Thomas ZimmerApr 7, 2023

Faced with children demanding their elected representatives protect them from being murdered in their schools, Republicans rage against and expel those who agree with the children that something must be done.

There it is, today’s Republican Party. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/04/06/tennessee-democrats-expulsion/

Tennessee House expels two Democrats in historic act of partisan retaliation

The historic act of retaliation comes a week after they halted proceedings to call for gun control in the wake of the Covenant School shooting.

The Washington Post
Show threadThomas ZimmerApr 7, 2023
The asymmetry of the political conflict is on full display here. This is not the behavior of a party that accepts the opposition as a legitimate political opponent. Instead, Republicans see Democrats as a fundamentally illegitimate faction, not deserving of rights or respect.
Show threadThomas ZimmerApr 7, 2023
That’s particularly true for Democrats who are not white Christian men - in this case: A woman and two Black men, representing, in the reactionary mind, “Un-American” forces and illegitimate constituencies who have no right to speak up, who should be quiet and accept their place.
Show threadThomas ZimmerApr 7, 2023
This isn't new. Tennessee has a long history of disenfranchising people of color. In this sense, the fact that Republicans expelled the two Black men - those “uppity” Black folk! How dare they! - but not the white woman is perfectly in line with the state’s tradition of white supremacy.
Show threadThomas ZimmerApr 7, 2023

I’m grateful to Rep. Gloria Johnson, who leaves no doubt about why she wasn’t expelled when her two colleagues were: She is white, they are Black. This is the type of clarity we too rarely get from mainstream media, the type of solidarity we need to defeat the authoritarian assault.

https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1644160388592721921?s=46&t=1xecvNVImNo8TKt3oEvqnA

Acyn on Twitter

“Question: Why were those two expelled and you weren't  Johnson: Well, I think it's pretty clear. I'm a 60 year old white woman and they are two young black men”

Twitter
Show threadThomas ZimmerApr 7, 2023
But this isn’t just Tennessee, or just the South - this perception of the political enemy has become dogma on the Right, the idea that these “Un-American” forces have taken over the Democratic Party and most major institutions is exactly what fuels the anti-democratic radicalization.
Show threadThomas ZimmerApr 7, 2023
Contrast this clarity from Rep. Gloria Johnson with the unbearable obfuscation we’re getting from mainstream media sources and some of our political leaders: “polarization,” “erosion of civility” - that’s not what happened here, it obscures the anti-democratic forces of reactionary white nationalism.
Show threadThomas Zimmer

This perfectly captures the fallacies of the “polarization” narrative: What is depicted here isn’t polarization, and describing it as such obscures rather than illuminates what’s actually the problem - the escalating anti-democratic radicalization of the Republican Party.

https://twitter.com/ap/status/1643746667185811457?s=46&t=1xecvNVImNo8TKt3oEvqnA

The Associated Press on Twitter

“GOP lawmakers are handing out harsh punishments for their Democratic colleagues, including potentially expelling three legislators in Tennessee. Experts say it's a sign that political polarization is at its highest level since just after the Civil War. https://t.co/YlmVLULRX9”

Twitter
Apr 7, 2023 at 2:37pmIvory for iOS
Show threadThomas ZimmerApr 7, 2023

Look at the evidence presented in AP piece: It’s all *one* side, Republicans, radicalizing against their political opponent - absolutely no equivalent on the Democratic side.

“Polarization” - what you say when you want to lament the state of politics but prefer to obscure who is actually responsible for it.

Show threadThomas ZimmerApr 7, 2023
I get the argument that this is politically disastrous for the Tennessee GOP: A pyrrhic victory at best, elevating Democratic politicians to national stardom. But I find little solace in that. This is so dangerous - the Republican Party fully in the hands of anti-democratic extremists.
Show threadThomas ZimmerApr 7, 2023
Don’t ever underestimate the lengths to which self-proclaimed “reasonable” people will go to naturalize existing power relations and present any critique of the status quo and traditional hierarchies of race, gender, and wealth as an unruly disruption that deserves punishment and needs to be scolded for a lack of “civility.”
Show threadJacob Kramer-DuffieldApr 7, 2023
@tzimmer_history also a classic "yeah that sounds bad but what about this totally different thing I just made up?"
Show thread📎🖐️ Alan Taylor 🎬 📚Apr 7, 2023

@tzimmer_history

Yes. Their last defense claim is to complain about 'tone' in the UK Parliament...class assumptions that infantilize all opposition.

