In December 1966, the United States Supreme Court unanimously decided a case called Bond v. Floyd. Julian Bond was a Black man elected to the Georgia legislature. Several months after his election in June 1965, a civil rights organization that Mr. Bond belonged to issued an anti-war statement about Vietnam, which he subsequently endorsed in statements to the press. White members of the Georgia House challenged Bond’s right to be seated, charging that his statements aided our enemies, violated the Selective Service laws, discredited the House, and were inconsistent with the legislator’s mandatory oath to support the Constitution.
I’ve been watching this in horror all day but two things give me hope. The ejected representatives are awesome and now have a national platform. I can’t wait to see what they do next. Also, the sea of protesters- a young and diverse group saw the racism and the depravity of the bigoted republicans. They will not forget this. The evil racists won this moment, but I think they wii rue this day.
Blatant racism , blatant ignorance. How very bold these Republicans have become. People like DJT and MTG have enabled these thugs to believe thug like behavior is acceptable . It is not .
I’ve been feeling guilty about being a Civil Discourse freeloader. Your article today convinced me to start paying for membership. Learning about Julian Bond’s success in facing down the Georgia’s legislature raised me up from despair to hope over today’s debacle in the Tennessee legislature. Thank you.
Thanks for this post. Though I am appalled at the blatantly racist and absolute abuse of power by the TN legislature, I must say I am equally hopeful and exhilarated by the three legislators who stood up for their constituents. The two young men who were expelled, in particular, are simply superb! These young folks we are witnessing there and across the country are incredible and I believe will be the backbone to help turn the tide toward keeping (and improving) our democracy!
'Tennessee’s House expels 2 of 3 Democrats over guns protest'
And all Americans as well as people around the world got to see Tennessee's House exposed!
‘Thousands of people flocked to the Capitol to support Jones, Pearson and Johnson on Thursday, cheering and chanting outside the House chamber loudly enough to drown out the proceedings.’
‘The trio held hands as they walked onto the floor, and Pearson raised a fist during the Pledge of Allegiance.’
‘Offered a chance to defend himself before the vote, Jones said the GOP responded to the shooting with a different kind of attack.’
“We called for you all to ban assault weapons, and you respond with an assault on democracy,” he said.'
‘The two expelled lawmakers may not be gone for long. County commissions in their districts get to pick replacements to serve until a special election can be scheduled, and they could opt to choose Jones and Pearson. The two also would be eligible to run in those races.’
‘Under the Tennessee Constitution, lawmakers cannot be expelled for the same offense twice.’
‘Jones said he did not intend to assimilate in order to be accepted. “I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to make a change for my community,” he replied.’
“Rather than pass laws that will address red flags and banning assault weapons and universal background checks, they passed resolutions to expel their colleagues,” Jones said. “And they think that the issue is over. We’ll see you on Monday.”
It’s hard to believe they would dare be so obvious, blatant, and then presume to say, “who me? Racist?” Do they actually think they can escape general condemnation from the rest of us? I suppose it is the one benefit of the MAGA world, that they now say the quiet part out loud. We know who they are. And now we will defeat them. All the hypocrisies are open and visible. They will do down.
I’ve been telling my friends outside TN that our state leadership - including our two U.S. Senators - is as bad as TX and Florida, but we never get the media attention that they have. That came to a very apparent and long overdue end today.
Everyone I know here in Nashville is mourning the brutal murder last week of the three children and the three adults at the Covenant School. And angry that we live in a state controlled by Republicans who have fought hard to ignore the reality that the 2nd Amendment is too widely viewed by horrible people as a license to kill. Our governor, Bill Lee, waited a day to put out the most insincere and meaningless statement he could in response to the murder of three young children. No mention of the assault weapon legally bought by the assailant. We won’t forget.
Time to take back our state from the racists who control it.
I just signed up as a paid subscriber because I am completely disgusted with today's events in Tennessee. I appreciate Joyce's discussion of the Bond case. Sounds to me like those 2 expelled lawmakers have a very good case for being reinstated, and I hope and pray that will happen. I'm also upset about the threat to impeach Janet Protasiewicz in Wisconsin. Hearing this just after we all were so thrilled about her stunning win..... I'm 67 years old. Roe vs Wade happened the year I graduated high school. I grew up in the era of Vietnam protests, and great accomplishments in civil rights. I walked across the Golden Gate Bridge on the very first Earth Day with thousands of others. I feel as if this nation is rolling back the major accomplishments of my lifetime, and it saddens me. I want to find a way to help. Right now, I just try to counter lies with facts whenever possible.
They should not get away with this, their actions are outrageous! People of Tennessee need to make sure this stops. We, and all of Tennessee are in this together!
A commentator said that if the college and professional sports teams refuse to play in Tennessee, that corporate backing will get the attention of those Republicans in the legislature. It will be interesting to see if there is any corporate backlash. There are many black players on those teams who cannot be feeling too proud or loyal to that gerrymandered, power hungry, immature, white supremacist clump of Republican fascists in their state legislature.
