America First...?
Twisted Thinking from a member of our House.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene either did or didn't develop a plan to create a new caucus within the Republican Party. We can't know for sure either because an unapproved working paper leaked or because she fell back to lying about it when faced with the backlash. You decide.
She claims this was an unauthorized product of an outside PR firm she had not even read. How a PR firm could come up with the document in question without input from the Congressional office is somewhat difficult to swallow.
Nevertheless, the Congresswoman complained about the "fake news" running with lies and made up quotes from this paper. If there is anything noteworthy about Greene, it is this. There is no question, she and others in her camp fostered this idea. All one has to do is read and listen to Greene's quotes and diatribes. For this essay, I will say she is practicing damage control by denying this attempt at establishing white supremacist ideology as the proper American value set. Yet, her defense of this extremist idea was that she is not a typical, weak politician who bends with the wind? Does she not recognize that her excuse for this inflammatory screed is precisely what a typical politician would do when faced with the backlash this idea engendered. Perhaps not? Certain members of the current crop of House Representatives are not known for their intelligence or political savvy.
What is it all about, this fire and fury? Greene and several of her ultra-right Republican cohorts thought they would start a new caucus within the GOP, based on America First principles advocating Anglo Saxon, Nativist values. The concept embodied in this movement revolved around a return to uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions and a return to an architectural style that befits the progeny of European Architecture. (Whatever that means).
House members who initially signed on to this insanity include Matt Gaetz, Louie Gohmert, and Paul Gozar. Keep in mind that after these political stalwarts expressed their agreement with this ideology, Greene then disavowed it and claimed it was unapproved, talking points from some as yet unnamed lobby or PR firm?
As crazy as this all sounds, it happened. It will continue to happen as long as we elect right-wing nut jobs to Congress. We cannot expel representatives like Gohmert, Greene, Boebert, and Gozar because they have radical thoughts and ideas. We can remove members such as Gaetz if he is found guilty of crimes for which he is currently being investigated. The means of removing the members who espouse these insane ideas is at the ballot box.
The America First Caucus will not be the last time we hear extremist views such as these expressed by members of our House. Regardless of where you vote, we must support candidates who seek to unseat these dangerous ideologues.
An interesting facet of our election process developed over the past decade. We can feel comfortable that the politics of our locality are not likely to change dramatically in the short term. That allows us to deploy our resources to other races in other states that have decoupled in some way from our American value system. Much like the run-off in the Georgia Senate race, we can make a difference in these races with activism and money.
The elections of 2022 are not so far away. Let's work to get rid of the crazies.