Show threadDanaBlankenhornApr 7, 2023
@tzimmer_history Northern opinion didn't significantly change until AFTER the attack on Ft. Sumter.
Show threadKevin LeecasterApr 7, 2023
@DanaBlankenhorn @tzimmer_history
We almost lost the Civil War because of Northern "Peace Democrats" and as was seen in the 2022 New York elections the Copperheads are still active up north.
Show threadtoxteth o'gradyApr 7, 2023
@tzimmer_history They are engaged in revenge. Blue states can exact similar revenge against white Republicans. If they choose to. And Wisconsin can always have recall elections against all Republican elected officials.
Show threadSteven Capsuto - Alt. ChannelsApr 7, 2023

@tzimmer_history It feels like the Republican Party has been in the hands of anti-democracy extremists for as long as I can remember... which is a long time. The only difference is they're bolder about it now.

The first president I recall from my childhood is the Republican who had microphones planted in Democratic campaign headquarters to undermine an election, half a century ago. And it seems like the GOP have been the kings of gerrymandering and voter suppression since at least the 1970s.

About a decade ago, I finally accepted that seeking to undermine democracy is just the nature of the Republican Party, and has been for generations. They know their ideas can't win many elections on their merits, so voters are a threat to them.

Show threadHarry Tuttle, heating engineerApr 7, 2023
@tzimmer_history the logical end from the knuckle draggers yelling, it ain’t a democracy it’s a republic!
Show threadGurtbeef RobeApr 9, 2023
@tzimmer_history I’m with you. The gop never does something evil and then stops when dems get mad about it. This was a test and will probably happen again in other states with a similar state legislature makeup. Unless we come at them hard and really punish some gop officials for this (which we won’t), the odds of it happening again go up exponentially
Show threadMike GaruccioApr 10, 2023

@tzimmer_history

Honestly though, is it that disastrous? Given gerrymandered districts in an already red state doesn’t this make them more likely to win the races that matter them (primaries)?

Show threadCaryHHartApr 7, 2023
@tzimmer_history I suspect laziness is as much, if not more, responsible for bad writing as intentional obscuration. Parroting is easy.
Show threadDemocracy Matters Apr 7, 2023

@Caryhh @tzimmer_history

I wouldn’t give laziness that much credit. Never attribute to laziness that which can be adequately explained by malice.

Show threadRenéeApr 7, 2023

@Caryhh even if that is so--which I strongly dispute--is that somehow better, that the default position is that the communicators of fact and recorders of formal history seem unable to see racism and fascism when it is standing plainly in front of them, or do not care, and their words default them to mealy-mouthed both-siderism?

@tzimmer_history

Show threadMark SaltveitApr 7, 2023
@tzimmer_history "Polarization" is also the intended outcome of gerrymandering; putting all of your opponents into one or two districts where they have a massive majority, encouraging more radical stances. Meanwhile, you spread your party across a bunch of slight majority districts where they can sound moderate while campaigning, then vote radically as a block in the legislature.
Show threadedgeoforever 🍎Apr 7, 2023
@tzimmer_history only 2 - the black ones!
Show threadSLCW💥Apr 7, 2023
@tzimmer_history I hate when the media uses these euphemistic terms when what we need is unflinching clarity. Talk of "polarization" mitigates the culpability of Republicans for their vile actions, and spreads the blame to "both sides". The use of these weasel words is part of the media's destructive obsession with appearing "fair and balanced" regardless of the circumstances. In their world, every story involves equal validity from both sides. And the American people suffer the consequences.
Show threadArmy GirlApr 7, 2023
@tzimmer_history horrifically bad take on what happened here by Associated Press.
Show threadedgeoforever 🍎Apr 9, 2023
@tzimmer_history Bothsidery
Show threadRiley S. FaelanApr 12, 2023

@tzimmer_history: "Why are the Democrats so polarising by getting punched?".

Le sigh. What a stupid notion.

Show threadTonio LoewaldApr 12, 2023

@tzimmer_history one of the best summaries of American politics (I forget the source) is that democrats are good people who are often compelled to do evil to have any chance to win elections while republicans are evil people who are occasionally compelled to do good for the same reason.

It basically explains everything.