FAFO edition: TN legislature playing hardball w gun control protest members

AP Photo/John Amis

Yee dawgs and little fishes! There’s a knockdown, drag-out fight broke out in the TN legislature today and it all has to do with the anti-gun protests last week.

Advertisement

A quick little background refresher: five days ago, in response to the horrific school shooting rampage by a transgender murderer that left 6 people dead, gun control and trans rights activists lost their collective minds.

Gun control activists were seen storming Tennessee’s State Capitol Thursday amid rising fears of a left-wing uprising at a rumored protest in Washington, DC.

Footage of the insurrection shows progressive protesters battling with cops as they attempted to gain access to the legislature in Nashville. Hundreds of people were seen inside the lobby and yelling from the gallery at concerned lawmakers.

The protest against guns comes after transgender shooter Audrey Hale on Monday gunned down six people, including three nine-year-old kids, at a Christian school in Nashville.

In a separate demonstration, trans activists yesterday invaded Kentucky’s State Capitol in Frankfort to protest a Republican-backed bill to ban transgender procedures for children. Among the mob was a self-described ‘genderqueer clown nun’, who immediately drew comparisons to the QAnon Shaman of the January 6 riot.

Again, the descriptions are a bit different from the J6 types and for the transgender (try finding THAT word anywhere) killer herself, but the videos don’t lie.

It was a menacing, thunderous mob attempting to influence a legislative session and harassing members of the House body.

Advertisement

Okay, been there, done that, and it’s all cool as long as it’s a Democratic/Prog crowd doing the screaming, pushing, and shoving into places they don’t belong. Long-established jurisprudence.

Or it was. Unlike Republicans of the past, it seems the majority TN GOP in the legislature plays hardball, and that first pitch came flying over the plate yesterday.

Excuse me, whut?!

They’ve cut off their electronic access passes and are planning to expel these people from the legislature? Elected members?

Here’s one of the people in question, absolutely flabbergasted and waging his own little protest about being dinged for protesting.

I thought, hold up here. This is pretty harsh for voicing your opinion and that of your constituents, which is all this fellow seems to say he was doing. Clearly the TN constitution allows lawmakers to agree and disagree volubly.

I hesitated writing about this. It sure seemed the legislative powers that be were acting in a completely authoritarian manner, if all these folks did was stand outside and maybe even bark a phrase…wait.

Advertisement

Oh, wait, wait, wait. You’ll never guess.

The doe-eyed, wronged, butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-his-mouth lad in the video “from the most diverse district” [insert: roll eyes] isn’t telling you the whole story of exactly where he “stood” for his constituents and what he was doing while he was standing there.

I’d paint a picture for you, but I don’t have to. Rep Justin Jones wasn’t standing outside in a flowerbed with a bullhorn in his hand.

Let’s roll that beautiful has-bean-a-legislator footage.

NO ACTION, NO PEACE!

He and his two buddies were ON THE HOUSE FLOOR, egging on the mob in the balconies.

Screencap TennesseeLookout.com

That’s a little different, no? In turn, that already tumultuous horde began shouting “Fascists! Fascists!” after the Speaker of the House gave up, called a recess and had state troopers attempt to clear the galleries. More shrieking, pushing and shoving ensued before everyone moved out.

State Rep. Sam Whitson is calling for the House Democratic Caucus to punish three members for pulling what he calls a House floor “stunt” amid protests for tighter gun laws.

“I believe expulsion will make them martyrs and they will be re-elected or reappointed immediately, so I think the Democratic leadership and caucus should be held responsible for this incident, and if not then we will hold the Democratic Caucus responsible for tolerating such conduct,” Whitson, a Franklin Republican and retired Army colonel, said Monday morning. “But I’m at a point if they pull this again, I’m for immediate expulsion. And this has nothing to do with the protest. This has all to do with their actions on the House floor.”

Advertisement

Democrats swiftly pulled the “what about” card and poo-pooed the youthful exuberance.

…“And they’re wanting to punish three elected individuals who simply disrupted a House floor session for speaking their mind? If they’re gonna start punishing people, they need to look in the mirror and look in their own caucus,” Clemmons said.

Nobody is backing down. A resolution passed the TN House to vote on an expulsion measure on Thursday.

…“The political retribution is unconstitutional and, in this moment, morally bankrupt,” the Black Caucus said in a statement.

…All three resolutions contend Jones, Johnson and Pearson “did knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives through their individual and collective actions.”

It notes the trio moved to the well last Thursday at 10:49 a.m. and started shouting and pounding on the podium, leading chants with a crowded gallery and “engaged in disorderly and disruptive conduct, including refusing to leave the well, sitting on the podium, and utilizing a sign displaying a political message.”

Jones and Pearson both used a megaphone to rally the crowds.

The few Democrats who had at most tepidly criticized the behavior of the three legislators have already begun crawling backward. They must have heard from outraged voters who had the barbs directed their way. You know the ground is already laid for the race card, just as soon as a vote rolls around Thursday. It won’t have anything to do with acting the fool – at least two of these people will already be victims of the GOP white supremacists as the narrative has.

Advertisement

Thank God for the tale of the tape.

If the Democrats refuse to sanction these clowns in any fashion on their own, should a vote fail or beforehand, the GOP has promised to make it ice-cold for any Dem proposed legislation going forward. I hope they stick to it.

Republicans with backbones have been too few and far between for too long.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
David Strom 6:00 PM | December 05, 2024
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement