Either I’m missing something, or most of the media and other observers, such as Barack Obama, are missing something about why the Tennessee Three got spanked, creating such a national crisis that Vice President Kamala Harris was sent to Nashville to administer first aid.
Here are the facts as I understand them:
A person identified as — maybe yes, maybe no — a transgender female murdered three children and three adults at a Nashville Christian school.
Reflexively, anti-gun proponents demanded the Tennessee legislature pass various gun-control measures, which it was not inclined to do, being a fairly red (conservative) state.
In response, three Democrats — Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, Gloria Johnson — backed by protestors flooding into the chamber, went to the well (central area) of the chamber and with bullhorns led anti-gun chants, disrupting the business of the House. Wrong time, wrong place.
For violating the rules and decorum of the House, the super majority of Republicans voted to expel the two Justins, while the vote to expel Johnson fell one vote short, because she had not used a bullhorn, it was explained by a Republican.
No, it was because she was white, said Johnson, displaying a frightening leap of illogic.
Chiming in from afar, reacting to the explosion, Obama said “silencing those who disagree with us is a sign of weakness, not strength, and it won’t lead to progress.” Does Obama remember when Republican Joe Wilson shouted “You lie!” during Obama’s State of the Union address? A lack of decorum and self-control for which he was reprimanded.
Other commentators wailed that “democracy” was in peril.
The Washington Post said the Tennessee Three had ”agitated for gun control,” while ignoring that the agitation was in the well of the House.
Here, in the Stu-niversity, I say expulsion was too severe. Censure would have been better to get the idea across and not turn them into martyrs.
Second, “democracy” was expressed by the majority of the legislature, which was not interested in more gun control (even when it is framed as “gun safety.”) I don’t agree with them, but that’s democracy.
Not For the Tennessee Three, who pitched a juvenile fit and stopped the work of the legislature. They were the ones attacking the democratic process, very much like — in principle, if not scale — the criminals who disrupted the work of Congress on Jan. 6.
Can’t you see that?
Being a responsible adult means having to handle disappointment and failure, but the Millennial Justins, probably raised on participation trophies, don’t see it that way. Like many on the extreme Left, they give themselves a right to shut down operations if outcomes don’t go their way.
“Just because you don’t get your way,” said GOP rep Andrew Farmer, “you can’t come to the well, bring your friends and throw a temper tantrum with an adolescent bullhorn.”
No one was gagging them. They could have held a press conference on the steps of the Capitol, or anywhere else, and bellowed for hours. They got reamed not so much for what they said, but for where and when they said it.
They are not the victims, being denied free speech, they were the instigators, denying it to others.
Democracy survives on freedom of speech, and that includes speech you don’t like.
What the Tennessee Three did has a name: the heckler’s veto. That means suppressing the right of others to speak. It should not be applauded. It should be condemned.
God bless you Stu. Thanks for being a consistent voice of reason.
Joe Wilson was only reprimanded, not thrown out of office. This was a minor protest that did not call for expulsion, they should have been reprimanded as well. This was punishment by the Republicans for pointing out that thoughts and prayers are not enough, nor is loosening gun laws.
As for the classic ” a good guy with a gun” concept, three of the teachers were armed and did nothing to stop the shooter, which culminated in 6 dead.
There have been 4 trans people involved in mass shootings out of 2800, so there identity has nothing to do with this. Comparing this to January 6 is an act of lunacy, property was not destroyed, police were not injured, and no one forced their way past multiple barricades.
Just because a majority do not want to pass gun safety laws does not make them right. How many more children have to die at the hands of someone holding an AR-15 before we making owning a gun as difficult if not more so as owning a car?
Spot on!
Amazing how you totally miss the point of Stu’s analysis.
Absolutely. Tenesse legislatures and other Repugs not only refuse to do anything about the unrelenting gun violence in our Country, they are contributing to it by EASING gun restrictions. They have BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS. Peaceful protests are NOT working. The Tennesee Three have done the right thing by taking protests a step further, creating “good trouble”….. furthermore, they’ve highlighted the power grubbing autharitarianism of today’s Repugs.
TRENTON (AP) — Gun rights activitists occupied the House chamber for an hour this afternoon, stopping the work of the legislators.
The activists were armed only with air horns that they blew, chanting “Hands off the Second Amendment,” protesting New Jersey’s tight gun regulations that protestors’ called unconstitutional.
