Justice for Justins

   Ask yourself, “Do some Tennessee Republican lawmakers have a negative bias against black legislators or intelligent gun regulation?”  The answer, “Obviously they do.”  Democracy in Tennessee is not yet color blind, neither is the enforcement of the law.  And, The NRA has the ear of most legislators.  Gun owners and the majority of NRA members would like to see reasonable gun regulation, but the financial backing of The NRA live by the guiding principles of any gun to any one carried anywhere.  These principles lead to increased profit.

   That being said, the above paragraph is not the root of the conflict we just witnessed in The Tennessee Legislature.  Yes, Tennessee’s House of Representatives expelled two Black Democratic lawmakers, but not a White Democratic lawmaker, all for breaking the same House rule at the same time.  And yes the primarily student and parents rebellion was about making schools safer, but these items would have reached the House floor in an orderly manner if not for undemocratic rules implemented across our nation and in the Nation’s Capital.

   The offending rule is that the majority leader of either house determines what legislation will be brought to the floor for discussion and a vote and what proposed legislation will not.  So a majority leader, not elected by the majority of the nation’s voters, has absolute control over the creation, or even the discussion of proposed law.  During Mitch McConnell’s last term as Republican majority leader of The Senate he was able to stop over three hundred bills passed by a Democratic House.  These bills passed by the House were not allowed to be discussed or voted on in the Senate.  They never saw the floor.  A one or two member majority in the Senate gave its majority leader absolute power.  Realizing that each state in our nation has two representatives in The Senate, you realize that states have equal representation in that body, but that citizens certainly do not.

   So what were the Tennessee Justins objecting to?  In representing the majority’s wish to protect students in Tennessee against gun violence, they were not allowed to speak.  The people’s house was not open to the people.  Perhaps the Rules needed to be violated.  Perhaps there is room for improvement in the rules that so poorly govern our “democracy.”  Punishing Black people and not White people for the same actions might be worth a look as well.   

Cheers, Old Buz     4/8/23

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“There is a willful blindness that marches alongside loyalty.” – Old Buz