# Tennessee to Expel 3 Democrats (update: all back in office) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 4, 2023, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128 "2023-04-04T12:06:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/141 "2023-04-12T19:08:28Z")
You want that spare change this time, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/142 "2023-04-12T19:15:39Z")
Nice quote from Pearson: > “You can’t expel hope. You can’t expel justice. You can’t expel our voice. And you sure can’t expel our fight. We look forward to continuing to fight. Continuing to advocate. Until justice rolls down like water. And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Let’s get back to work.” ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/143 "2023-04-12T19:17:11Z")
Justin Pearson for president, in 2040? Congrats to him on his reinstatement. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/144 "2023-04-12T19:23:48Z")
The GOP really did just hand these guys a national microphone. Pretty good trade up from a bullhorn. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/145 "2023-04-12T19:27:36Z")
> If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. Here’s hoping … ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/146 "2023-04-12T19:29:48Z")
I just love the smell of a good old southern petard hoisting. ---
**Author:** ![TruePisces](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/truepisces/32/13628_2.png) [@TruePisces](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruePisces)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/147 "2023-04-12T19:35:04Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Justin Pearson for president, in 2040? I would vote a Jones/ Pearson ticket in a heartbeat. In either order. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/148 "2023-04-12T19:47:32Z")
One would have to leave Tennessee. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/149 "2023-04-12T20:58:14Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > The GOP really did just hand these guys a national microphone. Pretty good trade up from a bullhorn. For the record, the best part of this successful effort to overturn a massive miscarriage of justice is that it shows, despite worries in several threads, that there are plenty of young, driven Democrats out there, who with sufficient seasoning (and assuming the Republican party doesn’t utterly break the Republic in the next decade which I’m no longer hopeful of) can be the sort of national candidates that can move our population, hopefully enough to overcome our inertia and Republican reactionaries. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/150 "2023-04-12T21:23:09Z")
A (gift) article from Washington Post: DOJ being asked to look into the expulsions. > **[Tennessee expulsions prompt Senate Democrats to call for DOJ inquiry](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/12/tennessee-expulsions-prompt-senate-democrats-call-doj-inquiry/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjI2MjU5MDQxIiwicmVhc29uIjoiZ2lmdCIsIm5iZiI6MTY4MTI3MjAwMCwiaXNzIjoic3Vic2NyaXB0aW9ucyIsImV4cCI6MTY4MjU2Nzk5OSwiaWF0IjoxNjgxMjcyMDAwLCJqdGkiOiJlMWYzMmQ4Mi0zZWM5LTRkOTgtODJmNC05YWQ3YWI4ZTc2MTYiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy53YXNoaW5ndG9ucG9zdC5jb20vcG9saXRpY3MvMjAyMy8wNC8xMi90ZW5uZXNzZWUtZXhwdWxzaW9ucy1wcm9tcHQtc2VuYXRlLWRlbW9jcmF0cy1jYWxsLWRvai1pbnF1aXJ5LyJ9.PrQrKmwPMXAPSZYQt7ahfvjDbc3cbdUXYFIYfX3HyRM&itid=gfta)** > > A letter signed by Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, among others, asks investigators to examine whether state lawmakers had their rights violated ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/151 "2023-04-12T21:27:08Z")
I’d be shocked if anything came of it. Courts are notoriously loathe to grapple with what they consider “political questions” and this certainly seems that. So much so I am surprised senate democrats are asking for this. I expect they know it will go nowhere. The Tennessee legislature was shockingly awful with these expulsions but I can’t see a federal court doing anything about it. Near as I can tell Tennessee law was followed. > **Political Question Doctrine** > > Federal courts will refuse to hear a case if they find that it presents a political question. This doctrine refers to the idea that an issue is so politically charged that federal courts, which are typically viewed as the apolitical branch of government, should not hear the issue. The doctrine is also referred to as the justiciability doctrine or the nonjusticiability doctrine. - [SOURCE](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/political_question_doctrine) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/152 "2023-04-12T21:46:12Z")
I see that the second reinstatement was also unanimous. 36 to zero nays and zero abstentions. Good for them. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/153 "2023-04-12T21:51:38Z")
I agree it won’t go anywhere, and I was surprised to see this DOJ thing show up. It seems like a platform for Senate democrats to keep the issue alive; I’m afraid it will die much too quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/154 "2023-04-13T09:50:47Z")
I thought some Republicans were absent during the reinstatement vote? Or am I thinking of something else? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/155 "2023-04-13T14:50:44Z")
The reinstatement votes were by local councils. The Nashville-Davidson Metro council for the first and the Shelby County Board of Commissioners for the second. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/156 "2023-04-13T15:05:16Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I thought some Republicans were absent during the reinstatement vote? Or am I thinking of something else? Maybe? There were 36 votes, so if that’s the board that has 40 people on it, then 4 of them must have been absent. But I might have my board numbers mixed up, maybe 36 was all of them. If somebody wasn’t there, of course there are multiple possiblilites as to why – anything from ‘genuinely way too sick to show up’ to 'I can’t stand to vote yes but they’re clearly going to put him back in anyway and I don’t want to deal with the pushback from being on record as voting no or even formally abstaining". ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/157 "2023-04-13T18:51:41Z")
Some on the right seem to genuinely believe that liberals are doing something or another to destroy **'Meruka**. > “If you don’t believe we’re at war for our republic, with all love and respect to you, you need a different job,” he said. “The left wants Tennessee so bad because, if they get us, the southeast falls and it’s game over for the republic. This is not a neighborhood social gathering. We are fighting for the republic of our country right now!” > **[Leaked audio reveals furious infighting among Tennessee GOP over ousted Black...](https://www.rawstory.com/tennessee-republicans-2659851986/)** > > A leaked audio recording obtained by The Tennessee Holler reveals furious infighting among Tennessee Republicans as they took criticism for the ouster of Black Democratic State Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson.The audio begins with Tennessee... ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/158 "2023-04-13T18:53:47Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Some on the right seem to genuinely believe that liberals are doing something or another to destroy **'Meruka**. _Most_ of the right thinks that. I’m always puzzled when I hear this on right wing radio. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.E](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.e/32/8932_2.png) [@Mr.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.E)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/159 "2023-04-13T19:08:13Z")
Divide and conquer tactics. Instead of being two groups of Americans with different beliefs it becomes “Us Godly Americans” versus “Filthy Depraved Liberals” who want to burn it all down and outlaw guns and turn all our sons gay and turn our daughters into welfare queens or something. America will survive if assault rifles get banned and drag queens read stories to children, it will even survive if school shootings continue while those drag queens are outlawed and discriminated against. I’m not sure if it will survive if these issues are used as fodder for this kind of violent hateful divisive rhetoric, though. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128/160 "2023-04-13T19:11:11Z")
> The left wants Tennessee so bad because, if they get us, the southeast falls and it’s game over for the republic. I get that the right says that (and I listened to the audio), and I accept that a lot of people actually believe it, but I truly and honestly don’t understand how they can think that way. They’re objectively wrong that it’d be “game over for the republic”. My mindset is so far removed from theirs that I just can’t fathom thinking that way. > [@Mr.E](#): > > Divide and conquer tactics. I ETA That may be, and I’m not disagreeing with your post. I’m adding to clarify mine. To me, it’s simply irrational. There’s objective evidence that their way of thinking harms the country. “Divide and conquer,” or by the audio linked above, “Democrats aren’t our friends”. Splitting the country is not the same as E Pluribus Unum. And to overstate the point, the country is the United States of America, not US and them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennessee-to-expel-3-democrats-update-all-back-in-office/982128.md?page=9)