For Steele to say that Williams betrayed every Republican in the state is utterly ridiculous. The only thing he did is out maneuver another politician who has done more than his own share of power politic manipulation. This exemplifies the problems we have not only on a state level but on a federal level. We need to work together for the betterment of the state, not allegience to party affiliation. I'm sick and tired of politicians worrying more about party ties than working for the state and/or federal government. Those politicians need to be booted out. I don't care if a Republican or Democrat serves, as long as that person has the best interest of the citizens as his/her primary goal. It should not be about a power of wills; rather, it should be about what is best for the people they serve. Mumpower is just angry that he did not attain the power he thought he so richly deserved. He also showed his true colors.

I'm new to Tennessee politics, but I rather enjoyed Mr Williams' end-run around Mr. Mumpower.

It's a shame that Mr Mumpower wasn't able to enjoy his own coronation....

In response to Isis B,

Turncoats? If Powell was a turncoat he started in 2004 when Condi and Rummy were dead set on being against him. You may argue that Powell was the only competent person in the Bush administration from 2000 to 2004. Powell didn't fit in with "loyal Bushies" who marched lock-step with GW Bush's agenda. So if he was a turncoat it started in 2004 when he opted out of continuing to "serve at the pleasure of the President". Powell knew that McCain didn't have the intellectual faculties that Obama had. THAT is the reason he supported and voted for Obama in November of 2008. No turncoat here. The Republicans as you say evidently "[had] other other things to do, like WORK" than vote on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. If "it it seems to [you] that everyone that comments on these newspaper articles is left wing liberal nutcases" wouldn't that make you a left-wing liberal nutcase? If so, then welcome to the Democratic Party.

This is what the politics of fear and hate sounds like. And if conservatives give more money it’s because they control most of the money anyway. Life is only fair if we MAKE it fair.

Dude, you are SOOOO bad!

As in "good."

Thanks for the chuckles.

You always put it in perspective.

How you stay so cool?????

Oh, wait! I think I know.

Never mind.

That is to say, The Father, The Son, and Holy S*** my shorts are on fire!

The Dude would abide that offer, but fair warning, The Dude exists as A Trinity.

Two thoughts (and I'll try to be brief - RIIIIGHT!!)

First, it's entirely possible that liberals like me and others in my family and extended family simply don't count our "giving" on our income tax returns.

We just simply give.

Also, there are other ways of giving - such as the giving I have chosen. I pick a person who's very down on his or her luck, and give them a monetary boost or two, a helping hand, a ride, a pep talk - sometimes daily - and a "good job!" at the end of every tiny success.

Then there's volunteering, as in going to the soup kitchens and cooking or handing out food for the homeless and the hungry.

Or taking meals to those who are homebound - as in Meals on Wheels.

Or taking flowers, perfumes, dusting powder and other non-necessities to women in nursing homes, and after-shave lotion (not that stinky dollar stuff, either), and foot powder, and socks and underwear to the men.

There are myriad ways to give without giving money.

The other point is this: It WAS NOT Kool-Aid - it was Flavor Aid, and it was grape-flavored.

If I were a public relations person in the company that makes Kool-Aid I would demand that people - especially those on Fox Noise - stop saying that phrase or risk a lawsuit - not for money, but for the embarrassment factor.

Got it? Flavor Aid - not Kool-Aid. Grape, not red.

Okay?

Dude, there are a few of us who want to buy you a drink. LOLOLOLOL

No, the conservative would make him give his credit card number first.

Michael Steele is nothing but the token cheerleader for a party trying to find itself following the rule of the worst president in American history. With a morally corrupt hate radio talk show host as the self-appointed spokesman, and followers who make organizations like the neo-nazis and the KKK pale in comparison, it's no wonder that most able-minded conservative Americans are fleeing the ranks of the GOP. And yet here, in our quiet little enclave of jeesusland, we still cherish stand up dolls and comic book characters like Sarah Super Powers Palin, Joe the Plumber, Dick Cheney, and on and and on. And yes Doris before you start frothing, I know who is the governor of Alaska and a god-lee woman.

I don't have to do a thing. His own actions do that for him. Leave it to a wingnut to quote a study done by a far right wing president of an extremist (non)think tank.

MR. BROOKS IS A SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR. JUST LIKE A LIBERAL, WHEN YOU CAN'T WIN AN ARGUMENT YOU TRY TO DESTROY THE SOURCE!

For the record his findings were non duplicatable. Guess what that means? REJECTED!!!!

Wow! How wonderful to quote a piece from ABC News and how to disregard the entire spectrum of political identification and types of "giving." Also, I notice you left out how the studies was done. Most of the article, written by John Stossel, is based on Salvation Army buckets in two cities. LOLOL Yea that's scientific. And I notice you failed to mention who Author Brooks is. LOLOL You people crack me up. He not a respected scientist but a leading wingnut from the extreme wingnut American Enterprise Institute. Actually do the research. Brooks is notorious for fabricated and biased research to support his far right wing political and religious agenda.

