vibinc

My internet died right about 11:30am yesterday, so I didn’t get to see the streaming coverage of the bloodless coup in the TN State House. The written reports were plenty descriptive for me, and the Republican response was, well, priceless!

For those of you living under a rock, or nowhere near a Republican, the TN State House elected the first Republican Speaker in 40 years…unfortunately for the Republican Party, it wasn’t the speaker they nominated, it was the one the Democrats nominated, Kent Williams of Elizabethtown.

For those of you even deeper under said rock, or perhaps buried under a quarry, the Democrats nominated a Republican because they lost the majority 50-49. They new they probably couldn’t win with a Democrat, so why not shoot the moon? Really, it’s a brilliant play…a “Flea Flicker” that hasn’t fully developed yet. We’re still waiting for the “pass down field”. Hopefully it won’t be intercepted, but it probably will.

Williams will be thrown out of the Republican Party, Kurita style, without all the last second asshattery that marked that action. I doubt that he’ll care considering he was primaried by a devotee of the same man he defeated for the Speaker’s chair. What goes around comes around.

I think the Republicans are overreacting, I mean, they got their damn speaker, why not take advantage of the opportunity? This is like complaining about the position of engagement during the sex act. You’re getting laid, shut up!

Oh, you didn’t want to be on bottom? Sucks to be you! I suggest you relax, it’ll make it easier for everyone, but mostly you.

I know I’m being flip about this whole thing, but there are two truths that are undeniable: 1. I agree with Roger Abramson, this is not necessarily a boon for Progressives. The progressive agenda will not be served by ANY Republican speaker, period. 2. The Republicans still have the majority, and can still use it to bludgeon us with their agenda. I’m not taking off my helmet until there’s more evidence the coast is clear.

Still, it’s funny stuff that I’ll be giggling about for weeks.

My internet is spotty right now as I wait for our local monopoly to find the time to come out and fix it, yet still charge me for it. I’ll be looking for reports from the hill today, but mostly, I’ll be giggling like a schoolgirl.

Good going TN State House Democrats. You won the battle, keep pushing to win the war. Republican sour grapes will be your biggest ally for a couple of days. Use that to your benefit now, because I’m sure there are plenty of ugly fights coming down the pike.

The TN State legislature debuted a new website today. The CA has the story.

I haven’t had the chance to check it out fully, but if it does all that it says it does it’s a huge boon for the people of Tennessee and the cause of transparency in general.

One of my chief complaints over the past two sessions is the difficulty in tracking the “real” bills and the bills that will never see the light of day. Under the old site, you could search a topic and come up with more bills than could ever be considered. Maybe now we’ll see something that makes the process a little easier.

Perhaps the best improvement is the prospect of setting up a personalized rss feed for bills or subjects that are of personal interest. If this actually works its good stuff, a great tool for bloggers, activists and concerned citizens alike.

One of the best things about it is the ability to make lists of interests. These lists populate the three rss feeds that users can customize. Each list can have multiple keywords or subjects. You can set up a local feed (select your city and county and surrounding counties) or a budgeting feed (budget and appropriations) of any number of personalized feeds.

It’s also easier to see the bills that your legislators have sponsored or their voting record.

All in all, this is a positive step for the state. I’m looking forward to seeing it in action. Tomorrow is the first organizational session, according to the House Schedule. Streaming video support for sessions should be pretty interesting too. Mac people may need the Flip 4 Mac plugin to view the WMV streams in Safari (the free one should work, but I’ll know more tomorrow).

I’ll report my experience with the site throughout the session. This could make my life a lot easier, particularly considering my stupid travel schedule. Can’t wait to watch TN-Span.