TN House Expels 2 Black Dems Trying To Save Lives, White Dem Spared
The circus in today’s Tennessee legislature could not have made it clearer that the “pro-life” Republicans care about power and guns, not lives, not even children’s lives. The GOP certainly doesn’t care about democracy. It’s been less than two weeks since the March 27 Nashville school shooting that killed six people, including three 9-year-olds. With Tennesseeans crying out for gun safety laws, Republicans spent hours retaliating against three Democrats who joined in support of gun legislation.
The Republicans could have simply reprimanded the Democrats for breaking decorum rules. Instead, the Tennessee House took the extreme step of expelling Black Reps. Justin Jones and Rep Justin Pearson. It’s an action that has only occurred twice before in the modern era, The Washington Post reported.
Yet, there were not enough votes to expel the white woman, Rep. Gloria Johnson, who engaged in the same behavior. It's not hard to guess why.
The good news is that both the expelled representatives can be voted back in. In fact, they could be appointed to fill their now-vacant seats.