It took 47 days, but I finally got an answer.
Back in early March, when I was researching Rep. Curry Todd and considering challenging him in the Republican primary, I noticed that he had sponsored a resolution honoring political activist Angelo Cobrasci.
At the time, I knew there was some bad blood between Rep. Jim Coley and Cobrasci, some of it connected to Cobrasci’s relationship with (and endorsement of) Coley’s 2006 primary challenger, Austin Farley. So I fired off a quick email to Rep. Coley saying, “I trust you won’t be sponsoring this,” with an intended wink. I had heard through the grapevine that Coley had been lobbying for me to drop my challenge against Rep. Todd, so this was a way for me to say, with a subtle nudge — hey, I wouldn’t be sponsoring bills like this if I were in Todd’s place.
But then I looked at the resolution’s summary page, and there was Rep. Coley’s name, listed as a sponsor. I was stunned. So within seconds I wrote again, saying, “Oh, in fact you are [a sponsor]. Hm. Interesting.”
A few days later, I noticed on the Tennessee House website that Rep. Coley’s name was gone as a sponsor, and the resolution was listed as “held on desk.”
Eventually, Rep. Coley wrote back and confirmed the resolution died, and he concluded his terse e-mail with the warning, “Let’s not be so clever.” But since Coley hadn’t indicated whether it had been a typographical error or if he had indeed dropped his sponsorship of the resolution, I asked him to clarify. Coley replied a few minutes later saying he would call me, because communication via e-mail “loses a lot.”
I guess you can’t lose anything in a telephone call.
When nearly two weeks had passed without a call from Rep. Coley, I sent another message asking simply, “Did you, or did you not, sponsor the resolution for any period of time?”
No response.
A week and a half later, I wrote again: “I would appreciate a response to this. Thanks.”
No response.
Three weeks after that, I wrote once more: “Please respond ASAP. Thanks.”
This time, I got a reply from Rep. Coley:
I have not responded to your missive precisely because of the tone and tenor of your first missive. As I have indicated to you before, a sense of civility is lost in e-mails which cannot be rectified in personal conversation. I think it inappropriate to make demands on people which was evidenced in your first email. You are welcome to call me at 1-901-825-0686
I called immediately, only to get sent to his voice-mail.
About two hours later, Rep. Coley finally called. He made sure to inform me that he was under no obligation to answer my questions, and he again took issue with the “tone” of my e-mails and what he perceived to be a “demand.” After some further harassment, Coley finally indicated that he had indeed sponsored the resolution, and that he had withdrawn his sponsorship.
Rep. Coley said he had sponsored the resolution at the request of Cobrasci’s wife, but that he had dropped his sponsorship after it became “controversial.” I asked Coley what controversy he was talking about, as I hadn’t seen or heard anything; he responded simply that it was controversial to people like myself and didn’t provide any further evidence. Coley also argued that I was obligated to tell him why I was interested in his activity and the resolution he sponsored (I refused, being under no obligation myself).
I told him it was regrettable that it took so long for him to respond, which he said wasn’t the issue and was “begging the question.” He also claimed that he didn’t respond initially because he didn’t want to get in the middle of a contest between Rep. Todd and myself. Of course, he had already entered that equation by asking one of my colleagues to urge me to withdraw my candidacy. That argument also contradicts the stated reason in his e-mail, that he didn’t respond due to the “tone and tenor” of my “first missive.”
Nearing the end of the conversation, as I began to thank Rep. Coley for his call and for answering my question, he hung up on me.
So here we have an arrogant public servant who bristles at questions about his own legislative activity, who takes a million years to respond and does so only after repeated questioning, who claims to add his name to resolutions with only the most fleeting moment of consideration, who reverses course at the slightest whiff of controversy, and who sponsors resolutions that might curry favor with those who might otherwise present a challenge to his own political power, regardless of their past activity.
But the worst part is that Rep. Coley, like every Republican incumbent in Shelby County, is running unopposed this year.
Finally, while I’m under no obligation to explain my concerns about the resolution with Rep. Coley, I’ll be happy to share them with you. Here are some passages of HJR1004 that I find troubling:
WHEREAS, it is fitting that the members of this General Assembly should salute those citizens who, through their extraordinary efforts, have distinguished themselves as community leaders of whom we can all be proud
Regardless of your own personal feelings about Cobrasci, or mine, could anyone honestly say “we” — that, being everyone in the state of Tennessee — “can all be proud” of him? There’s no question that Cobrasci has made extraordinary efforts in the local political sphere, and that he has distinguished himself, but we’re talking about a political partisan who has no doubt made some enemies, and somebody with a criminal record (since pardoned), somebody who changed his name, somebody who befriends white supremacists like James Edwards. Again, setting your own feelings aside, is everyone in the State of Tennessee proud of Angelo Cobrasci? I don’t think so.
WHEREAS, a student of this great Nation’s founding documents, Angelo Cobrasci founded the Defenders of Freedom, a conservative activist group, and The Midsouth Patriot, a publication that strives to deliver truthful news reports in a sober manner devoid of the extravagance that he believes characterizes many media outlets…
I’m sorry, but have Reps Todd, Coley, et al., ever actually read a copy of The Midsouth Patriot? Sober? Please. The Midsouth Patriot is a cut-n-paste hodgepodge full of e-mail forwards, random press releases and Ron Paul propaganda. It’s about as sober as Ted Kennedy.
WHEREAS, a proud republican who believes in constitutional principles over party politics, Mr. Cobrasci has assisted in the campaigns and elections of many local, state, and federal officials. In evidence of his tremendous skill and unflagging commitment, eighty-seven percent of the campaigns for which he worked have won…
Angelo “Bush is a bitch” Cobrasci is a “proud republican”?
Is that why he’s now the “National Chairman” of the “United Jeffersonian Party“?
Last, but not least, that “eighty-seven percent” calculation is off by a considerable margin.
This is the kind of nonsense on which our elected leaders waste their time, and our treasure. The mind reels.
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