing so. When I read the statement, I was outraged that he would intentionally make such a false statement to the public, and I began to draft an ethics complaint that evening, which I filed early the next afternoon on January 21st.
“I filed the ethics complaint knowing full well that I was virtually ensuring that I would not be named chairman of a full committee and thinking that I would probably lose Vice Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, a position that Speaker Williams had offered me the previous week. Nonetheless, I still thought it was the right thing to do to file the complaint. I, along with all other members, did not receive word of my committee assignments until the evening of the 21st after I had already filed the ethics complaint against the Speaker. At least one change was made to those preliminary assignments, and the official appointments were made the 22nd.”
SEE ALSO: The Woodsman
Um, I Think You’re Supposed To Do That Kind Of Thing Verbally — And In Coded Language
Posted on at 3:54 pmThe AP reports that Rep. Brian Kelsey tried to barter for a committee chairmanship:
Reps. Mike Turner and Gary Odom say Kelsey made the offer in a text message sent to a Williams aide the same day that a 2-year-old allegation of sexual harassment against the speaker came to light.
One day later Kelsey filed an ethics complaint seeking to have Williams removed as speaker.
According to Turner, the Jan. 20 message said: “I will talk about reconciliation if you make me a full committee chair.”
Kelsey denied to AP that he had sent any text message.
Rep. Kent Coleman On Keeping The Dems Together To Vote For Speaker Williams
Posted on January 25, 2009 at 9:24 pmThe Murfreesboro legislator contends the famous recess before the nomination for House Speaker was necessary to keep potential “Mumpower Democrats” on the reservation:
My first understanding that that was a possibility took place in the caucus meeting, which was scheduled for 11 o’clock on Tuesday morning and we go into session at noon. At that time, we were informed that the existing speaker (Rep. Jimmy Naifeh) could not get the votes necessary to elect a speaker, and somebody submitted the proposal that Kent Williams would vote for himself if he were going to get elected as speaker, and the only way he could get elected as speaker, in our mind, was for all the Democrats to vote for him. But at the time we first left our caucus meeting to go on to the floor, it was my impression that Kent Williams did not have the necessary votes to get elected speaker. Not until we recessed after the House members were sworn into office that we took a recess and received the commitments from some Democrats that might have in the past pledged their support to Jason Mumpower.
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Tentative, Unofficial And Other Similiar Caveats
Posted on January 21, 2009 at 6:25 pmWhile state house committee assignments, having gone through two days of negotiations, have not been announced, Post Politics has obtained a tentative list of committee assignments currently making its way through the legislature. Again, this is by no means a final or official list.
UPDATE: Jama appears to have procured a similar list.
For The Careerists
Posted on January 16, 2009 at 10:15 amGary Odom asserts that it was not a naked pursuit of power but a feeling of kinship with legislative employees who might be fired under a Speaker Mumpower which led Kent Williams to accept the deal that made him speaker:
Odom was also aware of another factor in Williams’ psyche that might cause him to risk his party’s rancor. Williams had told Odom that when he was 23 and newly married and starting a family he had found a good job with the Tennessee Department of Transportation. As a Republican, Williams was marked by then Gov. Ray Blanton for removal, not because of job performance but for political reasons.
“I knew as a result of that experience that he had a sick feeling in his stomach for all the career people, researchers and legal professionals, who would be losing their jobs when Jason Mumpower took over as speaker. Some of those people had been in those jobs for over 20 or 30 years.
“I think some of that played into his thinking,” Odom said.
(TFJ: Woodsie)
Bad Dream
Posted on January 14, 2009 at 9:55 amRep. David Hawk (as well as Rep. Eddie Yokley) reflect on yesterday’s Speaker election in the Greeneville Sun:
Hawk said that participating in the vote was “surreal, like being in a bad dream.”
Hawk said he has not gotten to know Williams well in the two years they have served together. “Obviously nobody did,” Hawk said, adding, “It’s hard to know someone who does what he did, but we’ll be living with it for a couple of years.”
Tennessee Democrats Continue To Crumble
Posted on November 20, 2008 at 10:30 amNot only will the party likely be dealing with Republican speakers in both chambers, it is now clear that if Rep. Gary Odom is able to retain his spot as Minority Leader there may be little coordination with the House Democrats and popular Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen:
“Unfortunately, there have been some trust issues with Rep. Odom,” Bredesen spokeswoman Lydia Lenker told The Associated Press in an e-mail exchange late Wednesday. She did not elaborate on what those issues have been.
“We’re actively exploring options other than Rep. Odom to carry the administration’s legislative package,” she wrote.
Odom has been raising and dispersing a far amount of coin to help out his fellow legislators in expectation of a battle between himself and Jimmy Naifeh. One would assume that money is still good in a Minority Leader race with Rep. Fitzhugh, gubernatorial backing or not.
SEE ALSO:
Braisted
Woods
Elect Blue
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