HERE'S YOUR DOCUMENTATION RF:

Americans are pretty generous. Three-quarters of American families give to charity -- and those who do, give an average of $1,800.

But the idea that liberals give more is a myth. Of the top 25 states where people give an above-average percentage of their income, all but one (Maryland) were red -- conservative -- states in the last presidential election.

"When you look at the data," says Syracuse University professor Arthur Brooks, "it turns out the conservatives give about 30 percent more. And incidentally, conservative-headed families make slightly less money."

Researching his book, "Who Really Cares", Brooks found that the conservative/liberal difference goes beyond money:

"The people who give one thing tend to be the people who give everything in America. You find that people who believe it's the government's job to make incomes more equal, are far less likely to give their money away."

Conservatives are even 18 percent more likely to donate blood.

I know how you feel Ann, I couldn't imagine Jimmy Naheh in there for another term either.

Mr. Rhoton, as an actual Sociologist I can tell you, without a doubt, you are WRONG! Show me your statistics. Back up your claim with proof. You can’t, because the science demonstrates the opposite; especially when one takes into account value of time in the trenches working with communities in need. Liberals, by and large, are more inclined to volunteer in diverse sites regardless of religious and socio-economic affiliation. We on the left are the ones most inclined to go into National Service, Peace Corps, Non-Profit development, etc. Spend a little cash and buy SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) and look at the actual numbers and how political affiliation lines up with volunteerism and monetary donation.

EGADS....can you imagine Jason Mumpower as Speaker. Thank you Mr. Williams for saving the State. One correction for Mr Arrington....the GOP is now at 21%. Keep up the good work Michael Steele.

Ms. Acito,

Whether you want to admit it or not, statistics have proven it over and over again. Conservatives give far more money to charity than liberals do. Libs are hung up on the Robin Hood mentality: steal from the rich to give to the poor. I guess it helps them to puff up their enormous egos.

Couldn't have said it better Mary.

"He illustrated his point by telling a story about a conservative and liberal walking down the street and coming across two men down on their luck.
The conservative, said Steele, picks the first man up, offers him a job and gives him $20 bucks to get started.
Steele said the liberal gives the second man a phone number for the local welfare office and takes $50 out of the conservative’s pocket to give to the man."

Steele got that totally wrong. It's the liberal who would give the man $20. and help him get job training. The conservative would walk by commenting on what bums they were and say they should get a job while he picked his friends' pockets so he could give his rich friends big tax breaks so they could buy another jet.

How totally bizarre. They got their shorts all in a wad because a Republican got elected Speaker of the House - just not the Republican they wanted. What secret plans did Mumpower have that were thwarted by Williams? They still had the majority! How childish. Then along comes Steele, who's been acting like a total idiot, and he says he's got a bulls-eye painted on Williams' back. Great way to treat a fellow Republican, Mikey!
I'd say the voters in Elizabethton and Carter County have more to say about that than you do, Mikey.
Actions like this are why the Republican party is losing country-wide. It just takes a while for Tennessee to catch up.

Guess what! I'm at work. I work very hard and so does every single liberal I know on here. We all work and pay for the useless wars and corporate welfare the pubians support.

Michael Steele is right on! People need to know that the GOP is not going to tolerate turncoats like Powell and Williams. You'll see who was right when Williams gets voted out. I mean it seems to me that everyone that comments on these news paper articles is left wing liberal nutcases. But I guess I must remember you are participating in the liberal media process. We Republicans have other things to do, like WORK!

Mr. Wilson stated as Tennesseans..."We can so almost anything." Evidently that does not include learning to spell, buying or using a dictionary or Spell-check for the computer.

Oh no! Please, do keep it up. :-)

It's this kind of actions is why the Republican Party is at 23% in national polls. Keep this up and the party will begin to fall apart in Tennessee also. You can't keep talk like this up and keep control of people, they will see you for what you are.

The phrase "drinking the [Obama] Kool-Aid" comes from the tragic ending to the story and site that was Jonestown on November 18, 1978. By referencing Obama supporters as "Kool-Aid [drinkers]" Michael Steele is not only trivializing the results of this past Presidential general election, but he is making light of the 918 people who died by blindly following Jim Jones. Is Michael Steele suggesting that Obama supporters will kill themselves if Obama tells them to? As far as I know, Obama has not asked his "followers" to chug some poisoned, red drink as a final act of their loyalty to him. Maybe I'm going out on a proverbial limb here, but I would guess that Obama would not ask any one of his supporters to commit mass suicide.

