Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Sid Salter: Expulsion of Tenn Lawmakers Another Step Away from Democracy

 Note: This column was written on April 8. 

The expulsion of the “Tennessee Three” – actually two of the three – elected state representatives in the Tennessee House of Representatives over their vocal interruptions of the proceedings of that chamber in protesting a recent Nashville mass shooting raises fundamental questions.

Like the Mississippi Legislature, the Tennessee House has a Republican supermajority which affords them immense authority over legislative matters and the daily operations of the House. Like most of the rest of the nation’s state legislatures and in the U.S. Congress, the legislative chambers are essentially the judge of the conduct of its members.

Under those laws, legislators can be expelled or otherwise punished for a wide range of conduct, but over history that action has been taken only rarely. The expulsion is apparently allowed by Tennessee state law, but it remains for judicial review to determine the constitutionality of the action.

After the GOP leadership of the Tennessee House determined that two Black male Democrat lawmakers and one white female Democrat lawmaker had interrupted the House proceedings while protesting in favor of gun law reforms, the chamber voted to expel the two Black lawmakers and came within one vote of expelling the white female lawmaker on the same grounds.

The action came after Tennessee House Republican leaders determined that the gun reform protests of the three Democrats were “disorderly” and brought “dishonor” to the entire legislative chamber. That was after the Covenant School shootings in Nashville that left six dead including three children.

And clearly, the issue here was not one of whether or not gun reforms should or should not be contemplated after the Nashville school shooting. It’s also clear that passions and angry speeches have risen to the level of punches being thrown in statehouses and occasionally on Capitol Hill in Washington. Those vocal, sometimes violent protests go back to prior to the Civil War.

The History of the U.S. House of Representatives reports: “On February 6, 1861, as the U.S. House debated the Kansas Territory’s pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution, the most infamous floor brawl in the history of the House erupted as Members debated late into the night of February 5-6. 

“Shortly before 2 a.m., Pennsylvania Republican Galusha Grow and South Carolina Democrat Lawrence Keitt exchanged insults, then blows.”

“In an instant, the House was in the greatest possible confusion. More than 30 members joined the melee. Northern Republicans and Free Soilers joined ranks against Southern Democrats. Speaker James Orr, a South Carolina Democrat, gaveled furiously for order and then instructed Sergeant-at-Arms Adam J. Glossbrenner to arrest non-compliant members.

“Wading into the “combatants,” Glossbrenner held the House Mace high to restore order. Wisconsin Republicans John (Bowie Knife) Potter and Cadwallader Washburn ripped the hairpiece from the head of William Barksdale, a Democrat from Mississippi.

“The melee dissolved into a chorus of laughs and jeers, but the sectional nature of the fight powerfully symbolized the nation’s divisions.”

The expelled Tennessee representatives can stand for re-election and both are said to be favored to do so in their districts. But that’s not really the point.

Regardless of the party in control or whether it is at the federal or state level, legislative majorities and particularly supermajorities must work hard to protect and foster the rights of dissent and protest from those in the minority. Otherwise, our system of government devolves.

Over the last decade, it appears that Americans are reassessing their appetites for political speech with which they disagree and for protests on behalf of changes in law they don’t support.

It’s important to remember that free speech extends to those in both the majority and the minority. That does not offer either status the ability to act outside the law. But what makes 
American democracy and the republic in which we live special is our willingness to protect free speech even when we disagree with some or all of it.


Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.

47 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh shut up Sid. They should have stayed expelled.

Anonymous said...

My "fundamental" question is why anyone would care what a partisan liberal hack like Salter has to say ?

Anonymous said...

A bunch of pearl clutching is all Sid is offering. Why not check out a Hinds county board of supervisors meeting and see where lack of decorum leads. No, if you want to join or be elected to a governing body representing all stripes, conduct yourself appropriately… or be shown the door.

Anonymous said...

Why can't intelligent people apply valid criticism to both sides of the political spectrum?

It just immediately disqualifies any "journalist" opinion for me when they gasp in horror at a behavior, when performed by someone deemed an adversary.
Yet they excuse or defend the same behavior when performed by their own politico heroes.

We should require all lawmakers to wear a lapel pin that says "Hypocrisy" since that is the only common thread in government. It's so tiresome and ineffective on moderates with a brain.

Anonymous said...

