Saturday, April 8, 2023

No Shame In Nashville - At least Not For Republican Legislators

Saturday, April 8th, 2023


My Dear America:

I know that there are no Republicans looking for any Political Advice from me at this point in time, or at any point in time, for that matter.

But, regardless of that I am still going to give Republicans some free and I believe worthwhile advice that I hope they might freely use to improve their Political Future.

First of all, Dump Donald Trump and scrub every trace of his miserable Corrupt ass from your Party.  Trump has turned your Republican Party into  something that is unrecognizable compared to the Old and Highly Respected Republican Party of Yesteryear.  Maybe Republicans cannot see it as clearly as Democrats can but what is clear after over Six Years of Trump's massive corrupting influence over the Republican Party is that he and his MAGA Cohorts have commandeered your party and turned it into something akin to the Nazi Party that corrupted Germany and caused the Second World War and the Holocaust.

Secondly, Dump Ron Desantis, who is simply a Trump Clone who has tried and in some cases succeeded to be more extreme and destructive than his Mara Lago Mentor and 2024 Presidential Rival and since he still has some power in the State of Florida he continues to pull your party down a shameful path.

Thirdly,  Dump Maga Morons like Kevin McCarthy, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar and others who believe that the best things that they can do is follow Donald Trump to the Gates Of Hell and back.  These dumbasses, some of whom follow stupid Qanon  conspiracy Theories, need to be exorcised from your party like the demons thtat they are.

Fourthly,  Turn off your Fox News, Newsmax and OAN and start listening to Truthful News like MSNBC and CNN rather than LNN, Liars Network News.


In my opinion Republicans taking these simple steps that I just outlined could and would improve the future of the Republican Party significantly.

Now why would I really want to improve the prospects of the Republican Party.

Well, the truth is that I don't really want to see the Republican Party improve too significantly.  

Quite frankly, I am fairly certain that a Party that supports Fascists like Donald Trump, Ron Desantis and Tucker Carlson is too far gone down the rabbit hole to return to Reality and Democratic Values any time soon.

But the truth also is that America is a country that has developed and has been sustained by a Two Party System and to survive as a Democracy both of those two parties need to be both Strong and  Sane.  And right now only one of the major parties is Strong and Sane.  That party is the Democratic Party.

Republicans have clearly lost their minds over Donald Trump.  That was obvious long before this week's indictment of him for 34 Counts of Fraud by the New York City District Attorney, Alvin Bragg.  But now, everyone can see that Trump's disrespect and denigration of DA Bragg and the Judge in his case and the Judges family as well as Trump's constant threatening of Death and Destruction on Trump's Truth Social is way over the line of respectability and sanity.

What is truly disturbing to me is the fact that instead of Republicans recognizing how awful and disgusting Trump's attitude and behavior continues to be it seems as though many high profile Republicans don't seem to be angry at Trump.  They are instead angry and threatening toward the New York DA and Judge in the case.

The Republican madness is almost understandable when we see the attention paid by the news media to Trump's indictment.  Some news organizations followed Trump's procession from Mara Lago to the Airport, filming his takeoff in Florida and his landing in New York and the vehicle caravan from LaGuardia to Trump Tower.  In the few times and few minutes I was been able to stand the Indictment and Aftermath coverage on Fox, OAN and Newsmax I realized quickly what a different world those viewers were living in.  There was no discussion of Trump's Lies and deceptions.  He was a Genuine Hero on the Liars Networks. Incredible, absolutely incredible.

One of the worst things that Donald Trump has done to the Republican Party, I believe is his convincing the party members that they should be like him.  Never apologize.  Never admit weakness and, of course, never admit defeat. Never admit to being a "Loser."  Certainly in Trump's estimation Republicans should be like him and never be ashamed, or at least never admit to being ashamed of anything that they have done.

Certainly Trump's indictment coverage dominated the news this week even though there were major stories around the world that were far more consequential to the world than Trump's indictment.  

The war between Ukraine and their Russian Invaders continued.

There were Crowds of Jewish protestors fighting to keep their Prime Minister, Trump's Buddy Benjamin Netanyahu from destroying their Democracy by taking power away from their Supreme Court, who just happen to be investigating charges against Netanyahu.

There were crowds of Frenchmen protesting an increase in the retirement age in France.  

China was angry that Kevin McCarthy was meeting with the President of Taiwan at the Reagan Library in California.

There was plenty to be concerned about in the world and then there was the situation in Nashville that exploded out of the blue and suddenly focused attention on some of the nasty things happening in American Legislatures, much of which has been under the radar for some time now.

Back in the late Fifties and Sixties when Rockabilly Artist, Johnny Cash started out recording in Memphis, Tennessee his incredible backup band was called "The Tennessee Three."

After this week, however, we have a new "Tennessee Three."  They are Two Black Justin's, Justin Jones-27 representing Nashville and Justin Pearson-28 representing Memphis, as well as a White Gloria, Gloria Johnson-60-A retired Teacher and a survivor of a Knoxville School shooting in which one person was killed.

When a well attended group of mainly young students showed up at the Tennessee State House to demand the passage of Gun reform laws after a school shooting in Nashville that killed three children and three adults "The Tennessee Three" showed support for the young protestors and demanded that they might be heard by their colleagues in the Tennessee House of Representatives.  The House, which was dominated by Republicans, reacted quickly and viciously by voting to expel the two Black Justin's although they didn't expel White Gloria.  

Both Justin's have shown in their reactions to being thrown out of the Tennessee Legislature an incredible amount of restraint, courage, optimism and clearly some incredible oratorical skills that reminded me of Barack Obama.  Former President Obama and President Biden have already weighed in on the situation and Biden sent Vice President Harris to Nashville to meet with the now former legislators and their supporters.

Clearly this situation smacks of Racism, Republican unwillingness to do anything about gun violence and possibly some collusion between State Gun Manufacturers and Republican Legislators.

One thing is for sure.  This situation is not over.  Tennessee has had a lot to answer for previous to this. It was the state where the Ku Klux Klan was born.  It was a state where Civil Rights Struggles have been difficult and important.  It is also a state where a Republican State Legislator can make a statement about how it might be a good thing to bring back Lynching in the state.  That Legislator, however, continues to keep his seat while the Two Justin's are expelled for insisting that the Legislature needs to consider doing something about gun reform.

What I have seen in watching film of the Two Justin's speaking to the Legislature on their own behalf is that these two individuals are committed to gun reform and are two of the most articulate individuals that I have seen involved in Politics for a long time.  Whether or not they return to their elected posts in the Tennessee Legislature they are shining examples of why Republican Legislators are and should be panicked.

The Racists and the Fascists who are now running the show in Nashville, Washington and elsewhere can see the writing on the wall.  They refuse to pay attention to the lessons that they should have learned during recent elections.

The Democrats are on their way to the Future.  The Young, The Women, The Blacks and those people who have sincere compassion for other people are on their way.

So I say to Republicans.  Enjoy your power while you have it because a new day is dawning and you and your insane, ruthless and lying candidates are headed for the dustheap of history.

The Tennessee Three are only some of those New Democratic challengers who you will regret trying to shaft.


Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher      




 

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