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The removal by vote of Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee positions has unleashed more political drama. Nancy Mace calls it “unprecedented.” Well, Nancy, Donald Trump was unprecedented too, and you supported him at first. Calling school shootings "conspiracy theory" is certainly unprecedented, so by your argument it should definitely be something we put a stop to.
Unfortunately, Republicans not holding one of their own accountable isn’t unprecedented. We saw it as they continued to support Donald Trump right up until the point — and even after, in some cases — he led a mob of insurrectionists to their front door, at which point they broke glass and overwhelmed police (or were allowed to) in order to get inside, roam around, and pillage generally. Then they didn’t want to impeach him and castigated those of their party who did.
And now, after refusing to even quietly chastise a member of their party who has espoused conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory for years before her election, including a speculation that the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas was a government plot to take away gun rights, they are objecting to Democrats voting to remove her from the education committee.
The irony of Greene, with her wild willingness to disregard any factual evidence behind many of her beliefs, being on the education committee is honestly pretty funny.
But what isn't funny is this question: Does this create a dangerous precedent, a slippery slope? Almost definitely. But it doesn’t have to. Once again, the situation is being manipulated to turn the perpetrator into the victim. Our politicians, left and right, are masters of this game. But at this point in time, we see Republican hypocrisy and gaslighting at its finest.
Just days before the vote to remove Greene from her committees, Republicans DID vote to remove a member of their own party from her appointed position: Liz Cheney. Her crime? Voting to impeach former (what a sweet word) president Donald Trump while he was in office.
Nothing unconstitutional about that.
But evidently it’s OK to espouse violence and baseless conspiracy theories after that same rhetoric instigated a mob rioting inside the Capitol building while lawmakers Republican and Democrat took shelter.
Now let’s give credit where credit is due. Eleven Republicans voted to remove Greene from the education and budget committees, among them Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, who said the conspiracy theories Greene has promoted are a “cancer” to the Republican Party.
As for Liz Cheney, as we know, the vote to have her removed from her position as GOP conference chairwoman failed; House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy spoke up in support of her right to “vote her conscience.”
But this is evidence of a terrible hypocrisy, and a terrible identity crisis, within the Republican Party: they will vote to remove from authority an elected member of their party who had the audacity to use her constitutional right to vote, but they will not curtail the irresponsible perpetuation of dangerous conspiracies and will threaten the Democrats who did so with petty reprisal.
What is the Republican Party coming to?
We have a government of checks and balances. Nowhere in that constitutionally designed system does it say that one party cannot use its ability to vote as a check on another. This poisonous rhetoric that puts party above accountability, above even the Constitution, must stop. Someone is going to have to be the bigger “person,” and Republicans in the House and Senate are in the perfect position to do so. They are in the minority, their party is bitterly divided and good faith efforts to curtail extremism will go a long way toward regaining voter sympathy and trust.
After all, Democrats have a lot to retaliate for. It wasn’t so long ago that Republicans were blocking Obama’s Supreme Court nomination in 2016, swearing they’d do the same to a Republican president and then rushing through Amy Coney Barrett one month before the 2020 election. Democrats have an equal responsibility to fair play, but GOP threats of reprisal may only fuel the power play of majorities in both houses of Congress and the White House.
GOP: Let’s acknowledge the flaws in the party and work to correct them. Dems: Let’s make a strong effort to support Republicans who are willing to do this, and not take advantage of our majorities to the detriment of peace.
Otherwise, I’m in agreement with a recent Letter to the Editor of Charleston City Paper, which stated, “The party that won’t even acknowledge Biden is president is not interested in unity. “
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