Lying Down in Tennessee

Politicususa:

John Oliver called out the lies of Tennessee House Republicans who claimed that race had nothing to do with the expulsions of two House Democrats.

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Author: patd

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad." "How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

32 thoughts on “Lying Down in Tennessee”

  1. [continuing from above Politicususa link by Jason Easley*]

    Oliver said after one Tennessee Republican lied about race being a reason for the expulsions, “Now legally, I can’t say that guy is lying, which is why it’s going to be an interesting day for our lawyers tomorrow when they find out that I said that guy is definitely lying. We mentally don’t even see color is the universal tell for people who spend all day thinking about how they’d like to see less color now fortunately, Pearson and Jones could be reappointed fairly soon or re-elected down the road, and while Republicans claimed accordingly that this was to teach them a lesson about grandstanding.”
    John Oliver closed with:
    I think that’s not a great sign for Tennessee when they punish the one speaking out against gun violence while keeping the ones who ask which gun would you be comfortable being shot with.
    There are pretty clearly two big issues going on here racism and gun violence which incidentally will, in all likelihood, be the name of the next Kid Rock album, and Tennessee lawmakers can continue to brush both of those issues aside, saying guns aren’t the problem or we don’t see color, but the young people of Tennessee are making it very clear they are sick of waiting and that changes long overdue.
    The media has to pretend like whether or not the expulsion of the two Democrats is related to race is an open question, but it is not. Oliver was correct. The expulsions were about both racism and gun violence.
    The expulsions were also an abuse of power and an example of the members of a political party doing something because they feel entitled to and protected by their power and believe that there will be no consequences.
    History says that in the short term, the Republicans could be correct, but someday the expulsions in Tennessee could be viewed as a turning point both in the battles for US democracy and the passage of gun safety legislation.

     

    *[Jason Easley – Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.]

  3. “We mentally don’t see color…” [or something like that]. I quit believing in coincidence as an excuse for appalling behavior decades ago. 

  5. pogo, looks like the cartoonists also have quit believing in coincidences anymore.

    and

    TENNESSEE TDOT LOWBALLS BLACK FARMERs

  6. Faux’s coverage 

    Expelled Tennessee lawmakers ripped for blaming racism on expulsion: ‘Threw you out for violating the rules’ | Fox News

    […]
    Fox News contributor David Webb pushed back, saying voters were not disenfranchised by their removal. 
    “Your voters are not silenced. Even if they don’t reappoint them, they get to vote in a special election so the voters get to send another left-wing Democrat back. These guys are flat out liars. They’re not interested in representing their district,” he said on “The Big Sunday Show.”
    “The Republicans should have thrown all three of them out evenly, Gloria Johnson included, because they all violated the rules. This was not a quiet moment in the well of the floor. They broke rules that have been in place for a very long time. And enough already with this racism. If everything’s racism, nothing’s racism. They didn’t throw you out because you were Black. They threw you out because they had the votes, and you violated the rules,” Webb said. 
    Co-host Johnny “Joey” Jones had a different point of view arguing that the decision to remove the state representatives was an “unforced error” by the GOP. 
    “There’s a difference between tactical and strategic. They made the tactical decision, which was the immediate– the path forward to expel these folks for what they did,” Jones said. 
    “Sure, it was an egregious sin in the sense of decorum and how democracy unfolds, which is really the true irony here, is these protesters were impeding democracy as it exists, but it was not strategic in any way because it was unwise at this point. You look back, and now the entire conversation is the GOP in Tennessee defending themselves, saying, ‘Yeah, we expelled two young Black men, but we’re not racist.’ And even if that’s absolutely true, which everything leads me to believe that race had very little if nothing to do with it. The optics are there. And now that’s the whole conversation.” 
    Fellow co-host Cheryl Casone agreed that the conversation shouldn’t be focused on the expelled lawmakers but on the lives lost by the school shooting. 
    “You know the names we’re not saying anymore? Mike Hill, Katherine Koonce, Cynthia Peak, Evelyn Dieckhaus. I mean, what about the victims? What about the shooting?” she asked. 

  9. Also Manookian:
    If these TN Republican Thugs even think about interfering in the lawful reappointment process, I’m going to start posting the names of their Nashville Mistresses. Beginning with [Sexton] (He prefers blondes).

