Justice is always a wonderful thing to see and poetic justice is best of all. The Tennessee Lookout is running a story that indicates that the unfair and openly racist actions of the GOP supermajority in the Tennessee State House, which voted to expel representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, may have been for naught. It looks like they’re going to regain their seats very soon.
Jones and Pearson’s removal is likely temporary, as local government bodies choose who fills the now open seats. Nothing stops the Metro Nashville Council or Shelby County Commission from reappointing either man to fill the vacancies until special elections later this year.
The Metro Council is nonpartisan, but a majority of members have already said they will reappoint Jones at a special called meeting announced late Thursday to take place next week. The Shelby County Commission has a Democratic majority and is expected to do something similar.
Jones and Pearson — both freshman lawmakers — will have to run in those special election to retake their seats, with both expected to do so.
I wonder what House Speaker Cameron Sexton will do about this? He’s a good ole boy and won’t likely enjoy having those two young black men back in the chamber. Oh well. He can’t do squat. And he’ll be furious. Do you remember his bizarre comparison of the two reps protesting with January 6?
“Two of the members, Representative Jones and Representative Johnson, have been very vocal about January 6 in Washington D.C., about what that was, and what they did today was equivalent, at least equivalent, maybe worse depending on how you look at it, of doing an insurrection in the capitol.”
State Rep. John Ray Clemmons responded to Sexton’s comparison:
“That is a blatant lie, and it’s offensive. You show me the broken windows. You show me anyone who went into the Speaker’s office and put the chair up on his desk and trashed his office. You show me where a noose was hanging anywhere on the Legislative Plaza…to refer to yesterday as an insurrection is an offense.”
This is actually the best resolution to this matter. This situation is too outrageous to go unaddressed. If the GOP was looking for a formula to alienate every thinking young voter in the State of Tennessee, this would be it, to expel two members who were speaking for their constituents on how outraged they were over the recent Nashville murders.
To silence these two elected officials was a disastrously bad maneuver. No good could possibly come of it. The two reps returning to serve their terms is the best possible solution because this was going to be an incendiary issue in the 2024 election.
The temperature has now dropped significantly. Now, the worst the GOP may have is two black eyes from doing the wrong thing and having the will of the people counterbalance their bad judgement and restore the two reps to their offices. The GOP supermajority looks like the collection of fools that they are.
Just one more anecdote which solidifies my view that the Grand Old Party is walking into the elephant’s graveyard to die. A new conservative party of some sort is going to rise from all this. It has to. The GOP is too far gone.
I actually was wondering who did the appointing replacements here because I thought it would be HILARIOUS if the people responsible for replacing the members would just put the guys back in the Legislature.
Good on Nashville and Shelby County’s officials if they do just that.
I believe that’s what you’re going to see. This is an action which shocks the conscience. This could well be one of those seminal moments like Rosa Parks with the school bus.
Oh, FUN!
I hope that with all the teens that are doing school walkouts and protesting, that they organize and register and vote, like the young folks in Florida did. I hope it happens all over our country, to address guns, abortion and the environment.
The GOP is galvanizing the youth vote — only not to vote GOP. That’s their problem.
I just hope it doesn’t alienate them from voting at all. This is where Dems messaging needs to be very strong and direct – something we have not been historically good at.
The racists showed their hand. They ain’t too good at this poker thing. They make 10 campaign ads for the Democrats every day. Every other ad should use something from January 6 in the lead-in and something from a plethora of video of Republicans taking away the rights of childbearing women or them outlawing rain bows and taking away the rights of parents with trans children. Then highlight some of the good things Democrats have done from saving us from Covid19 (I couldn’t even get a shot till Biden took over) to infrastructure. Also they should point out that Trump made the deal in Afghanistan and let 5000 terrorist out of jail before he left office as well as the inflation and fraud caused by Trumps poor/non administration of PPP. As Truman said ‘Give ‘m hell’ and FDR said he relished their hate.
The problem is getting Democrats to actually do this type of thing. They seem to wait until the very last minute then run some lame ads on television. They need to start beating the drums very loudly, very early. From President Biden right on down the line. If they will.
Take into account that these 2 young men won with 100% and 98% of the votes in their districts. I live in Shelby County and Pearson is EXACTLY the voice to represent this District! Memphis is not afraid to tell you what you may not want to hear, but definitely need to hear. I am a middle age white guy and I voted for him to represent and force the desperate need for change. I am proud of my vote, and my Representative!!
Thank you for sharing here, Vincent. I was hoping and praying that somebody from Tennessee would show up and weigh in and here you are. Please keep coming back.
If you would want to ever write a piece about what’s going on locally, let me know. You can email me at [email protected].
