Justice Delayed But Not Denied

The same judge who granted Ophelia Ford a stay in her ouster from the Tennessee State Senate has now denied a request for a second stay. After yesterday's antics by her attorney, David Cocke, wherein he addressed everything but the facts of the situation, I had almost expected this to be the outcome. But the judge's Ford family connections had raised eyebrows with her first stay, that only remained up upon reading her broad and vaporous ruling when it came out.

So, Ford may be out by the end of the week. The original Senate vote went against her when two colleagues crossed the aisle and voted for her ouster. The recent Senate committee vote had two committee Democrats vote against her as well, surely a foreboding sign of the much worse vote to come.

The odds are good, though, that she'll be back this Fall. Hers is still a majority black district. Will the Ford family spare no expense to keep her in office? Or will Harold the Floridian tell her that it's a sign from God that she was not meant to serve? Who can say?

Fear not Ford fans. Left Coast Jake and Joe2 are fighting it out for Harold the Lesser's seat; one is likely to win it. (Though the incredible clutter of the primary Democratic pool makes prediction a useless thing, to be honest.) Uncle Ed is still on the City Council.

It's rather like the Monty Python sketch. "Why don't you get the spam, bacon, sausage and spam? That's not got much spam in it." Tennessee will be at its most Ford-free in probably twenty or twenty-five years.