By now, you are probably all-too-familiar with our good friend state Senator Gene Jeffress. He has been recognized here repeatedly, as well as nationally, for his splendid oratories about the glories of socialized medicine. But did you know there is another Senator Jeffress serving in our state’s highest legislative body? His name is Jimmy Jeffress.
Like Gene, Jimmy has a tendency to commit gaffes. Unfortunately for Jimmy, he is prone to committing them on Facebook and I am prone to catching him.
Monday afternoon, Jimmy posted a lovely devotional thought on his Facebook profile, encouraging all of his brethren to be more congenial in political discourse:
How touching!
Tuesday afternoon, however, Jeffress seemed to have forgotten his own admonitions and publicly chastised “the gnome of Mena” (Update, 9:12 AM: The previous link is now broken–it appears Senator Jeffress has deleted the following post):
Very strong language from someone so concerned about the denigration of others!
Some of the comments were equally civil:
Occasionally, the conversation got a little awkward as well:
(And while we are on the subject, I must ask if Jeffress’ comments violate Arkansas’ new cyberbullying law? Perhaps Senator(s) Jeffress can tell us–they both voted for it.)
Now, who is this gnome in question? Well, let’s review what we know! The gnome is 1. Fat, 2. Little, and 3. From Mena, AR.
And Jeffress offers one further clue about the gnome in a comment on his post:
Given these established facts, I now present into evidence Representative Nate Bell. He is from Mena, he was in Jonesboro on Tuesday, and he is, let’s just say, “endowed by his Creator with certain unshakable pounds.”
So why is Jeffress targeting Bell? It may have something to do with the fact that Bell’s wife shot the video of Jimmy’s brother’s unhinged Obamacare worship that made big news last week. But Mrs. Bell hasn’t editorialized about the video at all: she simply filmed the comments and published them on YouTube. Rep. Bell has been largely silent on the issue as well. In fact, he’s even been complimentary of both gentlemen. So what gives? Is Jimmy Jeffress mad at the Bells for capturing his brother’s own heartfelt words and helping him spread his message of ‘free healthcare for all?’ If you ask me, the Jeffress brothers owe the Bells a big ‘thank you!’ Obamacare is great news, isn’t it? We need to let everyone know!
If Jimmy Jeffress wants to be mad at someone for speaking unflatteringly of his brother, I believe that distinction is rightfully mine. After all, I have been spending a lot of quality time with pictures of his brother and Photoshop in the last week. I’ll be watching his status updates for comments about me, perhaps to be known as “that skinny flamingo of a so-called ‘person’ from Searcy.”
At any moment, Governor Beebe will no doubt renew his call for civility in political discourse here in the state. But I just have one question before we return to the Jeffress standards of politeness: If Jimmy Jeffress was arrested and charged with having an IQ higher than a garden gnome, would there be enough evidence to convict him?
*Update 1:00 PM, July 12 – Representative Nate Bell has issued this statement in response to Senator Jeffress’ comments:
“Political disagreements should never devolve into personal attacks. I’m sure that the Senator is upset as he watches his brother’s campaign continue to struggle against Tom Cotton. Lashing out at me because folks around the state found his brother’s stump speech unusual doesn’t help the situation and I’m sure he regrets his angry posts. I’ve always had a friendly and respectful working relationship with both men and I hope that we will continue to do so.”
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