Let me first note I’ve been around/had guns all my life. Got my first shotgun (for Christmas) when I was seven in fact although things were different back then. Parents (well, usually it was almost all the dad’s) were strict as hell and laid down the law on proper gun safety and use. For me, my shotgun was like my dad’s where most of the time it sat next to in dad’s closet. There were two circumstances and ONLY two where it was ok for a gun to be out of its carrying case – while actually using it to hunt or practice (and dad would take part in those “turkey shoot” contests sometimes) or to clean it after getting back home or to a couple of times a year wipe it down and apply a fresh “light coat of oil.” HORRIBLE things would happen, worse than I (and it was the same for my friends) if a gun was taken out of a carrying case, gun or display case for ANY other reason. (People didn’t even start locking their doors in my hometown until I was along in h.s.)
But I grew up hunting, and later served in the Corps. And continued hunting up until I moved to NC. I’d have continued (up across the border in VA with the club my ex wife’s dad was part of – he owned most of the parcels of land on which everyone hunted) had I not become disabled. So I’ve held and shot a lot of guns. I said all that to say this:
Contrary to the belief of gun NUTS guns are not penile enhancement devices (Nor boob enhancers either) any more than those pill that hucksters send all those emails that are in your spam folder tout. Even some of the “really cool” guns like that dumbass Desert Eagle pistol which was all the rage thirty years ago, and in more recent times AR-15s and variants. Having, holding (caressing, sleeping with it? Who knows with these goobers?) and shooting it might make them feel badass for a little bit but never, ever overcomes their personal failures and inadequacies, real or perceived on their part. Nor increase the size of their “junk.” But they think it will and that’s all that matters.
That some folks might try and make the objects of their fetishm illegal is hateful to them. They take equal offense to those who even hint, much less as I’ve done make fun of them about thinking their dicks/boobs aren’t as big as they want and that their GUNS will fix that!
Now, in this latest tragedy and the travesty that resulted from it when gun goober asshats were being called out by youth who have what to them is a crazy notion that guns need to be MUCH better regulated, that it should be damned tough for someone to acquire a weapon of war and come into their schools and start murdering people AND have the audacity to protest day after day, walking out of classes and descending the Capitol building where they are worshiping and protecting GUNS instead of lives, even children’s lives they have to put up with a few Democrats joining the student’s efforts!
And they wound up (barely) giving a pass to the woman (WHITE woman) for the time being at least but those two intelligent, articulate and passionate BLACK MEN? Oh hell no, them “uppity” “Boys” (only they soooooooo wanted to say out loud another word that starts with N and ends with R!) were gonna get a lesson. I saw a brief clip (just once – it needs to go viral so I hope someone captures and posts it on social media) of an exchange between one of the expelled men and his GOP asshat colleague. The WHITE GOPer, his face and his words and their tone dripping with racist intent talked trash (so to speak) about the black man in the well defending his conduct in his KKKangaroo KKKourt trial, that he’d wanted attention and now he’s getting it” and the display of racism, the overt “you think we’re gonna let “uppity” “n-words” tell us we can’t have our guns, or suggest we might be lacking in “some” way(s) for worshiping guns instead of the lives of all those kids making a ruckus out in the halls? Well you’re about to get shown who does and doesn’t matter!” And, as I wrote last night THIS GOPer surely wished it was “old times there are not forgotten” and they could drag the two black men outside, tie them to columns, bullwhip them and then string them up in an old-timey LYNCHING!
It’s my understanding that unlike i most states TN law allows local jurisdiction to appoint a person to a vacant legislative seat (instead of the Gov.) until it can be filled via a special election. Nashville has already made it clear that come Monday they intend to send their guy right back, and they have the right to suspend their rules and hold a vote appointing him back to the seat the RACISTS just booted him out of Monday evening. I agree it will be a delightful moment when he walks back on to the floor of the TN House! Memphis might not act quite as quickly – perhaps (probably) someone is working things behind the scenes to launch their own legislative career but indications are strong that guy will fairly swiftly get his seat back. Both are expected to win special elections and both have indicated they intend to run.
Meanwhile, let’s not forget why this has all been happening. And that the shameful actions of TV GOPers took place with a sound track of students (with plenty of adults joining it) outside the chamber and building raising hell, doing what the late, GREAT John Lewis called “Good Trouble” with plenty of chants of “Shame, Shame, Shame.” I suspect there will be plenty of gun control activists in TN giving each of these men an awesome welcome when they return to the TN house!
I see now every time there is an outcry, a protest, anywhere by people opposing fascism, it will be judged the same as the insurrection promulgate by the shit gibbon.
Spike, please don’t use the world s**t. I put out a post yesterday about Google getting puritanical. I’m just trying to stay on their good side and make money. Help us. Thank you.