Lessons Learned From My New Heroes: Justin, Justin, and Alvin
Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Alvin Bragg teach the nation how to deal with autocratic MAGA bullies
Despite the escalation of autocratic MAGA attacks from all sides and all directions, coming fast and furious all over America, against women, against Blacks, against transgender kids, against librarians even, I have been unaccountably happy lately. Why? The dam has broken, a lightbulb has been turned on, and the door has been unlocked.
How do you solve a problem like MAGA? Three Black men have shown timid liberals, Democrats, the keep-your-head-down people at DOJ and in the White House, and all of the rest of us the way.
Three Black men have demonstrated what to do: stop being polite and quiet and punch back. Figuratively speaking, of course.
I have been made so very happy by those two absolutely brilliant young men of the Tennessee legislature, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson. I give a nod as well to Gloria Johnson for standing firmly by their side. These two young men are so eloquent and so inspiring, every word they utter gives me such pure joy listening to them.
If you have been living under a rock, I guess you haven’t heard of them. So let me summarize. They took on the MAGA authoritarian drunk-with-power Tennessee Republicans and House Speaker Cameron Sexton. Justin, Justin, and Gloria showed how you fight back when it seems like you have no power. The Tennessee GOP has a supermajority, so they figured they can do as they please. They are vindictive and malicious people. They do not allow debate. They do not allow opinions contrary to their opinions to be voiced. They turn off the microphones of members who just want to have debate and discussion. Justin, Justin, and Gloria were fed up with being silenced by these petty little tin-foil-hat MAGA Republican dictators like Sexton.
The Tennessee Three, as they were called, violated the rules and dared to speak out of turn after their microphones had once again been cut off. They even took out a bullhorn to ensure they would be heard. They took to the floor of the Tennessee House and protested gun violence, legislative inaction, and acknowledged the protestors who had shown up in the gallery.
What did the genius MAGA Republicans do? They booted out the door the two Black men, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, and kept the white lady Gloria Johnson. And the Republicans did this without even pretending to go through the motions of anything like due process!
Justin and Justin got the last laugh. By standing up loudly— by making good trouble — they caused the MAGA Republicans to expose themselves to the whole nation as the vindictive, petty, and autocratic racists they really are as they expelled the two Black men but kept the white lady.
Silly Republicans. You forgot to leave your white hoods in the cloakroom. Oops.
Everyone take note. This is how you deal with MAGA. Don’t waste your breath trying to reason with them. Don’t waste your time waiting for voters to vote them out; they have gerrymandered themselves in since they know they could never win fair. Don’t wring your hands about how important it is to not get down in the dirt with them.
What you have to do is punch ‘em (as I said, figuratively speaking) and then they can’t help but make complete fools of themselves and give you de facto power, elevate your voice, and gain sympathy for your cause. When you punch ’em, their masks slip, and the slimy truth of their real nature is exposed for all to see.
Republicans do love their guns, but they just can’t help shooting themselves in the foot.
Stop being timid. Too much is at stake. The time for keeping your head down, staying “polite,” and taking the “high road” is long past.
Dare to step out of line and good things happen. Just look at Tennessee.
- Justin and Justin were reinstated in their seats and no doubt will be making even more good trouble.
- Sunlight is the best disinfectant. A lot of Tennessee voters — especially young voters who were definitely paying attention — know the truth now. They saw that they have a lot of cockroaches infesting the Tennessee House GOP. An exterminator (again, figurately speaking, y’all) will be arriving there next election and spraying. Cockroaches will still remain, of course, but at least some of them may have to scurry back into the shadows.
- Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, failed drag-queen-wanna-be (I’m joking, just giving him a little poke) issued an executive order expanding background checks for gun purchases and asked the legislature to consider some sort of “red flag” law to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Yes, this was mostly just a gesture from Bill, but it was a telling gesture. It was the gesture of a man suddenly nervous about his own power, standing, and position. Maybe he was nervous because protestors were chanting, “You ban books, you ban drag, kids are still in body bags!”
- A huge nationwide speaking platform was inadvertently given to Justin and Justin and the MAGA GOP has thus launched the careers of two superstars, who are going to do great things in the future, I have no doubt. Thanks, MAGA. I almost want to send a thank you card and flowers to Cameron Sexton, the smug racist fascist. Lately, he looks like he just bit into a lemon, so he could probably use some nice cheery flowers. Rainbow colors maybe?