  10. Also manookian:
    And Cam, [Cameron Sexton] if you think I’m bluffing, ask Miss Blonde how she knows me and how far we go back. I’ll give you a hint. She wasn’t married back then 😉

  13. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/04/08/greg-abbott-pardon-daniel-perry/

    “After 17 hours of deliberations and an eight-day trial, jurors Friday found Perry guilty of murder for shooting and killing Foster, who was armed with an AK-47 as part of a group protesting police brutality…”

    “Tucker Carlson, a conservative commentator on Fox News, covered Perry’s conviction on his show Friday evening. Carlson said he had invited Abbott to discuss whether he was considering a pardon for Perry, but said the governor declined.”

    “So that is Greg Abbott’s position, there is no right of self-defense in Texas,” Carlson told his viewers.

    The next day…

    “Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to consider recommending a pardon for Daniel Perry on Saturday, one day after a Travis County jury convicted the U.S. Army sergeant in the 2020 murder of Austin protester Garrett Foster.”

    “According to Austin police, Perry was driving for Uber when he stopped his car and honked at protesters as they walked through the street. Seconds later, he drove his car into the crowd, police said.”

    “Foster, who was a 28-year-old white man and an Air Force veteran, had been seen openly carrying an AK-47 rifle at the time, which was legal. There are conflicting accounts as to whether Foster raised the rifle to the driver before Perry, who was also legally armed, shot and killed Foster and fled the area, police said. He called the police and reported what happened, claiming he shot in self-defense after Foster aimed his weapon at him. Perry is also a white man.”

    “Perry’s defense argued that the shooting was justified under the state’s “stand your ground” law, which allows deadly force to be used by those who feel they are in danger.”

    * Important note:

    “Perry’s earlier social media posts about retaliating against protesters raised questions about the shooter’s state of mind and his self-defense claim.”

  14. Apparently Cameron Sexton isn’t acutely aware of the two meanings of the word lying – he seems to be using it in both its meanings.

  15. Oh, and Bid – I’ve been sleeping in my office for years and lately it feels like I’m living here.

  16. You gotta have a great-ass couch if ya gonna sleep at the office.    I’ve slept on great-ass couches before, but I’ve never managed to have an office.    I have a small “area” in my shop but there’s never been a couch there;   fret sbout spiders somewhat.

  18. I wish – I just close my eyes and wake up with a start a few (several), etc. minutes later.  Power napping I think they call it. I try not to be too obvious about it for fear that I’d be demonstrating how much of a lazy ass I am and have to live wid dat from Mrs. P.   Only time anyone overnighted here was when Mrs. P got caught in a snowstorm while I was visiting family in Birmingham (no snow there) and didn’t think she could make the drive home safely.  That night she got to sleep on the great-ass couch in the front room of the office.  Before it made its way to the office it lived in our living room and I can attest that it’s a damn fine sleeping couch.

  19. The NEW “Tennessee Waltz.”. Where those yet-to-be-woke good ol’ boy legislators dance those two young men back to their seats and back to their offices.   A-one, and a-two…..

  22. Im waiting for Dolly Parton to weigh in.   She might not, but if she does it’ll be great. 

  23. https://gothamist.com/news/manhattan-da-alvin-bragg-to-be-investigated-by-house-republicans

    The Republican crime syndicate seems to be circling the wagons around the former guy who cost them the last, two elections.

    “The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee is slated to hold a so-called “field hearing” next week examining Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s tenure in office, days after former President Donald Trump was indicted by Bragg’s office on fraud charges.”

    “In the brief message, the committee implies that policies implemented by Bragg, a progressive Democrat, have led to a spike in violent crime in the borough.”

    “This hearing won’t engage in the actual efforts to increase public safety, such as supporting national gun legislation and shutting down the iron pipeline,” Bragg’s office wrote in a statement posted on Twitter.”

    “The indictment of Trump led Republicans to increase their attacks on Bragg, the first Black Manhattan district attorney. In the lead-up to the indictment, Trump called Bragg an “animal” in a since-deleted post.”

  24. https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/louisville-kentucky-shooting-04-10-23/index.html

    “Louisville shooter Connor Sturgeon was notified that he was going to be terminated from Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation.”

    The Fed raising interest rates to cool the economy is going to unravel more than this, one person. This is exactly what they wanted; higher unemployment.

    Yes, there is also a banking crisis brewing, but that is also due to the protection of corporate welfare and the dismissal of human beings.

