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This month, there was an “assault on democracy” in Tennessee.
It was not three members halting the legislative process, but rather their expulsion.
It appears that nothing says democracy like a bullhorn and obstructing legislative work.
I recently wrote a column on how American politics has become a simple matter of amplification after Democrats stopped the Tennessee House proceedings with a bullhorn to protest the lack of gun control measures.
I noted, “Today, for many, there is no room for nuance. Instead, they live in a world occupied only by ‘fascists’ and ‘insurrectionists.’ ”
Right on cue, Vice President Kamala Harris and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) proceeded to add their own amplified voices to the madness.
AOC even shared a video of protesters chanting “F–k you fascists” and promising that “Gen Z” will even the score.
I do not agree with the expulsion of the two members as opposed to other sanctions.
Expulsion should only come in rare and extreme circumstances.
While repeated disruption of the proceedings might qualify, I would have recommended censures and suspension from Committee positions.
Vice President Harris did not visit the families of the victims of the recent mass shooting in Nashville, but flew to the state to express her outrage at the expulsion of two legislators.
She praised the legislators while blaming the Republicans for victimizing the families whom she ignored on her visit.Disrupting discourse
The full-throated support for the actions of the expelled legislators is a bizarre position for the Senate president who enforces the same rules in Washington, DC.
Yet she was disgusted by sanctioning members who refused to allow their colleagues to continue legislative business because they lacked the votes for a gun control measure.
Harris proclaimed “it’s about whose voices they were channeling.
“Understand that — and is that not what a democracy allows?”
Liberal sites like HuffPost gushed with praise for Harris and her “powerful message on Democracy.”
Democracy does not invite or entail the disruption of democratic process.
It is the same bizarre claim for many on the left that silencing others by shouting them down on campuses is a form of free speech.
