Editor’s notebook: Beginning Tennessee’s political year with hypocrisy

Rep. Gino Bulso, a Brentwood Republican, is okay with first cousins getting married but not with same sex couples. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

New acquaintances, when finding out that I’m a journalist, often ask what beat I cover. 

My response is that as editor, I rarely write news stories but as the creator of a regular column, I choose to focus on the hypocrisy beat. 

God knows there’s no shortage of hypocritical behavior from Tennessee’s lawmakers and politicians, and I’m pretty sure I could churn out columns about it on a weekly basis. 

It’s still early in 2026, but in the last week, two lawmakers — one at the state level, one at the federal — showed they aren’t wasting any time indulging in hypocritical hijinks. 

Rep. Gino Bulso 

In first place for the Hypocrite of the Month is Rep. Gino Bulso, a Brentwood Republican. 

Two years ago, Bulso made headlines when he became the only member of the Tennessee House of Representatives to vote against a measure prohibiting marriage between first cousins. That Republicans and Democrats could agree on even something that seems like a no-brainer is rare in a chamber so deeply cloven by partisan division that it’s doubtful a proclamation recognizing Santa Claus would earn bipartisan support. 

Bulso gave an impassioned defense of the practice, informing his colleagues that his grandparents, who immigrated from Italy, were first cousins who came to Tennessee from Ohio because it was legal for them to marry in the Volunteer State. 

Stockard on the Stump: Bulso doubles down for first-cousin marriage

I’m not here to shame Bulso for his ancestors’ behavior: none of us can be held accountable for what previous generations did, and I’m certainly not privy to the social mores of small town Italy, from whence his grandparents immigrated, in the early 20th century. 

But Bulso has no shame about litigating and legislating how others should lead their lives, and with the legislative session just kicking off, he’s already filed three bills targeting LGBTQ+ Tennesseans. 

One measure, House Bill 1473, would render void Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that made same-sex marriage the law of the land. Obergefell guaranteed the right through both the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection and Due Process clauses and required states to perform and recognize same sex marriages. 

At the time in 2024 when Bulso took his stand for first cousin marriage, he made plain his view on same-sex marriage, saying that Obergefell “was a grievously wrong decision.” He also made the bizarre claim that the ruling should also protect marriage between cousins: if the 14th Amendment offers protections to same-sex couples, it should also offer the same protections to cousin couples, he said. 

Now, apparently, he sees no need to follow the Constitution at all and why should he? Failure to abide by the Constitution is all the rage among senior Republicans, chiefly President Donald Trump setting an example. 

Honorable mention: U.S. Rep. David Kustoff

I’ve subscribed to U.S. Rep. David Kustoff’s newsletters for several years, and he’s one of the state’s more reasonable congressmen, rarely making hay out of culture issues and typically focusing on community events and meetings.

But in his Sunday newsletter, he highlighted a recent appearance on Fox News. 

“I joined Rich Edson on Fox News Live to discuss the fraud in Minnesota. Governor Tim Walz has a lot of excuses. When it comes to waste and fraud, taxpayers deserve answers,” Kustoff wrote, referring to allegations of fraud in state social service programs.

First, the fraud is alleged. 

But secondly, I feel sure there are already plenty of politicians on top of the Minnesota fraud investigations — clearly, it’s become a raison d’etre for the Trump administration, which has virtually occupied Minneapolis — and Walz, who, while not running for office again, surely does not want his legacy to be one of unchecked fraud. 

Perhaps, instead of devoting his energy to another state’s governor, Kustoff should turn his eyes toward Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. 

Of late, Lee declined to accept $84 million in federal funds for a summer food program for kids. All he had to do was have the state express their intent to take the funds — no application necessary — but for the second year in a row, he did not. And he provided no comment as to why. 

Mind you, Tennesseans are already paying federal taxes for this program, among the other programs our taxes cover. I’d call it fraud of a sort that we can’t reap benefits from the taxes we’ve paid, while other states are getting these federal dollars. 

Yet, I’ve heard not a peep from Kustoff, or other members of Tennessee’s federal delegation. 

Tennessee’s Republican lawmakers are fond of posting verses from the Bible on their social media feeds each Sunday, usually apropos of nothing. 

I know my Bible, too, so let me offer a verse that is apt for Bulso and Kustoff. 

The Book of Matthew, Chapter 7, verses 3-5 says, in the New King James translation: “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?”

Or, to put in the Tennessee translation, don’t be such a dang hypocrite.