Thread by @davidplazas

This is the editorial from the @USATODAY Network Tennessee on the #insurrection. Our position: @MarshaBlackburn, @BillHagertyTN & TN's GOP House members are complicit in spurring the mob. I want to explain why we wrote it & why we didn't rush it.
tennessean.com/story/opinion/… \

Yes, I know we are in the era of hot takes (which I've been guilty of writing), but I heard you @CarolBAndrews @pfcasey1953 @charlesrbone @Corinne92618609 et al.
First the network represents our multiple publications in TN incl. @Tennessean @knoxnews & @memphisnews \

I write the editorials, but I work with the editors of the publications to discuss, debate, challenge, tweak and edit and re-edit it. There were multiple drafts starting yesterday afternoon. The news cycle was ever-changing & a lot happened. \

In the morning, Blackburn, Hagerty and the House Republicans (@DHarshbargerTN1 @timburchett @RepChuck @DesJarlaisTN04 @RepJohnRose @DrMarkGreen4TN & @RepDavidKustoff ) were for objecting to electoral votes. Then the storming of the Capitol happened. \

In the aftermath, the senators reversed course. We chose to focus on those two because, to quote James Madison: "the Senate would be a 'necessary fence' against the 'fickleness and passion' that tended to influence the attitudes of the general public."
senate.gov/artandhistory/… \

Translation: They should be above the fray. But they weren't until their hands were forced. Several of their own party members spoke to responsibility of a senator while they sat quietly. Hopefully, they let it sink in. Nevertheless, this still stains their legacies. \

Last year, Hagerty often used the term "angry mob" to describe protesters who marched for racial justice. #BLM for example. It's clear now they weren't the angry mob. We saw the angry mob yesterday & they were hordes of white men & women carrying Trump and Confederate flags. \

It was important to us to appeal to a sense of history. Tennessee has elected senators with great legacies, both Democrats & 7 Republicans, like Howard Baker, @algore & @bfrist. Senators shouldn't be one way on social media & cable news & another in person or in the press. \

We rarely call for officials to resign (even if it's the right thing to do) because some politicians use it press a "fake news" narrative. It's up to them to be better. \

That is why I wrote: "That is not what a member of Congress is supposed to do. They take an oath to defend the Constitution, not to any one person."\

Incidentally, I've received dozens of letters since the storming of the Capitol. Our readers, some of them Republicans, former Republicans and past supporters of our Senators, are livid.
tennessean.com/story/opinion/…

Happy to answer any questions.

Thanks.

-30-

Just a correction: I inadvertently typed "7" before Republicans. That was not supposed to be there. But if you're interested, there have been 11 Republicans elected or appointed to the Senate from Tennessee.

I've updated the editorial to note the fifth death: U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick who died protecting members of Congress from the mob. RIP.
usatoday.com/story/news/nat…