Reason number 102 that the republicans have already lost in 2024, these guys will be returned to office by landslides if they even have opposition. In the process they have given two unknowns a National platform to attack on guns and race. You can attack Sid all you want he’s just stating the facts

Anonymous said...

Robert's Rules of Order exist for a reason.

There are provisions to eject (remove from the room) anyone.
There are also provisions for any member of the body to be expelled from the body (have their membership revoked).

If the three members violated any of the House rules, they can then be punished by either option.

Anonymous said...

It was foolish of the Tennessee Republicans to think they could remove two legislators and there wouldn’t be any consequences. The hordes of student protesters were only emboldened by the legislators attempts to ignore them. Between abortion and guns, I’m not sure if the GOP has a future. Their extremist positions have alienated them from rational voters’ consideration.

Anonymous said...

If you are going to do something have balls enough to stand up for it. They should never be allowed to run for any office again. If they are allowed back you are just showing others that they can do the same thing without any worry.

If you cannot stand up for what you did then don't do it. That goes for both sides.

Anonymous said...

One of the most important rules one must learn is that just because you can doesn’t mean that you should. This GOP supermajority had everything that they needed, they just couldn’t stomach the protest. Now, they’ll learn exactly why the rule that i mentioned matters so much. They have, and will continue to have, more heartburn and fallout than they bargained for now. You all can get emotional about this if you want, but this was a terrible misstep.

Anonymous said...

This has nothing whatsoever to do with free speech, and Sid knows it. It has to do with behavior.

Anonymous said...

Sid has good points. Those commenters that can't take any political self evaluation/criticism because they can't think outside the Fox/Newsmax echo chambers make themselves known pretty quickly on this forum.

Anonymous said...

what we won't see from Sid-the travesty of the trump hunt

Anonymous said...

@9:45

The death blow for the Republican party would be the Democrats displaying the slightest bit of sanity....get back with us when that happens.

Anonymous said...

Biden and all the liberal Democrats from the WH down (state and local, will come and go. I can deal with that. What concerns me is all those people out there that are of the same mindset. They will be around forever, and their numbers are growing daily.

Anonymous said...

@9:45am
It is a common quirk among the Left to project their own deficiencies on their Conservative foes, even to bizarre and bolshevik extremes.

In an atmosphere of democrat deviance, chaos, violent usurpation of our founding principles, defunding of police, executive branch subservience to Chinese commies, intentional autocratic elimination of oil and gas resources and undermining our allies, normal citizens had better stay armed and stand firm for family, faith and freedom.

Anonymous said...

This behavior is going to be the death of the GOP and will turn the conservative movement into a fringe movement that is associated by non-partisans as the movement where fascists feel welcome

Anonymous said...

9:45 So Republicans are supposed to turn a blind eye every time to the behavior of democrats? Republicans are getting sick and tired of the democrat spoilt child behavior from the past several years. There is a place and time but that wasn’t it for the elected officials to act in that way at that time.

Anonymous said...

Tennessee was enjoying some private sector success in Nashville with corporations moving there in large numbers.

That trend will quickly reverse if Tennessee lawmakers continue to act dictators.

Think I’m wrong? Mississippis R Tate Reeves erased the confederate flag because of college sports pressure.

Pressure will come to bear.


Anonymous said...

Sid must be fine with mob behavior as long as it's Marxist Democrats doing it. Legislative bodies have rules for a reason. THey should apply to all members of a body.

Anonymous said...

A ham sandwich with a (D) next to its name could defeat even a sane/moderate like DeSantis.

The inverse is not true. Conservatives will refuse to support (R) candidates that don't have the qualifications they seek.

Moderate conservatives that dont see representation in the options, may be the death knell for the GOP.

I hope Republicans get their act together, but I don't see any way the "haves" will ever defeat the "have not" majority again.

Anonymous said...

In SidWorld, Democracy is best when a legislative bodies have people with bullhorns screaming at each other.

Mob rule is great!

Anonymous said...

Bring back James Tulp. Sid is a waste of bandwidth.

Anonymous said...

There is a difference in protesting before a legoslative body and shining you ass like these did-

Anonymous said...

SIDemocrat

Anonymous said...

@ 11:01

LOL, You missed the point bro. I'll type slower next time.

Anonymous said...

Be careful of the behavior you tolerate.

Anonymous said...

