Expect other Woke-Leftist Agitators to adjust their behavior and tactics in the future

By Guy Benson

If there's one thing America's journo class absolutely loves, it's Woke Lefty Protests. It makes them feel vicariously alive, imbued with excitement and solidarity. Right-wing equivalents are, of course, seen as unsettlingly strange at best, and "threats to democracy" at worst. And thus, utterly predictably, the "Tennessee Three" have been made into newly-minted stars by the news media and the broader Left.

The left's tsk-tsking on "civility" and "norms" is even directed at the party that didn't cause the uncivil, norms-breaking uproar – the purpose of which was to shut down actual & civil debate.

One of the ousted members claims he didn't know that taking over the floor of the State House of Represntatives with a bullhorn and leading chanting to drown out governmental proceedings was against the rules.

The apparent ringleader, however, seems to have known exactly what he was doing.

Ex-Rep. Justin Jones (who has since been re-appointed to the seat and sworn back in, pending a special election) has experience in this realm.  Strangely, this relevant little nugget was omitted from nearly all of the hero worship "news" coverage of the expulsions.  I can't imagine why:

A protester behind a series of recent demonstrations at the Tennessee state Capitol has been banned from the building and ordered to have no contact with House Speaker Glen Casada after being charged Thursday with assault.

Justin Jones, 23, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of disorderly conduct after authorities say he threw a cup of coffee into an elevator, striking Casada and Rep. Debra Moody, R-Covington...

According to arrest documents,

Jones "attempted to push his way past uniformed state troopers" as he approached the elevator while yelling "Casada is a racist."

Jones then is accused of throwing a paper to-go cup "filled with an unknown liquid believed to be hot coffee" into the elevator. The liquid splashed onto Casada and Moody...

So in his days an unelected left-wing agitator, this man – then a divinity student – shoved police officers while accosting the Tennessee House Speaker, per police records, then allegedly hurled a cup of hot coffee at the man, striking his target and another GOP lawmaker.

This conduct earned him a ban from the building.

Democrats in Tennessee then decided it would be a good idea to nominate and elect Jones to that very chamber, where he flagrantly violated the rules, disrupting the legislative process with a new form aggressive agitation.

And that's not all. He also insulted another GOP colleague with a racial slur, because he's classy that way.

Jones doesn't deny using the term, explaining proudly that he'd merely referred to this Indian-American first-generation immigrant as the "brown face of white supremacy."  Which... is not better. It's a disgusting, racist thing to say, actually.

All of this seems like meaningful context to the vote expulsing him from office.

And yet – again, very weirdly and inexplicably – the previous assault and racism has been almost entirely left out of the media hagiography of this guy.

And when I say "inexplicably," I mean "totally explicably."

He's the new hotness in journalists' progressive tribe, so unhelpful and unpleasant details are airbrushed away.  The Goods are good, and the Bads are bad. That's the point of this "reporting."  It's how it works.

Given his prior assault and subsequent ban, his appalling treatment of colleagues, and his obvious breach of legislative protocol, the expulsion of Jones was probably justified.

But just because something is justified doesn't necessarily make it the wise course of action.

On the subject of victims, this is also clarifying and revealing regarding the Left's priorities and sensibilities:

Conservatives ripped Vice President Kamala Harris’ surprise trip to Tennessee to meet with Democratic lawmakers ousted for disrupting deliberations at the state house – yet snubbing the victims of the mass shooting that sparked the demonstration.

Harris made a hastily-arranged trip to Tennessee on Good Friday, where she gave an angry, partisan sermon attacking Republicans – but couldn't be bothered to meet with the families of the innocent people who were slaughtered by a trans shooter in the run-up to holy week.

They mobilized to get the Vice President down there lickety-split for her faux-righteous jeremiad, even as they've encountered nothing but scheduling issues and other factors when it comes to meaningful visits to the border.

She's technically the 'border czar,' but it's clearly not a task that she cares about in any way.

The Veep took a last-minute trip to the Tennessee capital Friday to meet with two state lawmakers who were expelled for protesting in favor of gun control in the wake of the shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville that left six dead, including three children. Harris privately met with ousted Democratic Reps. Justin Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson – as well as Rep. Gloria Johnson, who avoided expulsion by just one vote.

She also met with advocates and the entire Democratic Tennessee state caucus – but notably did not visit the victims and families of the deadly school shooting.

The trans community, incidentally, quickly supplanted the actual victims of that massacre as the True Victims in the Narrative, astoundingly hosting a "die in" at the Tennessee capital to accentuate their alleged victimhood, while demanding that the killer be honored among the victims of the murder spree she/he perpetrated.

The Vice President, representing the Biden White House, wanted to signal her solidarity with these True Victims. The families of the real, dead victims apparently just weren't worthy of any of Kamala's face time.

Murdered victims are evidently seen as useful in the area of exploitation on behalf a political agenda, but if their other characteristics (or the identities and politics of their surviving loved ones) don't fit a certain storyline, they're instantly forgettable and disposable. Really healthy stuff.

We are now on to a brand new round of True Victims: The Democrat politicians who were thrown out of office for violating the rules of the chamber in which they served.

This episode also underscores how the Biden administration can, in fact, rapidly deploy their principles when they see the potential for political gain or useful grandstanding.

We also saw a pile-up of scheduling conflicts preventing Biden and Harris from comforting the citizens of East Palestine, Ohio, after they were victimized by a terrible accident (which White House has dishonestly sought to blame on the opposition party).

Again: Wrong types of victims – Not useful enough in key categories. Tough luck; the president and vice president are busy.

Notice that the left's tsk-tsking on "civility" and "norms" is directed at the party that didn't cause the uncivil, norms-breaking uproar, the purpose of which was to shut down actual debate. That's a form of "silencing those who disagree with us." 

My general position on last week's Tennessee flap was that the expulsions may have been a bit heavy-handed, despite clear cause for disciplinary action. Ejecting elected representatives is a very serious step, and should generally be avoided to the greatest extent possible. Plus, it would've denied these loud-mouthed showboats the tribal martyrdom and accompanying prominence they clearly crave and relish.