04/05/23 - Special Episode
Good morning! It’s Wednesday, April 4th.
Accelerate A.C.L. Awareness Among Young Women Day.
For real. “Hey Kim, I thought it was Bell Bottoms Day.” It’s both! This is a special episode!
Fun fact… I have NO cartilage in my left knee.
And now, the news.
Special Episode - Tennessee
Are you in trouble for exercising your First Amendment right for no other reason other than people just don’t like what you’re saying when you use your Constitutional right to speak up and out? Cause you’re the only Ten I see.
…get it?
This story’s about Tennessee and, not only that, but this whole episode is about Tennessee. Special episode baybee. Prepare to be inspired and bummed out. Both. At the same time.
Here we go.
As you certainly recall, last week six people, including three nine-year-olds, were killed in a mass shooting in Nashville. Horrific. Absolutely horrific.
And while elected Republicans in Tennessee said, and this is a real quote, “we’re not going to fix it,” (that’s Congressmember Tim Burchett and no, that quote is not out of context), Tennessee Democrats are saying – actually. We don’t have to live like this. In fact, if we want to live – we can’t keep doing this.
So here’s what’s happened since. Last Thursday, hundreds marched to the Tennessee capital and demanded stricter gun laws. Republicans accused both the protestors, as well as state House Dems, of disrupting the business of the government.
Ignoring the fact that the business of the government is, you know, supposed to be for exactly this stuff. (This stuff being, you know, making sure that people get to stay alive).
And it seemed like, to those of us not in Tennessee, that that was… perhaps not the end of it, but certainly not the beginning of a whole different fight.
The three Democratic lawmakers who protested on Thursday were Reps. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis. And the reason we now know their names, on a national level, is because after they organized the rally on Thursday, using a bullhorn to call on lawmakers to make sustainable change in the state… this week they were removed from their House committees, ahead of the Republican-led House moving to fully expel them from their positions.
I’ll say that again… three elected officials used their First Amendment right to protest on behalf of those they represent – and now they may lose their democratically elected seats.
In America, we sort of demand the First Amendment. We demand to use it and, as citizens, we demand that our representatives use it. We don’t always agree with them, but we demand that they are not silenced on our behalf. Should we decide we don’t like what they’re saying, we can move to fire them through an election. Should the law decide that what they’re saying is illegal, they can be impeached. Censuring an elected official is rare, and it’s rare because it’s serious.
Make no mistake… what Tennessee Republicans are doing is a dissolvement of democracy.
And they are doing it is service of… guns.
And let me own my part in not covering this so far. I haven’t and I don’t have an excuse. I’m covering it now, and we need to demand everyone else do the same.
Look, is the Trump case shiny and new? Sure. But this is history too. And the news about Trump is – hey, look at how well our justice system is working. It is currently holding.
But if that’s the story we’re going to tell in New York, you better start telling the story of Tennessee as well. Because the system may be holding in New York, but it is CRUMBLING in Tennessee. And perhaps that’s the more vital story right now.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
I will continue to cover it.
I’m proud of… Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson, as well as every single person who’s out there demanding better. From our elected officials and from an entire nation that prides itself on the Constitution… only when it serves them. That’s not how it should work, and perhaps, because of those three Democrats, and every single protestor that joined them, we can start upholding the First Amendment.
I’m also proud of the person on TikTok who said that people need to be covering this story. They were right. I will do better.
And because you will hold me accountable, not an easy job for sure… I’m proud of you.