Not surprised this doesn’t lead to another leftist mass shooting. The majority of mass shooters seem to be left leaning. And don’t forget, nazis are socialists!

Anonymous said...

I agree with @9:36, the double standard of both political cults is nauseating. From talk to other people, I'm not the only one that's starting to feel this way.

Anonymous said...

Where will they be able to cry the election was rigged in ‘24.? Even if Fox wins, I think they have learned a valuable lesson.

Anonymous said...

Protesting is part of the foundation of our country!

Anonymous said...

"Moderate conservatives" = contradiction in terms

Anonymous said...

@12:23
Read the twitter files
Read the pentagon leaks
Read project Veritas
Nobody is swallowing the lefts gaslight bullshit anymore
They rigged the 2020 election

Nobody boos Donald Trump when he attends sporting events
Go watch the UFC video where the entire stadium cheered him when he appeared.
The majority of people love Trump and he was deposed by deep state/foreign enemies.

Anonymous said...

Folks in Missippi, don’t listen that’s why the will never learn. Sid just gave you the facts. So let’s attack the messenger.

Anonymous said...

Have to agree with 10:11 am. All the GOP managed to do was make martyrs (so to speak) out of the 3. Better course would have been to ignore them.

Anonymous said...

People who did the same on 1-6 were put into jail. Why should Democrats be excused for leading a MOB storming into the Capitol building and stopping the people’s’ business?

Anonymous said...

This quote from David Frum is getting more and more accurate.

"If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy."

If you need more evidence, just read more comments at JJ. Or gerrymandering. Or the hypocrisy of ramming through Supreme Court justices. Crap, almost forgot their constant yapping about election fraud and how it was stolen. Can provide more evidence at request.

Anonymous said...

Moderate liberals = Do not exist

Anonymous said...

Good for the Republicans, they shouldn’t tolerate children breaking the rules, they knew the children would cry racism, that’s part of the Dims game plan, as long as Republicans ignore these cries the better off they are and more support will come. Of course the Dims got back in (interim) but that wasn’t the Republicans call. You could bring in right wing rent a protester to cry and moan too, but we know the Dims and their media darlings would have a field day screaming racists and even a speech from president potatohead.

Anonymous said...

Go back to Forest you yellow dog democrat.

Anonymous said...

3:08pm
For chaotic, perverse leftists, cheating elections IS democracy, so is bullhorning inside TN legislative chambers, weaponizing bureaucrats against parents and churches, invading and threatening Supreme Court Justices, as well as grooming/mutilating children for Q set deviancy. Is there no evil the left does not adore?

Anonymous said...


Ole Sid and most Dim-O-Krats won't be satisfied till every city in Mississippi is in the shape of Jackson, just so they can be called progressives.

Eventually, they want the whole country to end up this way, then they can be happy, because everyone will be unhappy, just as Sid has been his whole life.

Anonymous said...

10:15 is right. This has nothing to do with free speech or having a difference of opinion. This had to do with behavior (bad behavior) and diplomacy (or the lack thereof) and respect for the rules of order. I respect the right of the expelled legislators to have their opinions, to voice them, and to disagree with the majority who didn't agree with them, and even to protest. But you do that outside, not in the halls of the Legislature. They made a farce of the legislative process and acted so unprofessionally. I expect more from our legislators who are supposed to be out leaders and set a good example of how to debate and disagree respectfully. What these legislators did was the exact opposite.

Anonymous said...

Who knew Sid had become a satire writer.

Anonymous said...

All this chatter about conservatives. I don’t see anything today’s “conservatives” are conserving except a place for their snouts in the government feeding trough.

Anonymous said...

When unarmed protesters show up at the US Capitol, it is an "insurrection which threatens our very democracy". When MLK wannabe protesters shut down the business of the TN capitol, they are "brave freedom fighters" and "martyrs", and doing anything to punish them is "authoritarian and racist".

Scoop said...


Good column Sid and right on the mark.

Anonymous said...

Common sense suggests a bullhorn is not acceptable and should not be tolerated in any legislative venue whether the Tennessee legislature or Starkville City Hall. Democracy was never in question. Incivility and disruption was the issue. Sid, let's bring a bullhorn to the next big president's meeting at MSU and see what happens. Maybe you'll understand that concept a little better when it's closer to home. Cheers!


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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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