Two Democratic members of the Tennessee legislature, Justin Pearson of Memphis and Justin Jones of Nashville, have been expelled by Republicans who control a supermajority in the state House of Representatives. The given reason was "lack of decorum."
So now Memphis and Nashville have two empty seats to fill. Who are they going to pick? First up is Nashville:
At least 29 members of Nashville’s 40-seat Metro Council said they plan to reappoint expelled former Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and send him back to the Tennessee House of Representatives. That would give him more than the simple majority he would need to reclaim his seat.
Okey dokey. Now for Memphis:
The Shelby County Commission could consider reappointing Justin Pearson to his seat in the Tennessee statehouse, Chairman Mickell Lowery said Thursday....In Shelby County, the commission has a nine-member Democratic supermajority.
Jones is a lock to be reappointed, and Pearson has five public supporters out of the seven he needs. He's probably a lock too. So how are Republicans responding?
FOX13 also learned that Memphis could lose funding for some major projects if Pearson is re-appointed. According to Shelby County Commissioner Erika Sugarmon, leaders in Nashville threatened to withhold millions of dollars in state funding for projects in the Memphis area if commissioners were to reappoint Pearson.
"We are also being threatened by the state to take away funding, needed funding to run our schools, to run our municipalities," Sugarmon told FOX13. "You know, and so, for example, FedExForum, the promised $350 million, they're talking about snatching that away. So, again, you know this about bullying people into submission."
Our story so far: Tennessee Republicans expel a couple of Black Democrats for obviously specious reasons. They are likely to be reappointed quickly by outraged constituents. In response, Republicans are threatening to pull funding for local projects.
That's today's Trumpified Republican Party for you. It's all about governing by revenge.
When Trump was elected I knew it was a dark, dark, day for my country, but I am consistently and almost daily shocked six years later at just how dark it is and continues to be. The damage to our polity is nuclear.
It happened here.
Yes, revenge, but mostly blatant racism. White superiority. White rule. White everything. Everything but slavery. Can that be far behind?
Even weirder given that Republicans wouldn’t expel an actual pedophile a few years back because he had an R by his name and he was elected “by the will of the people”
Oh the turned tables
I lost my edit button somehow
But *Tennessee state Republicans in particular (these same dudes)
Don’t think this type of shit isn’t coming on a national level with our next Republican President.
An excellent reminder..They're all Trump now.
The Constitution guarantees each state a republican form of government. The DOJ should make the argument that TN does not have such a government at the moment.
Um, in this day of Textual Hegemony, "Republican" will be read by the Supremes as "'Republican', as in The Grand Old Party". THAT's what States are guaranteed.
By far the most common meaning of "republic" in 1779, and today, is "not a monarchy". As long as Tennessee doesn't propose to make the governor's position hereditary, their government is republican in form. Remember that China is a republic.; so is Cuba.
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Nashville will still do it, because the more they screw with our operations, the more the legislative rubes get to feel it too; they’re perfectly happy to leave their fast-food franchises and car lots in Incest Holler and swan around expensive restaurants in the scary city. Memphis is already in the unenviable position of bordering both Mississippi and Arkansas, and is poorer overall, so dunno about them.
What I can’t figure out is what results they expect. Real urban hellscapes surrounded by their anxious white-flight voters? Are businesses supposed to still set up shop here? Nobody is funding startups in Shelbyville or moving upper management from Boston to Dickson. I guess they really think they can improve cities in spite of their complete lack of interest in realistically improving anything.
Conservatives frequently deplore pure democracy as tyrannical rule by the majority. Unless of course their party has a big enough majority to be as tyrannical as it likes.
Republicans are putrid, antidemocratic, authoritarian thugs?
Quelle surprise.
So, they'll take over Dollywood next?
Apparently Reconstruction failed in Tennessee