Holding the monsters accountable
Holding the monsters accountable
Marjorie Taylor Greene takes the stand
I can’t say that seeing the putrid congresswoman from Georgia publicly grilled and made to squirm before the world didn’t give me a bit of satisfaction.
Inglorious paragon of the kakistocracy, that she is...
What I can say without doubt, is that if the efforts of the five plaintiffs in this case are successful, this will be a history-making event.
On Friday, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was forced to declare her intentions for, and involvement in the events of January 6, 2021, under oath. Five of her constituents brought the suit against her, in order to find her an enemy of the state, if you will. The suit was brought, hinging on a provision within the 14th Amendment held over from the Civil War era.
In short, it prohibits anyone from running for public office, were they ever to participate in an insurrection against our government. The goal is to disqualify Greene from running for reelection, based on her involvement.
Several points of interest: Greene is where she is because she ran unopposed in the last election. It’s easy to be a winner when you’re the only one playing the game. All that needs to happen is for a halfway lucid, non-troglodyte contender to step forward and this waking nightmare could be over.
Secondly, and most distressingly, voters in Arizona have brought a similar suit in recent months against Representatives Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs, only to have a Phoenix judge dismiss the cases. That would lend to the notion of this effort to shed MTG being more quixotic than practical.
Still, a rational society can hope for a return to some level of competent governance, where those entrusted with the well-being of our society (voters) decide to vote for competence and character over angry, ranting screeds and personality cults.
MTG is one of the worst examples of the morally, intellectually bankrupt to grab hold of the reins of power. She and her Trumpian cabal, made up of such foul players as Creepy Forehead Matt Gaetz (R-FL.) and living-meme-for-stupid, Lauren Boebert (R-CO.), do nothing to elevate our nation. Their only purpose seems to be to drag us further into national ruin and disgrace. Maybe the quixotic is what we need to get the ball rolling.
During Friday’s hearing, the world saw Greene flip between bouts of short term memory loss and photographic memory, depending on who was asking her questions. The more serious observers could smell the desperation on her.
At one point, she was asked if she considered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as a “traitor” to the United States. This habit of framing political opponents as “traitors” or “enemies” becomes more important, when you consider the rhetoric that fanned the flames of the January 6 attack.
Greene initially tried to refuse to answer, saying, “I’m not answering that question. It’s speculation. It’s hypothetical.”
Lawyer Andrew Celli, who is representing those trying to kick Greene off the ballot for allegedly violating the 14th Amendment, responded, “You’ve said that, haven’t you, Ms. Greene — that she’s a traitor to this country?”
“No, I haven’t said that,” Greene responded.
It’s at that point that Celli sought to bring up video footage of MTG saying just that. Her memory was suddenly revived.
“Oh wait, no, hold on now,” Greene said. She then tried to put a good spin on her past comment, saying, “I believe by not securing the border, that that violates her oath of office.”
If that’s the case, then there has been a very long line of traitors to this nation, including the man she serves, Donald Trump.
After it became clear that she would be held to account for some of her more incendiary comments, “I don’t recall,” “I don’t remember,” “Where am I?” and “I just work here” became her obvious defense strategy.
Did she speak with anyone in the lead up to the January 6 events?
I don’t remember.
Yet, her website touts the “great planning session” she had participated in at the White House, three days before, even urging a million people to show up.
Also, did she speak with Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs?
I don’t remember.
Two separate organizers of the January 6 events say that they were in touch with all three representatives.
Next, Greene was asked about other talks with the White House — specifically, whether she ever recommended that Trump declare martial law. Her lawyer tried to object by claiming executive privilege (he has also worked for Trump) but Greene ultimately answered.
“I don’t recall,” Greene said, responding to the same question by again saying, “I don’t remember.”
What does she remember?
Oddly enough, her poor memory seemed to improve, with razor-sharp accuracy, when it came to questions from her own attorney.
She was confident enough to repeat the “Big lie,” that the election was stolen from Trump, but would not own up to calling January 6 “our 1776 moment” in a video to her wretched followers.
She claims she never attempted to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, but is also on video saying, “You can’t allow it to transfer power ‘peacefully’ like Joe Biden wants.”
What a reprehensible creature she is.
She may not be barred from reelection, but at least she’s on record and under oath.
Did she perjure herself?
A check of the video history would suggest that is the case. Her spin on it all now is laughable. This, however, could very well set the standard for future calls for the testimony of elected officials, linked to the attack on our government on that day.
We don’t expect immediate results, but we should expect for the work to be done.
Just to correct the electoral record.
Marjorie Taylor Greene was not unopposed in the 2020 election. John Cowan, a nose-breathing, normal guy neurosurgeon, 2A supporting conservative who had never been in politics ran against her. Greene beat Cowan 41-19% in the open primary in June which was a mess during the pandemic and also because Rep. Tom Graves retired so the seat was wide open. It was always going to be a GOP seat in GA-14. But nobody got 50%+1 so there was a runoff.
https://ballotpedia.org/Georgia's_14th_Congressional_District_election,_2020_(June_9_Republican_primary)
The runoff in August became a Trump-Never Trump battle. I live in GA-6 and gave money to Cowan even though he is in a different district. I wrote an endorsement for him. I begged 14 CD voters not to elect MTG.
In the runoff, Cowan did respectably. MTG got about 100 less votes in the runoff than she did in the primary. Cowan got 10,100 more votes and about 27,000 who voted in the primary didn’t vote in the runoff. That’s normal.
MTG was more or less unopposed in the general because the token Democrat suspended his campaign and left the state in the midst of a messy divorce (rule 1 of campaigning: your spouse is running too, obviously his wasn’t). Kevin van Ausdal (D) still got 25% of the vote in the general election.
Not everyone in GA-14 is batshit crazy. I have friends who live there. The fact that 5 have stepped forward to subject themselves to threats and stone-throwing (literal) is proof of this.
However, it also means that a normal person running against MTG has a much bigger hill to climb than Susan suggests. That’s my $0.02 from the ground in north Georgia.
It is inaccurate to say the putrid congresswoman from Georgia got where she is because she ran unopposed in the last election. In the August 2020 Republican Primary Runoff Election, the people of the 14th district chose her over neurosurgeon and businessman, John Cowan, 57.2% to 42.8%. That is unfathomable and speaks volumes about the people of northwest GA.