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” – Elie Wiesel
I’ve been watching this in horror all day but two things give me hope. The ejected representatives are awesome and now have a national platform. I can’t wait to see what they do next. Also, the sea of protesters- a young and diverse group saw the racism and the depravity of the bigoted republicans. They will not forget this. The evil racists won this moment, but I think they wii rue this day.
Blatant racism , blatant ignorance. How very bold these Republicans have become. People like DJT and MTG have enabled these thugs to believe thug like behavior is acceptable . It is not .
Thank you as always. When I read your posts I feel heartened to keep trying. Onward together, civilly in discourse!
I’ve been feeling guilty about being a Civil Discourse freeloader. Your article today convinced me to start paying for membership. Learning about Julian Bond’s success in facing down the Georgia’s legislature raised me up from despair to hope over today’s debacle in the Tennessee legislature. Thank you.
Thanks for this post. Though I am appalled at the blatantly racist and absolute abuse of power by the TN legislature, I must say I am equally hopeful and exhilarated by the three legislators who stood up for their constituents. The two young men who were expelled, in particular, are simply superb! These young folks we are witnessing there and across the country are incredible and I believe will be the backbone to help turn the tide toward keeping (and improving) our democracy!
This is full-on fascism versus democracy. Democracy must not fail. Time to use civil discourse while practicing civil disobedience.
'Tennessee’s House expels 2 of 3 Democrats over guns protest'
And all Americans as well as people around the world got to see Tennessee's House exposed!
‘Thousands of people flocked to the Capitol to support Jones, Pearson and Johnson on Thursday, cheering and chanting outside the House chamber loudly enough to drown out the proceedings.’
‘The trio held hands as they walked onto the floor, and Pearson raised a fist during the Pledge of Allegiance.’
‘Offered a chance to defend himself before the vote, Jones said the GOP responded to the shooting with a different kind of attack.’
“We called for you all to ban assault weapons, and you respond with an assault on democracy,” he said.'
‘The two expelled lawmakers may not be gone for long. County commissions in their districts get to pick replacements to serve until a special election can be scheduled, and they could opt to choose Jones and Pearson. The two also would be eligible to run in those races.’
‘Under the Tennessee Constitution, lawmakers cannot be expelled for the same offense twice.’
‘Jones said he did not intend to assimilate in order to be accepted. “I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to make a change for my community,” he replied.’
“Rather than pass laws that will address red flags and banning assault weapons and universal background checks, they passed resolutions to expel their colleagues,” Jones said. “And they think that the issue is over. We’ll see you on Monday.”
https://www.manisteenews.com/news/politics/article/gop-lawmakers-consider-expelling-democrats-over-17882052.php
Tennessee, the world is watching. 👀
It’s hard to believe they would dare be so obvious, blatant, and then presume to say, “who me? Racist?” Do they actually think they can escape general condemnation from the rest of us? I suppose it is the one benefit of the MAGA world, that they now say the quiet part out loud. We know who they are. And now we will defeat them. All the hypocrisies are open and visible. They will do down.
Thank you for this. My heart hurts for what America could become if those of us who know better allow it. None of us can stand on the sidelines.
I’ve been telling my friends outside TN that our state leadership - including our two U.S. Senators - is as bad as TX and Florida, but we never get the media attention that they have. That came to a very apparent and long overdue end today.
Everyone I know here in Nashville is mourning the brutal murder last week of the three children and the three adults at the Covenant School. And angry that we live in a state controlled by Republicans who have fought hard to ignore the reality that the 2nd Amendment is too widely viewed by horrible people as a license to kill. Our governor, Bill Lee, waited a day to put out the most insincere and meaningless statement he could in response to the murder of three young children. No mention of the assault weapon legally bought by the assailant. We won’t forget.
Time to take back our state from the racists who control it.
I just signed up as a paid subscriber because I am completely disgusted with today's events in Tennessee. I appreciate Joyce's discussion of the Bond case. Sounds to me like those 2 expelled lawmakers have a very good case for being reinstated, and I hope and pray that will happen. I'm also upset about the threat to impeach Janet Protasiewicz in Wisconsin. Hearing this just after we all were so thrilled about her stunning win..... I'm 67 years old. Roe vs Wade happened the year I graduated high school. I grew up in the era of Vietnam protests, and great accomplishments in civil rights. I walked across the Golden Gate Bridge on the very first Earth Day with thousands of others. I feel as if this nation is rolling back the major accomplishments of my lifetime, and it saddens me. I want to find a way to help. Right now, I just try to counter lies with facts whenever possible.
It felt like a terrible gut punch today by Tennessee. Full on racism.
Not just Tennessee, every state needs to stand up & protest for it self & for Tennessee.
This is not Democracy. This is not America. We must stand united & stop this now.
They should not get away with this, their actions are outrageous! People of Tennessee need to make sure this stops. We, and all of Tennessee are in this together!
A commentator said that if the college and professional sports teams refuse to play in Tennessee, that corporate backing will get the attention of those Republicans in the legislature. It will be interesting to see if there is any corporate backlash. There are many black players on those teams who cannot be feeling too proud or loyal to that gerrymandered, power hungry, immature, white supremacist clump of Republican fascists in their state legislature.