MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE CONTINUES TO BE A, “PAIN IN THE ….!

 

                                      …The Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

 

MTG compares a mask mandate to German Jews in the Holocaust

 

Let’s face it, U.S. Representative, Marjorie Taylor Greene is a reality, and the Republicans need to ask themselves, how much more of that reality can they take…?

The Rep. Ms. Greene ”was always a phrase that was going to be trouble for House Republicans.” It’s why the GOP leaders went to the unusual trouble of subtly trying to prevent this QAnon supporter and total conspiracy theorist from winning the GOP nomination in an extremely safe Republican seat. That being the Georgia 14th District.  It is the kind of district they would normally, never have bothered them to pay any attention to.

And whatever they are trying to do today, it’s clearly not working.

Greene’s latest event involves comparing the House’s coronavirus-related “mask requirement” to how the Nazis treated the German Jews during the time of the Holocaust.

In a recent TV appearance, Greene actually said that the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), by continuing to require masks, because many of the House Republicans haven’t been vaccinated, that it relegates those members to being “second-class citizens” as were the German Jews.

“You know, we can look back to a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second-class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany,” Green said. “And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about.” “Exactly.”

 Oh brother...!

Greene initially argued, despite her saying those actual words, that she hadn’t made such direct a comparison to the Holocaust. But the next day, she doubled down on the gold star bit and all of what she said. (Actually, the Nazi Star of David badge for the Jews was  yellow, not gold.)

She stated: “Vaccinated employees get a vaccination logo just like the Nazi’s forced Jewish people to wear a gold star, Just like!”

There are myriad problems with these comparisons, apart from the fact of the whole death-camp thing.

First, the “logo” Greene refers to is actually a sticker for vaccinated employees of a Tennessee supermarket chain.  That is the situation, rather than for supposedly her “second-class citizens.”

Second, the displaying of one’s vaccination status is very much a choice, rather than something that people are forced to do to.

Third, getting vaccinated is also a choice, unlike one’s heritage.  And institutions such as schools and colleges have long required certain types of vaccinations.

This latest event has spurred a more direct response from the GOP leaders.  House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has responded directly to Greene’s tweet, saying, “Marjorie is wrong, and her intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling.” A spokesperson for Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), said Scalise “does not agree with these comments and condemns these comparisons to the Holocaust.”

Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called it “an outrageous and reprehensible comment.”

The pushback from the highest ranks of GOP leadership was more significant than in regard to previous statements from Ms. Greene..

Back in January, there was a push to strip Greene of her committee assignments after CNN unearthed, not just more conspiracy theories in Greene’s recent past, but also promotions of violence against Democrats and other perceived political opponents.

Greene suggested the social media postings were from her employees rather than herself and that they didn’t matter because they happened before she was in Congress.  That is as if she has changed significantly in the last couple of years, which is not the case.  But at the time, that was apparently good enough for the Republicans, to decline from stripping her of her committee assignments.  However, the full House later did strip her of her committee assignments.  McCarthy at the time, downplayed the whole thing, going so far as to pretend he didn’t really know what QAnon was, which was despite his previously having denounced QAnon..

Fast forward a couple of months, and Greene served notice she was anything but chastened.  Reports indicated she was pursuing an “America First Caucus, similar to Trump’s “America First” approach.  However, a draft of the platform indicated her Caucus was focused on promoting “Anglo-Saxon political traditions”.  Greene again distanced herself from it, despite a spokesperson having initially confirmed the caucus’s launch was imminent.  This time, McCarthy was a little firmer, issuing a tweet denouncing her “nativist dog whistles.”  But as usual, his tweet wasn’t directly aimed at Greene and her caucus.

If that response is any indication, leaders like McCarthy understands that this kind of gentler, more hands-off approach to Greene is absolutely insufficient.  Something new and more direct needs to be tried.

But as far back as January, it was pretty clear in which direction Greene was headed. Many GOP members of Congress have tolerated her exploits of the more extreme elements of their party, including Donald Trump, only in the name of cohesion. They’ve dealt with the problematic members like former congressman Steve King (R-Iowa), whom the GOP ultimately stripped of his committees for questioning why terms like “white nationalist” and “white supremacist” were offensive.

But Greene clearly either truly believes the bizarre things she says, or she views them as her ticket to political relevance.  It's probably both, and her bizarre statements have been much more frequent in just four months into her congressional tenure. The still-emerging, wild videos of her harassing the likes of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes (D-N.Y.), before her service in Congress, only reinforces how far she’s willing to go.  And unlike Trump, she’s only one of more than 200 members, so the party doesn’t really need her.  It’s just a hassle in trying to get rid of her.

She also briefly hit back pretty hard, quote-tweeting a user who labeled McCarthy a “moron” and “feckless,” using a censored word that is not suitable for a family publication. She quickly deleted her tweet.

What the latest episode also betrays, is just how utterly desperate all of this is.  Whatever one thinks of “vaccine passports” or “mask mandates”, there is no universe in which either are comparable to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. 

Doubling down after it all, just shows this is a game that Greene intends to continue playing.  She seems intent upon creating headaches for her party’s leaders.  If her initial response to McCarthy is any indication,, she feels no real loyalty to him, or the party, or any need to keep the peace.

Leaders like McCarthy need to ask themselves, with every passing day, just how much worse it’s going to get before she forces them to truly do something about it.  You can dismiss any of the above as isolated events involving an attention-seeking freshman.  But taken as a whole, given the current frequency, just four months into her tenure, it’s almost impossible to picture this being manageable for the foreseeable future.

About the best thing Greene has going for her is that Congress won’t be back in session until mid-June.  That means that any fervor for further sanctions will probably have died down by then.

But, if her very recent past is what to expect in the near future, it’s only a matter of time before there’s something new.  And that something also will in all likelihood, be much worse.

The GOP seriously needs to deal with Ms. Greene.

Copyright G. Ater 2021