She stood there in the well of the House of Representatives, trying to explain herself, trying to be humble now. It didn't work. Her past caught up with her.
Marjorie Taylor Greene tried to save her committee appointments yesterday. The Democrats took them away.
You might say that that was unfair, that her rights were violated. Not true.
Yes, she had a First Amendment right to say uncomfortable things, things that were not true and even things that were dangerous. But they aren't just words. They are predictors of future actions, like someone saying that the rally previous to the storming of the Capitol last month would be "wild."
When certain people in certain positions say irresponsible things, others piggyback and allow themselves to be persuaded. It's only human. And someone has to step in and set things straight. Someone has to act responsibly.
The scary thing, the thing that keeps eating away at me is, that if Kevin McCarthy was the Speaker of the House and not Nancy Pelosi--by a majority that has narrowed considerably since 2019--Marjorie Taylor Greene would continue to say things like:
- The Clintons sabotaged JFK Jr.'s plane, which crashed in the Atlantic and killed both him and his wife in 1999;
- The Parkland school shooting was actually staged;
- Someone should put a bullet in Nancy Pelosi's head;
- No plane ever hit the Pentagon; and
- There is a wide conspiracy including Democrats, the "deep state," and Hollywood.
She also tried to disavow and distance herself from the horrible group called QAnon, which among other things says that Democrats kill babies and drink their blood (I prefer trout and salmon, drained and processed, thank you). But she said that yesterday and not one day before that, so her sincerity rings very hollow, like her reminder that she hasn't said anything outrageous since being elected.
It sounds like Kevin McCarthy told her to look humble and say humble things. It doesn't look like she would say them anyhow, say them just to be nice and somewhat normal.
Because when you walk into the House of Representatives with a weapon and insist on doing so, so much that you dodge the metal detector and walk around it, you are telling perfectly normal people that displaying that weapon is vital to your existence, even though nobody else has to make such a claim.
"I'm a very regular American," she said, but she's wrong and she knows it. If you need that gun to make your point, your point isn't very popular and you have defied but defeated the very purpose of having the discussion. And it's not regular. It didn't resonate, so Pelosi had to threaten her with a $10,000 fine if she did it again.
That isn't revenge from a threat, although Pelosi couldn't be blamed if it was. It just makes sense, directed at someone who hasn't grown up.
Greene did not back away from attacks on the news media, either, to sound very much like the president she so greatly admires, even though what all those media are trying to do--as opposed to the media she likes, which are also media but she believes that the label "media" will attach only to those she doesn't prefer--is their job, which is to monitor government and make sure it spends our tax dollars well.
She even had an excuse for her narrowness. "I was made to believe things that weren't true," she cried, which is permissible if you're some slob trying to get to work while listening to Rush Limbaugh, but not for a member of Congress.
Oh, you couldn't get up and leave the meeting? QAnon tied you to your chair? They made you stop reading books and magazines, did they? Or did they shut off CNN and forced you to watch Newsmax? This is a sufficient explanation about why you believe in an incredible truckload of nonsense?
She also blamed the "cancel culture (careful not to mention Black Lives Matter)." which has torn down some Confederate statues--relevant in her home state of Georgia, for sure. But to lump it in with sanctions upon her status in the House continues one of the major themes of Republicanism lately, that of being a victim: Poor, persecuted little me.
If you consider this unimportant, consider also that when she walked into the Republican Caucus, Greene was rewarded with a standing ovation. That's exactly what was reflected in such a tawdry and gooey show of support.
That's why the gun is so necessary, too. The response is then to bully, to display power, to get one's own way. Making people fear you is superior to getting people to respect you through the strength of your ideas. If the two were the same, she would not have had her committee assignments challenged. Like someone else we've been forced to listen to for the last four years, the person whose name she was also smart enough not to mention, presentation skills are supposed to impress us more than substance. That will increasingly be the Republican MO. Wait and see.
The former president, of course, slinks down in Mar-A-Lago and awaits the discovery of how close he will come to not being allowed to run for office anymore. He'll survive, but some Republicans will cross over and either have a conscience left, or they don't feel threatened by a vote of conscience. Probably a little of both. They're certainly won't do the right thing for its own sake.
But Greene isn't him, and tolerance for lies and poppycock only go so far. Without the swagger of her weapon at her side, she isn't very much; things aren't quite the same. But we should expect more of this (by the way, where did Lauren Boubert, the other blowhard with a pistol, go lately? Hasn't said much, huh? She, uh, dodged a bullet there.). I can't see why not: Thomas Massie, Louie Gohmert, Alex Gosar, and others are already there and have been spewing reality-challenged items for some time now. The Baloney Caucus is only growing.
Former House member Patrick Kennedy was on CNN last night and expressed some remorse for what's been going on. "Nobody likes this," he said. He's a bigger man than I am, then. I would take pleasure in shutting down an angry, irrational fool like Marjorie Taylor Greene. I would almost enjoy it.
Be well. Be careful. Wear a mask. One day closer to a second vaccine. With some luck, I'll see you down the road.
Mister Mark
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