Today is Friday, April 7, 2023. Today the backlash against the Tennessee madness displayed yesterday was in full force when Vice President Kamala Harris flew to Nashville to speak at Fisk University right after Tennessee repugnicans booted two young, Black lawmakers from the legislature. An article today by Myah Ward for Politico entitled ‘We need you all’: Harris takes on House message on guns to Nashville” details the vice president’s visit to the newest regional flashpoint.

First the vice president met privately with the “Tennessee Three” – Democratic Reps. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, Justin Jones of Nashville, and Justin Pearson of Memphis – who were punished for violating statehouse decorum rules by participating in a gun protest last week after three 9-year-old children and three school officials were murdered at a Nashville elementary school. Johnson, who is white, and participated in the same demonstration, was inexplicably not expelled.

Because of these repugnicans’ misguided attempts to silence their own fellow representatives who are not of their own skin color, the three lawmakers have actually captured national attention in the wake of last week’s mass shooting, as the country watched in horror over Tennessee’s Republicans’ unprecedented use of overwhelming political power unfold. Democrats, unsurprisingly, have rallied around the events, warning of an attack on democracy. There is no necessity of warning of an attack; it was definitely an attack!

Harris passionately spoke of the need for real leaders in the wake of the Tennessee cowards who shut down debate by expelling the two representatives. She thundered, “We need leaders who have the courage to act at statehouses and Washington, D.C., in the United States Congress. Have the courage to act, instead of the cowardice to not allow debate and to not allow a discussion on the merits of what is at stake. Courage. You can’t call yourself a leader if you don’t have the courage to know what is right and act on it regardless of the popularity of the moment,” Harris said, her voice rising above the cheers and applause in Fisk Memorial Chapel.

President Joe Biden spoke to the three lawmakers this evening and invited them to the White House. Were these repugnican legislators invited to the White House? Of course not!

During her rousing speech, Harris praised the lawmakers for their bravery and leadership amid the tragedy, drawing a throughline from Johnson, Jones, and Pearson to civil rights icons like John Lewis and Diane Nash. Harris then looked out to the crowd and said it would be the younger generation – Amen! – to lead on this issue.

Speaking like another civil rights firebrand, Harris intoned, “We will not be defeated. We will not be deterred. We will not throw up our hands when it is time to roll up our sleeves. We will fight. We will lead. We will speak with truth. We will speak about freedom and justice. And we will march on.”

On the other hand, the Tennessee Republican Party – or as I would call them, the Tennessee Neanderthals – waited less than 24 hours to start fundraising off the ignominious act of expelling two progressive lawmakers from the state House – openly boasting today about what critics have called a blatantly antidemocratic move that shows the party’s increasing authoritarianism.

This story is reported online for Raw Story by Kenny Stancil entitled “we are ‘just beginning,’ Tennessee GOP boasts in fundraiser after expelling Democrats.”

This is what was printed in the Tennessee GOP’s email, which should alarm any American who still thinks he or she lives in a democratic country: “Their adolescence and immature behavior brought dishonor to the Tennessee General Assembly as they admitted to knowingly breaking the rules. Actions have consequences, and we applaud House Republicans for having the conviction to protect the rules, the laws, and the prestige of the State of Tennessee.” Then this laughable email concludes, “Our fight is just beginning.” Anyone should be even more alarmed over this resolve to take the fight to most assuredly many more statehouses that are ruled by repugnicans.

Denouncing this move by state repugnicans to silence debate on the gun issue, U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) called what just happened in the southern state “straight-up fascism in its ugliest, most racist form” before the fundraising email even emerged.

The Tennessee GOP (Guns Over People) is now portraying this repugnant move to expel two progressive voices from the House chamber as upholding “the rule of law” and is brazenly trying to capitalize on it.

Ringing the bell on the twilight of democracy, Public Citizen president Robert Weissman said that “American democracy is in a profound crisis . . . What just happened in Tennessee is yet another reminder of the perilous state of our country.”

Weissman chastised some of the Tennessee legislators – and a lot of MAGA commentary online – for calling the expelled lawmakers’ chanting an “insurrection.” He referred to the real insurrection on January 6, 2021, and rightfully pointed out that not one member of Congress was expelled (when they should have, in my opinion) for promoting Dumpf’s patently false claims that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him or for supporting the attempted coup carried out at Dumpf’s behest. Only 10 repugnicans in the U.S. House of Representatives would vote to impeach the bastard in the immediate aftermath of the insurrection, and only two of them were able to get reelected.

One silver lining in all of this doom and gloom involving just one major political party veering toward authoritarianism, according to Weissman, is the energy and commitment of the protesters – overwhelmingly young people – who are demanding justice and commonsense gun legislation. He said, “This is a powerful reminder that democracy does not die easily.” Let’s hope so! He had words of encouragement here: “Indeed, the energy in Tennessee will help inspire and power the nationwide movement not just to defend but to expand and deepen our democracy, and we are committed to rising to the occasion, and being part of this movement to make our country a more just and equitable place for all.”

Those protesters are still demonstrating in Tennessee, by the way. They have not gone away. And, hopefully, they never will – until they get their demands met for sensible gun reform in a very violent and blatantly racist state.

Have a good weekend.

Stay safe and be well.