so, when does the ethics complaint get filed against Kelsey?

Kelsey sounds like Blagoyavich, just trying to monetize dropping his attacks.

To paraphrase Churchill, "We've established WHAT you are, now we're just haggling over price!"

Couldn't he get impeached for this? It sounds an awful lot like extortion.

the votes probably aren't there, sadly. But this needs to get out in the Memphis area.

I can help with that!!!!

Hehe. Go LWC!

Let’s see no threats or promises made in return for actions or monetary rewards. You are grabbing for something that is not there. What assignment did Rep Kelsey receive was there any change in his stance against slick Willie. NO, grow up people. Odom and Turner are trying to divert attention from the real issue and that is Williams is sexist, manipulating, liar, thief, and a womanizer.

Odom and Turner are trying to divert attention from the real issue and that is Williams is sexist, manipulating, liar, thief, and a womanizer.

And they did a bang up job, too. You must admit. They established the narrative of this story on their own terms. Then Kelsey was forced to admit to the facts of the case even though there exists a perfectly acceptable alternate narrative that wouldn't make Kelsey look nearly as bad.

I don't think the ethics problem with this is going to be the big problem for Kelsey. Extortion, blackmail & bribery are legal matters. I would think this has been turned over to the legal department instead of an ethics claim being filed. This will not quitely go away as the legislators themselves may not have a vote. Either way you look at it, Kelsey was trying to make a 'backroom' deal the same as he has criticized others for recently. In one account I read, it said the text was read when both leadership party chairs were in the room. Therefore, Casada & Mumpower themselves must have heard or saw the message. I also read that Mumpower didn't recall seeing the message. BUT, did he hear the message as it was read?

Lets try this again. There is nothing illegal about the texting. WILLIAMS IS A LIAR> ODOM AND TURNER ARE LIARS AND ARE MANIPULATING YOU THR READER. If you do not believe this then air is a waste of your time.

If I were going to extort a chairmanship out of someone, I certainly wouldn't file an ethics complaint against him BEFORE he appointed the chairmen.

Extortion is trying to punish the one member of the House who is trying to enforce ethics complaints. That's an all-new low from the Democratic Leader, who's being paid by the Tennessee Optemetric Association while he votes on bills that affect the group. I know I am putting a target on my back when I stand up for ethics, and I will continue to do so.

The Democratic Leadership is so unethical they not only dismissed my claim of lying and sexual harassment that they knew was true, but they’re now trying to browbeat the one person in this state that’s standing up for ethics. First they blamed the victim of the sexual harassment for its becoming public, and now they are trying to punish the whistleblower for filing the complaint. It's not going to work. I've always stood up for ethics in this state, and I always will.

The AP asked me whether I had sent a text message offering to withdraw my ethics complaint in return for a committee chairmanship. I said, "No" because the text message was sent before there was even reason to file a complaint. Speaker Williams had not yet released his statement making Rep. Lynn, the sexual harassment victim, like like a liar.

(Rep. Kelsey has been a leader on ethics legislation since entering the legislature in 2004. In 2005 he was the first legislator to call for public hearings on allowing the Tennessee Waltz perpetrators to keep their legislative seats. He filed 33 amendments in an effort to strengthen the 2006 ethics bill. He has pushed for legislation to end legislative receptions in which lawmakers are wined and dined by lobbyists. He blew the whistle on lawmakers violating the smoking ban in the capitol. He filed an ethics complaint against Speaker Pro Tem DeBerry for admitting taking $200 cash from a lobbyist and FBI agent while on a gambling trip and claiming there was nothing wrong with her actions. He most recently filed an ethics complaint against Speaker Kent Williams for releasing a statement with the intent to deceive the public about comments he had made to Rep. Lynn about seeing her naked.)

Bless his heart, li'l Brian Kelsey got up mighty early to spin his story in the 3:43 a.m. posts above.

But the fact remains that a respected AP reporter, Lucas L. Johnson II, has reported that on Wednesday, January 28, Brian Kelsey officially told the AP that he had NOT sent ANY text message to Speaker Williams.

Then on Thursday, January 29, after the AP discovered that Brian Kelsey HAD sent a text message to Speaker Williams, we see li'l Brian back-peddlin' like crazy after he was caught, spinnin' out an inky cloud of words like some weird unethical octopus.

It looks like Brian Kelsey hoped he could have "THE LAST WORD" by makin' his pre-emptive 3:43 a.m. posts here, just like he did at 3:00 a.m. central time on the Nashville Tennessean newspaper website and at 4:14 a.m. eastern time on the Knoxville News Sentinel newspaper website.

Which makes it pretty interestin' and psychologically tellin' to notice "THE LAST WORD" of the oddly-worded last sentence that li'l Brian Kelsey nervously posted here at 3:43 a.m. and also on the two newspaper sites:

"Speaker Williams had not yet released his statement making Rep. Lynn, the sexual harassment victim, like like a liar."

[...] Bless his heart, li’l Brian... [...]

Thought these may be appropriate for the whole situation. Some folks need to study the old cliche: "Practice what you preach."

Matthew 6:5
And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Galatians 2:13
And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

Luke 6:37
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

Can all you guys please get to work? I do think there are some tough decisions to be made. People are losing jobs, public education is suffering, millions without health care. We deserve a little more.

[...] Thought these may be appropriate for... [...]

The ethics complaint came out after the text. The text never offered a resolution or a perceived threat. William’s aid never responded back to the text which would indicate that Williams did not perceive the text as blackmail. Rep Kelsey did what all other reps including Odom did! They corresponded with Williams in some fashion regarding a chair or co-chair spot. If you don't think Odom did not mention that he is owed a spot due to the fact he is the reason Williams is in the position he is in, then you are a fool. We all know that if Odom and Turner are involved then that means they are manipulating the situation in some fashion and something is in it for them. We all know that Odom cannot be trusted just ask the Governor. Rep Kelsey has done a great job in office the same cannot be said for Williams, Odom or Turner. They are in office only for their own personal gain. Rep Lynn was a victim of sexual harassment, Williams the perp. Rep Kelsey attempted to file charges on Williams for lying about the harassment. I wonder if Odom, Turner and Williams would say that a women ask to be raped because look at the way she dressed. Same thing applies stop shifting the blame to Kelsey and Lynn. ODOM did you not ask for a chair spot? Turner did you not ask for a chair spot? Williams did you not agree to give Democrats chair spots in return for the speaker position? The Answer is YES!!!(To all 3 questions). They all need to be brought up on criminal and ethical charges. What is the old saying, those in glass houses should not throw stones. Odom has so many ethic violations he should just remain quite.

I guess it is asking too much of the PP blog to cover the actual charges against Williams and the back-room dealing that put him in the speaker's chair as much as they are covering these items that have fallen out since his election.

Since Williams got elected, all the blog has done is tried to coerce Lynn into coming forward, then attacked her for being a 1ictim, and now they are attacking the guy who is supporting the radical idea that maybe Speaker Williams should face some consequences for his creepy antics. Will you do some hard-nosed investigation into Speaker Williams and the deals he made to become Speaker? Text messages he or other Dems sent? Ethics complaints they filed that might have been dicey?

Yeah, sending that text probably was not smart, but there's no way it amounts to extortion - extortion is "if you don't do something, I will do something that will hurt you". Maybe I missed the part where "reconciliation" means "filing ethics complaints about sexual harrasment charges that were already made public." But, what do I know, I'm obviously not part of the enlightened crowd...