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“...at least equivalent, maybe worse...” than Jan 6 [1]

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Date: 2023-04-07  

The "Tennessee Three" lead an impromptu nine minutes of protest in the TN state house.

When visiting the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield IL, the most memorable exhibit for me covered the election of 1860 with Tim Russert anchoring a modern broadcast news styled presentation (it’s enlightening, and I for one miss Russert). Issues in the election echoed today’s: states rights, frugality in governance — but those were those were what the Democratic Party was concerned with. Promoting civil rights (opposition to slavery, women’s suffrage) was the Republican party (though to be fair, northern Democrats largely opposed slavery). Yes, parties can swing from one side of the political spectrum to the other over time.

In late 1979, when I moved to Tennessee, in most of the state, you couldn’t hardly get elected if you were a Republican. The Democratic Primaries were, for all intents and purposes, the general election. That dominance was in born in opposition to the “carpet-bagging party of Lincoln” and the Dems used racial fear-of-other to secure loyalty. Hatred for the union states trumped policy issues after the Civil War (see “yellow dog Democrat”). Democrats in the north largely opposed slavery back in 1860, and the progressive north influence in the party didn’t sit well in the south, but anti-union sentiment prevailed. As the Democratic party evolved towards an embrace of civil rights, began addressing racism (slowly) and became the champion for labor, their dominance wained as the increasingly conservative Republican party latched on to the fear style of campaigning for themselves (see “Southern Strategy”).

Today, it’s hard to get elected as a Democrat in Tennessee, except in a the Democratic stronghold of Memphis, in Nashville/Metro, and in a small number of other areas. The politically-astute long game of the Republicans paid off in TN (as elsewhere). with gradual gerrymandered redistricting across 10-year cycles locking in a Republican state government majority which recently resulted in 12-year Nashville district US Representative Jim Cooper (D) declining to run for reelection and being replaced by purveyor of resume fiction guy Andy Ogle (see this link for a warm-hearted photo of Ogle with his assault rifle-armed family around their Christmas tree).

Inevitably, in the face of inaction on gun violence, a school-shooting tragedy has come to Tennessee. I shouldn’t say inaction, as the actions taken helped stage the violence. Concealed carry for everyone, lowering age requirements for gun ownership, resistance to expanding background checks — active work to create a toxic gun environment.

And yesterday, petty legislators expelled two young black state representatives for disruptive behavior, while failing by one vote to expel a white female rep. The Tennessee Three occupied the well of the legislature (between bills), yes, with a bullhorn, for nine whole minutes. They moved into the TN House lobby with supporters from outside and the gallery, the crowd passively blocking the chamber’s main entry less deliberately than by sheer numbers.

I’d like to have have presented you a meme with three photos, but lacked the rights for photo use. The first image that came to mind is available to post from the DKOS archives, but I’ll spare you unless you want to go look — you’ve likely seen it before: Boebert and Green heckling in during the State of the Union address like juveniles at a school sports game (as they’ve also done during House proceedings). Reaction from within their party? None or applause, no condemnation for lack of decorum.

The second image would be the TN 3, with a bit of juvenile jubilance, yes, protesting (scroll down at the link for the image, or just look at the image above) the lack of any consideration of their constituents’ pleas to consider common sense gun legislation. Obviously, we’d all agree with TN Republican rep Sexton, who described the events as “at least equivalent, maybe worse” than the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The final image would illustrate the brutality of Jan 6; the linked video would do. But oh yeah, the TN 3’s protests were the equivalent or worse.

It’s going to take a long time and a lot of work to dig Tennessee out of it’s Sorry State of affairs.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/7/2162571/--at-least-equivalent-maybe-worse-than-Jan-6

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