Rob Briley Continues His Needling Of The Press
Posted on May 21, 2008 at 11:58 amRep. Rob Briley, who called out the press and the blogosphere yesterday for not taking practicing their craft responsibly, again made statements on the floor of the State House regarding his estimation of journalistic integrity.
Briley declared that the Tennessean’s headline this morning chronicling his tirade yesterday “proved his point” about the lack of responsibility amongst the press.
What wasn’t clear was whether Briley was speaking of his misidentification as “Sen. Briley” or whether he took issue with the phrasing of “takes shots at the media.”
If the latter, then the Gannett daily can hardly be faulted. Briley described his statements about the press as a “shot across the bow.”
What Briley should have faulted the Tennessean with, along with the misidentification in the headline, is various inaccuracies under said headline.
As you can see above, the Tennessean refers to Briley’s “resignation” and then refers you to some stories that supposedly happened after that.
First, while it is true that Briley resigned from his Judiciary Committee chairmanship, one might doubt that the same headline writers who misidentified in which body Briley serves in, would be referencing that.
What they likely are referencing is his decision to leave the legislature. That, of course, was not a “resignation.” Briley did not “resign” from the legislature, he merely elected not to run for reelection.
That said, whether the Gannett staffers were referring the decision not run or his resignation from his chairmanship is immaterial. The links that lie beneath are inaccurate either way.
Two of the links cited as after “Briley’s resignation” chronicle his dustup with Rep. Stacey Campfield over Campfield’s “babydaddy bill.” That, of course was last month well after both his chairmanship resignation and his decision to leave the legislature upon the expiration of his term.
Regardless of the lapses of the Tennessean headline department, one must wonder whether Briley’s real beef with the article was its subtle implication as to whom his “coded message” might have been directed to.
Briley, who listed a female lobbyist who is not his wife as his emergency contact when he was arrested, then issued an enigmatic “coded message” to someone out there listening to his speech.
“I’m going to say something in code now that none of you all are going to understand,” Briley said. “Poets and kings.”
When that message was met with blank stares, Briley elaborated. “There’s something out there that poets write verse about, and something out there that kings wage war about,” he said. “I’ve been lucky enough to experience that in my life, and I hope all of you do, too. So, poets and kings, everybody.”
Either way, Briley’s back and forth with the media was not done with his claim of vindication by the Tennessean.
During a portion of the morning’s session where retiring Representatives were being given the opportunity to handle the Speaker’s gavel, Briley turned to the press box and said, “[W]hile acting as speaker I have authority to have you removed from the chamber.”
Making it clear he was joking Briley then laughed and said that he appreciated the media’s “hard work.”
SEE ALSO: Peebles
Capital Hill Chaos: Speaker Jimmy Naifeh Overruled [VIDEO]
Posted on May 2, 2008 at 6:27 pmPosted above, for your perusal and enjoyment and that of posterity, is a video of the recent unpleasantness that took place on the floor of the General Assembly yesterday.
It is still lengthy but, in light of the considerable confusion over the controversey, I thought it best to leave as much of the events intact as possible.
PREVIOUSLY:
Naifeh Overruled
Capitol Hill Chaos
Wanted: Dead Or Alive
Slow Train Coming
Slow Train Coming
Posted on at 9:04 amAndy Sher gets the money quote from House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh after his decision that Rep. Bill Dunn was out of order was overruled by a vote of the full General Assembly.
“If we can’t stick together on that (a subsequent procedural vote), we may just as well let Mumpower start presiding,” the powerful speaker told fellow Democrats at a hastily convened party caucus meeting, referring to Minority Leader Jason Mumpower, R-Bristol.
Adding insult to injury, of course, was the later admission by Dunn that he was, in fact, out of order. Five Democrats voted with Dunn and the Republicans resulting in the historic overrule.
Jimmy Naifeh Gets Overruled: The Video
Posted on May 1, 2008 at 2:22 pmRead the play by play and the definitive account at NashvillePost.com. (video courtesy of Ben Cunningham)
Naifeh Overruled
Posted on at 10:48 amBig news on SJR 127 today in the legislature. Rep. Gary Odom made a motion to suspend the rules to vote on a resolution regarding the House schedule, an issue unrelated to SJR 127.
Rep. Bill Dunn then made a motion to amend that motion to suspend so that SJR 127 could be brought up for its first of three readings.
Dunn was then ruled out of order by House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh.
The House Republicans then objected to that ruling. A vote was called to overrule. House Republicans won that vote by 1. A recess was then called for.
The House is now back in session and Dunn has renewed his motion.
UPDATE: Representative Dunn’s motion prevailed 51-43. Odom then withdrew his original motion. Objections were made. A motion was made to adjourn the session and recess until Tuesday. It failed. Session continues…
UPDATE II: Quarreling over the rules has lead to a microphones off discussion between Naifeh, Odom and Republican leaders.
UPDATE III: Odom’s motion to withdraw was voted down 45-51. Dunn’s amendment was thus adopted. The House then voted on whether to suspend the rules in order to bring SJR 127 to the floor. Bringing the resolution to the floor bypassing the committee process requires a two-thirds majority. The vote failed, and SJR 127 was not brought to the floor for a vote.
The two-thirds majority required to bring the resolution to the floor bypassing the committee process was not reached. SJR 127 was not brought to the floor for a vote.
Rep. Moore then called for a moment of prayer and silence for “what just went on here today.” Republican Glen Casada praised the motion and the events of the day as a true expression of representative democracy.
NashvillePost.com political reporter Ken Whitehouse was in the chamber for the events and has a full and complete blow by blow and explanation of what happened right here.
SEE ALSO:
VIDEO: Ben Cunningham
Stacey Campfield (II)
Cara Kumari blog
Crone Speaks
Michael Silence
WSMV Report
Sean Braisted
Nathan Moore
R. Neal
Rob Huddleston
Life News
David Oatney
WPLN
Knox Trivia
Tom Humphrey
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