The Arsonists

Kevin McCarthy’s desperate dealmaking to secure the Speakership is taking shape. In essence he has created Congress’s version of January 6th insurrectionists. He has empowered a right-wing crew of political arsonists, whom he has no power over, and given them his blessing to do whatever they want. These people don’t need to break into the Capitol; they work there, and love playing with matches. They are like little kids who get charged up after lighting a bug on fire.

Giving these people power is dangerous. These right wing dissemblers of democracy, who include Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania,, or associated with white supremacists. All were deeply involved in The Don’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. 

All of those mentioned above, except Gaetz, have been assigned to the Oversight Committee, which has the power to investigate anyone and anything it wants.

Other new members on the Oversight Committee who have attracted less attention include Representative Russell Fry of South Carolina, who has campaigned with election conspiracy theorists including Mike Lindell, the chief executive of MyPillow; and Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, who has denied the results of the 2020 election and has appeared on a television program that has pushed the QAnon conspiracy theory. It’s a veritable all-star cast of political arsonists.

For a moment, let me move from the world of arson to the world of pillows. Have Lindell’s sales increased during his foray into right-wing politics? According to Lindell, he has lost a 100 million dollars during his foray into election denial but others say his profits increased. Who knows? But rumor has it that he is working on a promotional campaign that he believes will skyrocket sales. When you buy a pillow you a get special pillow case with a picture of the ? storming of the Capitol. And for an extra $5.00, you can get a special commemorative item of a noose and the crowd chanting “hang Mike Pence”. Lindell promises that his pillowcase will just add to the comfort of his pillows, guaranteeing the best sleep yet.

Given that it takes just one person to challenge the validity of McCarthy’s Speakership, it is clear that he has no oversight over the Oversight Committee. He is the equivalent of a scarecrow with no scare in him; the birds circle him, snicker, and once in a while poop on him. This is going to get ugly. 

Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has buddied up with McCarthy, is the ringleader. If you remember, not too long ago, MTG was stripped of her committee positions for her incendiary remarks. Most notably, she endorsed the executions of Democratic politicians including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama. She also challenged whether planes actually flew into buildings on 9/11 and suggested that some school shootings had been staged. Though she claims to no longer be a QAnon enthusiast, in 2017 she called QAnon “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out.” She also blamed space lasers controlled by a prominent Jewish family for the devastating fires in California. 

In 2021, when Democrats moved to strip Greene of her committees, McCarthy said he “unequivocally” condemned Greene’s many controversial remarks about “school shootings, political violence, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.” He told Greene: “as a member of Congress we have a responsibility to hold ourselves to a higher standard.”

Greene, under duress, and desperate to preserve her committee appointments, relented and retracted some of her most outrageous statements, stating: “School shootings are absolutely real” and that  “9/11 absolutely happened.” If you believe there is anything sincere about these apologies I have a unicorn to sell you. In fact, these retractions were made in the privacy of McCarthy’s office but in public, she wasn’t as contrite. She is still the same firebrand, as evidenced by her recent statement that if she and Steve Bannon had been in charge of the insurrection “they would have been armed and they would have won.”

As for Gosar, he too was censured by the House and removed from committees after he posted a photoshopped anime video to social media showing him appearing to kill Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Joe Biden.

To reiterate McCarthy’s statement to MTG: “As a member of Congress we have a responsibility to hold ourselves to a higher standard.” Given McCarthy’s descent into shameless pandering, I think we need to amend this statement to “As a member of congress there are no longer any standards to hold ourselves, too. Or to summarize: standards, meh? And guess what? McCarthy has sworn unswerving devotion to MTG, taking the term friends-with-benefits to a new level.

Of course, no discussion of no standards could be complete without a mention of our Mr. Make Believe, George Santos. Not only is McCarthy refusing to take any action regarding Santos, but to show how low he can go, he appointed Santos to the small business and Science, Space, and Technology Committees.

Rumor has it that Santos has started working on his first bill. It is called the Go Fund Me bill. It’s believed to be a major fundraiser for him. The bill will help small businesses create Go Fund Me sites that will wind up in his back account. The good news is that he promises not do anything that results in the killing of animals.