The NRA praised the demonstration as “good trouble.”
Protestors were eventually placed under arrest by the state police, charged with various misdemeanors. A lawyer for the protestors criticized “fascist police” for denying the protesters First Amendment rights.
— Get the picture Naomi?
Good! Any a-hole promoting their second amendment rights while IGNORING the daily carnage should be arrested. They have blood on their hands.
Arrest those with opposing views. You are a little Putin, aren’t you?
and another thing… did any of the protesters lose their jobs as a direct result of these action?
You are too dense to understand what I wrote DID NOT HAPPEN. Don’t you think such a disruption would be all over the news?
I used to think you had a brain. You have convinced me you don’t and no further conversation would be useful.
I think they used the wrong bullhorn. Should had used kazoos.
Let them hold their own breath in protest, covering them with duct dape brings a more look at me, feel sorry for me. Now it’s a race card, a gender card, a party card, and the real protest being the people who got killed, are left in the dust. Damn shame they can’t agree on that.
I agree with Stu on the two major points here: 1) such a disruption within the chambers is a bit much and should certainly be worthy of a reprimand. 2) Expulsion is way over the top, especially from a body that has previously declined to expel an admitted child molester and a representative who literally took a leak in another member’s chair. As they are wont to do, the Republicans used this opportunity to eliminate two members of the opposition and improve their situation in the body, the first two members to be expelled since the Civil War. The punishment does not for the offense, period. Their actions have disturbed a hornets nest, and they will regret it.
The mainstream media never misses a chance to stir up a racial issue, whether there is one or not.. Pete Dexter likened it to running a stick along a chain link fence to get a reaction from the dog on the other side. Gets a ratings boost every time.
Almost like Another Comedy act in a movie, And the press goes crazy with it ! What’s next more riots in the streets ?
What the Tennessee legislature did was really stupid. Sorry, but they did successfully turn the instigators into victims. If someone says something egregiously insulting (“fighting words”) and you punch him in the nose right there, you have a defense of provocation against assault. The guy is not a victim. But if you take out a gun and shoot him instead, or round up your friends and beat the hell out of him the next day, or burn down his house, then, yeah, he is a victim. Just because someone does something wrong is no excuse to go medieval on them. We don’t confiscate a person’s car for running a stop sign–even if they were texting instead of watching the road at the time.
Stripping these folks of committee assignments and/or, as Stu says, censure would have quite sufficient. If you want to talk about “temper tantrums” this was a bigger one, with as little excuse. There’s a difference between saying “that was uncalled for, unbecoming and should not be tolerated” (censure) and “Well, I never! How dare you? Don’t you know who I am? I’ll have your job for that.” One chides an equal for improper behavior, the other is a temper tantrum at an inferior for infringing on one’s prerogatives.
And, since Stu posted this, it’s gotten worse. Now the GOP is threatening to cut off funding to the local governments if they appoint the Justins as interim reps before the special elections to fill the vacancies, which they seem destined to win. So, this has gone from tantrum to hissy fit, “I’ll have your job AND make sure you’ll never work in this town again!” Oh, and one Justin has already been (unanimously) appointed to fill the job he just got tossed out of, despite the threats. Now the Tennessee GOPers go from looking like being overly vindictive, to being ineffectually vindictive. Censure would have been over, clearly justified, effective in preventing recurrence, and a one-day story not nationally noticed. Complete political blunder. Makes them look vengeful and weak at the same time, while overshadowing the misconduct that set them off.
Stu is right that this has nothing to do with freedom of speech. But I think he incorrectly conflated the gun control issue with the claim that the action was anti-democratic. From what I’ve read, that claim was based on the expulsion of duly elected representatives, not the failure to pass gun control. If you eliminate a constituency’s representation, that’s arguably “undemocratic.” Of course, that’s why seeking expulsion was an over-reach–ousting the voters’ chosen representative should be a last resort, when no other discipline is sufficient. In the last 150 years, only 2 reps were expelled in Tennessee–one convicted of bribery, and the other for documented sexual misconduct. Cases with no expulsion included sexual misconduct with minors, domestic battery, and my favorite, one member urinating on another’s chair. I guess in Tennessee, urinating in the chamber is less a breach of that house’s decorum than using a bullhorn. Good to know if you ever visit.
We agree the GOP screwed the pooch. But their (stupid) actions were all within the rules. As you know, majority rules can seem undemocratic to those who lose.