(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Forget the Dog Whistle; This Was a Bullhorn [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-07 The Tennessee Three The Tennessean reported State Sen. Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, wanted the Tennessee secretary of state and the state election commission to investigate the 2020 election, including presidential and congressional results. Consideration of the measure failed, and by January 6, 2021, violence broke out at the United States Capitol, a screaming protest full of shouts, bull horns, and death. Ironically Tennessee lawmakers used that same reasoning for expelling two black Democratic Tennessee lawmakers [Justin Jones and Justin Pearson] from the state house. The third, Democrat Gloria Johnson, a white lawmaker, was spared. When asked why she was saved from the humiliation of expulsion, “I’m a 60-year-old white woman, and they are two young Black men,” she said. However, they were not violent or caused the deaths of police officers. The Republican House Leader compared their efforts to save the lives of children to the January 6 insurrection, “Two of the members, Representative Jones and Representative Johnson, have been very vocal about January 6 in Washington, D.C.,” Cameron Sexton, Tennessee House Speaker, said. “What they did today was equivalent … [to] doing an insurrection in the Capitol.” The creeping fascism in the Republican party, backed up by racial animus, violence, and the addition of guns, is alarming, if not downright frightening. Following the slaughters of six people at a religious school in Nashville, the three protested the inaction of the Tennessee government, which previously passed legislation to allow the carrying of guns without a permit. Adding insult to injury, yesterday, they defied protests by teachers. They voted to add weapons to classrooms by arming teachers. The blatant attacks on liberty are not exclusive to Tennessee. Monday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the defacto challenger to Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, established an election police force. Of the nearly eleven million votes cast in Florida, there were 262 complaints, 75 of which were referred for further action. The state reports that 3.7 million dollars will be spent on this DeSantis frill. DeSantis originally asked for 6 million. Of course, DeSantis greased the wheels of suspicion months earlier with the televised displays of black men and women arrested, handcuffed, and accused of voter fraud. Most charges were dropped or reduced, but the message was sent. DeSantis is becoming the king of stunts, signing bills flanked by mostly white politicians adopting the flourish of the over-the-top Trump signature style. DeSantis attacked Disney over its inclusiveness of the LGBTQ+ community and signed a bill that grants civil immunity to people who decide to drive their cars into protesters blocking a road. He admonished a group of school children for wearing masks during the Covid pandemic, banned books, and trampled the rights of women’s autonomy over their health and family decisions. Holding up the documents as if they were decrees from the throne. Yesterday’s expulsion of two young black men from the Tennessee state house was not a dog whistle but a bullhorn. The state where the KKK was founded displayed the bust of its first Grand Wizard, Nathan Bedford Forrest, in the state’s Capitol, but it was not removed until 2021. Lest you think the bust was an artifact of a long-ago and shameful past, it was installed in 1978. Challenge us, boys, and out you go. No Justin(s), No Peace! Continue to vote for Change [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/7/2162689/-Forget-the-Dog-Whistle-This-Was-a-Bullhorn Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/