UPDATE: Thursday, Apr 6, 2023 · 9:35:45 PM +00:00 · Walter Einenkel
In what is being correctly called “a historic act of retaliation,” the Republican supermajority in the Tennessee legislature voted 72-25 to expel Democratic Rep. Justin Jones from office.
Whether or not Reps. Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson will be expelled remain to be seen. As the Tennessean notes “An expulsion does not disqualify a former representative from running for office, which could mean one of the expelled lawmakers could be appointed interim, run for reelection and be reseated in the General Assembly within months.”
The Republican Party continues to find new lows. The most profound depth of conservative hypocrisy is its unwillingness to do anything to diminish the public health crisis created by guns. The most recent tragic school shooting—at a Nashville Christian private school on March 27, which left three 9-year-old children and three staffers dead—has once again exposed the perils of living in an environment governed by impotent Republican lawmakers.
Tennesseans, joined by the nation as a whole, have long demanded that their representatives do something of substance about gun safety legislation. Before the mass shooting at the Christian Covenant school, the only bit of Republican legislation around guns was when their right-wing Gov. Bill Lee signed a law in 2021 to lessen gun safety with a permitless carry law into existence.
The first and only responses from Tennessee Republican lawmakers like Tim Burchett have been literally, "We're not gonna fix it." The result is that students and teachers, and anyone with a moral compass not set to “greed,” have been lifting their voices in protest while putting their feet to the pavement.
There have been nonstop protests at the Tennessee state house in Nashville since the shooting. On Thursday, three Democratic lawmakers face an egregious vote by the Republican supermajority to decide whether they are expelled from office. This tyrannical threat comes after Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson joined in protests on the floor of the state house, calling for any meaningful gun safety legislation.
RELATED STORY: Tennessee Republicans compare gun protest to Jan. 6, move to expel Democratic lawmakers
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The Republicans in the Tennessee legislature are attempting to equate the protests at their capital with the Jan 6, 2021, insurrection in Washington, D.C. Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (who sounds like he grabbed two surnames from a Patrick O’Brian book and sailed away with them), says he agrees with expelling the three Democratic reps. Sexton had an “I know you are, but what am I” defense of his indefensible support for authoritarian parliamentary maneuvers, telling NewsChannel 5 Investigates:
“They're the ones that has done something that's never happened, and they are the ones that pulled out a megaphone on the House floor and led the protest to the gallery, which shut us down.”
But when pressed, he couldn’t actually give one single example of how the three had “incited violence.” When pressed on the charge, Sexton said, on camera, "Well they were trying to jazz people up."
Rep. Justin Jones did not mince words, telling reporters: “They're trying to make us an example. This is a political lynching. But we will not back down.” On Monday, Jones attempted to break through the faux-Christian veneer of conservatives. Speaking on the House floor, he said:
“Jesus engaged in an act out of decorum because he knew that the dignity of the people who were being dishonored was more important than decorum. God is not pleased with injustice, and that light will shine, and no matter what you do to us, we will not bow down.”
Rep. Johnson, speaking about the move to expel her and her fellow lawmakers, told Mother Jones:
“I feel like North Korea has more democracy than we do in the state of Tennessee, and it’s terrifying to me that we’re in this march to fascism. … When my folks sent me here, they knew I was vocal, and they knew I would stand up and I would be their voice. And that’s why they sent me here. There’s no question about that. Everybody in the state knows that.”
To put the tyranny of this move into perspective:
So a reminder: Little children are murdered by a person who should not have been allowed to easily purchase and own more than half a dozen guns. The Republican Party refuses to do anything but will move to expel three lawmakers demanding smart public health legislation be enacted. Got it.
How are things going in Tennessee?
Thoughts?
Sounds about right.
Here’s Rep. Gloria Johnson living in the light, even when faced with the cloud of Republican fascism.
RELATED STORIES:
'We're not gonna fix it': Tennessee Republican says nothing can be done to stop gun violence
Republicans keep finding new ways to say guns are more important than children's lives
Tennessee governor who signed permitless carry law offers prayers after school shooting