Ms. Farmer, what color is the sky in your universe? Everything started going to crap soon after the Tyrant Bush took office. ALL of his policies favored the few in the upper class. These idiot who don't believe the President has a huge influence over the economy are deluded. EVERYTHING that fool did lined the pockets of him, his family, and their friends. He deliberately created instability in the oil producing countries to drive up oil prices. Created new enemies to keep the focus away from how he and his were gutting the American people. Turned the world against us with his unilateral self-centered policies. NOTHING was done with the people in mind. All federal oversight of the financial sector crumbled. We know for a fact the administration ignored warnings about fraud. As long as they were making money they didn't care about my and other working family's retirement investments. While the wingnuts were worshiping at the alter of the GOP the rest of us were trying to warn what was going on but were ignored. Now we're seeing the proof in his secret memos. We learn more every day about the depths of corruption that was rampant during his four years. The Bush II administration will go down in history as one of the most corrupt ever. You can keep watching Faux New, getting your news from the wingnuts on the radio, and completely ignore the facts. Just makes me smile watching the GOP chewing itself apart because the lies and deception are finally catching up with them. Love seeing all the infighting between the moderate to left with some sense and the screwball far right nutjobs.

Tracy, a bathroom wall is suspect, but it's still more accurate than fox.

Wher do you people get your news. Bathroom wall. None of your stories are correct.
We were in good shape untill two years ago when the Dems took control. Bush mistake was not vetoing the Dems stupid Bills.
You will die in proverty now, nuf said.

“Republicans win when we act like Republicans,” said Shipley. “God matters, family matters. ...We believe in small government, low taxes and the sanctity of life.”

Where in the small government, Tony?

Where are the spending cuts that go along with tax cuts, Tony?

Tony is more like a Bush Republican. He cries out for less government, until they get in power, then they USE the power of government to increase its size, passing laws to protect hillbilly rights on the state level where none existed before. Bush Republicans want tax cuts, but never offer the spending cuts. Somehow, they think taxcut-and-spend is more fiscally responsible than tax-and-spend.

So Steele has placed a target on Williams' back? Oh, you are such a tough guy, Michael. I'm sure Kent is shaking in his Reeboks. America needs you now more than ever? America HAD you for 8 years under a Republican presidency, and 12 years under Republican majorities in Congress. That's 20 years of combined "leadership." After blasting Obama for his budget, Republicans in Congress couldn't even come up with an alternate version, releasing in March a budget plan with very few details and which was not much more than a fancy brochure. They knew in November who the next president was going to be; they knew he would be submitting a budget; they had 5 months to come up with a comprehensive plan of their own. What did they offer up instead? Amendments to the Democrat's budget. And more tax cuts, which the non-profit, non-partisan group Citizens for Tax Justice concluded "would cost over $300 billion more than the Obama income tax cuts in 2011 alone." This state needs someone who will work with both Democrats AND Republicans, and if Kent does that for the betterment of the citizens, then he gets this Democrat's vote. We don't need someone like David Davis who in my opinion didn't care much about Democrats in his district, judging by the fact that, as reported in the Times-News, he bragged about an opinion poll giving him an approval rating of over 70%, yet he only contacted Republican voters in our district for that poll. And we have newly hired Administrator of Elections Jason Booher (previously the Sullivan County Republican Party Chairman), who Election Commission chairman James Holmes declared as having "influence with the Republican Party in the state." Obviously he wanted that influence as party chairman...but as an Administrator of Elections, which is supposed to be a non-partisan position??

Does my heart good to see the disintegration of the wingnut party. Keep up the great work GOP! LOL

BULL !!!!

The man did what was right for Tennessee !
Look at the silly and down right stupid bills commiong out of the Republican Party. A Soldier can not wear medal or ribbions not awarded to him. What about awarded to his father or grandfather or son ?
As a Disbled Vet I do not care if any Soldier wears 200000 metal or ribbions. If that is what the man needs to keep him sane in the crazy world then let the man be !!!!!!!
All the Lackeys running around shouting about protecting your Gtrrfoms while passing more and more laws limiting your Freedoms.
They will condem a single mom but ship your tax dollars off to Ultra Orthdox Jewish who do not work till they are 40 years old.
These people enjoy National Healthcare and Welfare till age 40 and they have you in an uproar over a Single American Mother raising American Kids.

Williams will get my vote no matter what party he chooses to claim as long as he keeps on voting his good common sense.

Enough is enough ! Tennesseans are not your puppets. We will not be treated like Indentured Servant or your slaves.

Stop with the Business Incentives. If they want to take their toys and leave tell them to go hit the road.
We the citizens of Tennessee can built Bush Hogs for tractors and the Tractors themselves.
We can so almost anything.

What we can't stand any longer is your hard headed control freak behavior.

WE HAVE ENOUGH LAWS TO LAST A LIFETIME BACK OFF !!!