Alvin Bragg is also teaching a lesson to liberals, Democrats, and the pearl-clutching folk over at DOJ who so far have been slow-walking justice against Trump.
However, I am not talking about Bragg throwing a punch at Trump, although that was nice to see.
No, I’m talking about the punch he has thrown at playground bully Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).
Poor Jimmie. He is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. He has been having a rough time of it with the committee he chairs. It is the pompously named “Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.” This was supposed to be the MAGA answer to the Jan 6th committee.
Here is an analogy: The Jan 6th committee was like a Broadway production of “Hamilton.” Jordan’s little committee is like a rural high school’s production of “Bye Bye Birdie,” complete with kids who can’t sing, dance, act, or follow stage direction and are mostly just interested in the afterparty where there will be a kegger in Jimmie’s barn.
Everything Rep. Jordan has tried with that committee has fizzled. No bang for the buck (and as a taxpayer, I demand my money back).
Rep. Jordan’s latest scathingly brilliant idea has been to hurl insults and threats at New York DA Alvin Bragg and issue a subpoena to Mark Pomerantz, a former assistant DA, to come and testify. All of this is Jordan’s weaponization of government on behalf of Trump.
Bragg punched back. He filed a lawsuit against Jim Jordan! I love it. That is a helluva punch. That is how you do it. (Ahem, DOJ, White House, anybody watching and listening? When will you finally throw a punch?)
MAGA Republicans are all just showboats, most with IQs below the moron level. Sue them and put these people in an actual courtroom — in the real world, not on Earth 2 — and put them into a position where they have to actually come up with coherent sentences, that include coherent thoughts, grounded on actual facts, and they will just shrivel up and melt. They may even manage to get a contempt of court citation, too, when they try their MAGA song-and-dance stuff on a judge. (By the way, parenthetical note, do keep your eye on the Dominion lawsuit against Fox News, since Fox lawyers have already been shooting themselves in the foot before their trial has even started.)
I’ll admit, I was not originally a big fan of Alvin Bragg. He used to be a bit timid. However, I suppose just as Justin and Justin felt compelled to act in the face of dead kids in schools, Bragg has also found his courage in the face of the death threats he and his family are receiving thanks to MAGA jackasses spewing their MAGA hate.
When you realize how real and dangerous the threat is from MAGA Republicans and from gun rights lunatics, courage comes a little easier, I suppose.
Speaking for myself, I used to be that quiet little white lady in the corner, as quiet as a mouse. Now I am shouting at protests for women’s rights, for Black Lives Matter, and for getting rid of effing weapons of war that are killing kids. I discovered I can shout. I also discovered I can make a small bit of good trouble myself by planting QR code stickers for PlanC in Hobby Lobby stores.
Justin, Justin, Alvin, and others are my heroes. Anyone who will throw a punch at bullies is my hero.
Have you thrown a punch (figuratively speaking) today? If not, what are you waiting for?
Your good intentions are not enough. Punch ’em (figuratively, yadda yadda). MAGA Republicans are cowards at heart. Call their bluffing bluster and bring democracy back to America. Lives depend on it and our kids deserve better. Put an end to MAGA. Speak up to secure reproductive rights. Bring justice to autocrats who thumb their noses at the rule of law and democracy. Protect trans kids, support drag queens, and buy a banned book.
And above all, demand a ban of the damn assault rifles.
Follow the lead of Justin, Justin, and Alvin, as they have shown us all how to do it, and how to fight to win.
Throw a punch! (Figuratively!)
A footnote concerning MAGA cockroaches
What few MAGA Republicans there are with an IQ above the moron level know they need to hide from exposure to the light, just like cockroaches hide from the light. The biggest cockroach in America right now is not Donald Trump. It is Ron DeSantis. He signed a permitless carry gun law behind closed doors. He signed an abortion ban (a 6-week abortion restriction is an abortion ban) in the dead of night, at 11 p.m., in a private ceremony.
Shine a light on cockroaches and do everything you can to make sure Ron DeSantis never ever sees the inside of the White House.