    Corporate greed is to blame for inflation, and what should have happened two years ago were price freezes. Not allowing folks to work for decent wages, not allowing them to make a life for them self, it’s going to push a lot of folks over the edge. That doesn’t mean only mass shoutings, but suicides, domestic violence, and substance abuse.

    In addition to gun control, we need greed control.

  26. Perhaps the Repthugs should, like, read stuff, like NYPD’s crime statistics for January, 2023.

    For the month of January 2023, the number of overall shooting incidents and murders in New York City have both declined when compared to January 2022, a result of the NYPD’s enhanced public safety investment across each borough, in every neighborhood. Reflecting crime-prevention traction taking hold citywide, major crimes in the subway system have dropped precipitously, and arrests for overall index crimes stand at a 24-year high for any January in the modern CompStat era. Overall index crime for January 2023 compared to January 2022 was up 4.1% (10,067 v. 9,672), led by a 14.9% increase in felony assault (2,056 v. 1,790).

    ***
    Citywide shooting incidents decreased in January by 26.3% (73 v. 99) – further extending the double-digit declines of 2022 – driven by steep reductions in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. Similarly, the number of gun violence victims across the city decreased by 21.8% (86 v. 110) compared to the same period last year, while murders decreased by 3.2% (30 v. 31). Notably, the number of arrests for index crimes in New York City in January is up 29.6% (4,420 v. 3,410) when compared to the January prior, a month-to-month benchmark unsurpassed since 1999 – nearly a quarter-century.

    In Transit, the NYPD’s subway safety strategy has augmented police coverage on trains and platforms while adding visible uniformed resources at or near the system’s many points of entry across the five boroughs. This plan has resulted in a 29.3% decrease in major crimes (145 v. 205) in Transit for January 2023, compared to January 2022, led by a 44.3% reduction in grand larceny (54 v. 97) and a 20.7% reduction in robbery (46 v. 58). The subway system’s downward crime trend has been steady since additional deployment began last fall.

     <
    Bragg was sworn into office on January 1, 2022. Fugcking idiots.

  27. https://www.justlanded.com/english/Denmark/Denmark-Guide/Jobs/Denmark-s-labor-market

    “Ultimately, most Danes believe they can always find work. In the meantime, they will receive financial benefits that replace up to nine-tenths of their last wage, the highest level in Europe. The government will also assist the jobless by providing subsidized employment training for those moving into a different industries.”

    “With regard to money and well-being, the Danes focus more on collectivism. The Danish word for collectivism is “jantelov,” (pronounced YAN-tee-loav), or Jante Law. It roughly means that nobody is better than anyone else. This perfectly sums up the desire for people to help each other, at least in the workplace.”

  28. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/these-are-the-10-countries-with-the-best-social-mobility/

    “Denmark ranks top of the World Economic Forum’s new Global Social Mobility Index, which finds the five Nordic nations and parts of Europe outperform the rest of the world when it comes to giving everyone the chance to succeed.”

    “The report urges governments to do more to level the playing field for all their citizens as technologies such as digital platforms, big data and automation continue to reduce demand for low-skilled work while disproportionately rewarding the highly skilled.”

    “It’s an economic model it describes as “stakeholder capitalism”. In other words, one that takes into account the interests of all stakeholders, rather than corporate shareholders.”

  29. Pogo – They should’ve seen NYC in the late seventies and early eighties.  It was gritty, to say the least.  I’ve been there six times since the pandemic and it’s definitely a little sketchier, even in midtown (which is where most tourists hang out and should be better policed), but it’s not as bad as it was decades ago. Honestly, if they hadn’t legalized weed, midtown would be at its Disney-fied self. The number of folks selling, smoking, and panhandling to buy weed is off the charts.
     
     
    ps – I have a young cousin who is a  lawyer and he pretty much lives in the office at his law firm.  Not a happy camper, camping out there.

  30. Success is coming at these two young men in a tsunamic rush….i hope they’re up to the challenge.  

  31. https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/10/politics/jordan-subpoena-fbi-director/index.html

    “This probe, led by Jordan and conducted out of his subcommittee tasked with investigating alleged “weaponization” of the federal government, was spurred by a January 23 document generated by the FBI’s Richmond field office titled “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.”

    “Jordan claims that the leaked internal memo suggests that certain Catholic Americans were targeted by the FBI and could be considered domestic terrorists and accused the FBI of seeking “to enlist Catholic houses of worship as potential sources to monitor and report on their parishioners.”

    Huh???

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