As a rule, I dislike being called a cynic, but I have to take issue with Marjorie Taylor Greene’s stated reason for quitting Congress after five turbulent years representing a rural NW Georgia district.
She entered the House after the 2020 election with both guns blazing. She was a proud MAGA Republican dedicated to furthering the agenda favored by her fella … Donald Trump. She has fallen out of favor with the Big Man, who recently called her a “traitor” because she had the gumption to stand up for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s shenanigans. MTG sought to make peace in recent weeks by declaring she no longer would engage in the vitriol that became part of her brand. Well, I believe the congresswoman was about to find out that payback is a serious bitch! I believe the Republican Party is going to have its genitals handed to it after the 2026 midterm election and Greene, who always has struck me as a politician more dialed into the limelight than actual governing, was about to be shoved to the back shelf. Democrats who often were the victims of her barbs would not take kindly to her remaining among their midst were they to retake the majority in January 2027. Therein, I believe, lies the real reason for MTG’s stunning departure from Congress. She alluded briefly to the GOP’s immediate future in her statement, declaring that she does not want to subject her family to the Trumpian onslaught in a bitter GOP primary only to see the Republicans “lose the election.” I will say further that I am glad to know that MTG has thought better of her flame-throwing rhetoric and has vowed to take a more civil tone in discussing policy differences with Democrats. I salute her for standing by her principles … yes, even those with which I disagree. Marjorie Taylor Greene also knows that memories can last seemingly forever in Washington. Reality is a force with which not everyone can reckon.Tag Archives: GOP
A word of caution
For those expecting High Plains Blogger to offer a full-throated endorsement of the California vote supporting Proposition 50 this week, let’s instead heed a word of caution over what we might have unleashed in this country.
It is a warning of rigged elections on both sides of the chasm.
Prop 50 was California’s answer to the Texas Legislature’s decision to approve a redistrict plan that could produce five more Republican seats in Congress. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the Texas effort cannot stand. So, he launched an effort to ask voters to approve a statewide redistricting plan that counters the Texas decision. Californians did … in a huge way.
What they have done is given the California Assembly carte blanche to redraw lines that would enable the election of more Democrats to Congress to counter an anticipated GOP surge in Texas and other so-called “red states.” More “blue states” are planning similar efforts for the 2026 election cycle.
Do you get where I am going with this? I support the concept of electing more politicians who would oppose the chicanery being foisted on us by the Donald Trump administration. I am deeply troubled that Democrats are responding with an effort to “preserve democracy” with a process that is as rigged as the one Republicans are foisting on millions of other Americans.
That ain’t democracy, kids.
I am left to recall the words of the great Native American philosopher, Tonto, who would tell the Lone Ranger, “Two wrongs don’t make it right.” The path to restoring our democratic process should be more of a challenge than just rigging an election to produce candidates to our liking.
Pols run close to ruining their own careers
Politicians dismiss public opinion polls all the time, especially those that tell them things they don’t want to hear.
They do so at considerable risk. Why say such a thing? Public opinion polls are speaking with one voice on this issue: the government shutdown. They are telling us that Americans are disgusted with Congress and the president over their refusal to reopen the government because Democrats insist on preserving elements of the Affordable Care Act that will provide insurance for millions of Americans.
Without the ACA — aka Obacare — tens of millions of Americans will lose their health coverage.
One party controls both congressional chambers; and the White House. No laws are being legislated. The House hasn’t even been in session. Speaker Mike Johnson decided to let ’em all go on vacation rather than stick around and do their job. Get this: All members of Congress are getting paid for their inaction. Listen up, gang: You and I are getting ripped off! None of us likes it.
I get that pollsters get a bum rap. They are right in many instances. Such as now. When they measure citizens’ angst over their government’s performance, Congress’ ratings head straight for the crapper.
We all know that members of Congress depend on their performance to guarantee they’ll continue their political careers. If they don’t get busy in a major hurry, my hunch is that voters in November 2026 will look for candidates who can step in and do the job for which the do-nothings are being paid.
Waiting for the wake up call
I will not venture a guess on when it might occur, but I am waiting for the wake up call to ring in the ears of the Republicans who occupy most of the seats in both chambers of Congress.
The call will come from the coscience of a once-great political party. It will sound the alarm that GOP members I hope hear and take seriously.
The wake up call is bound to remind the GOP majority for who it is working. It isn’t the man who keeps the chair warm in the Oval Office. They work for rank and file Americans, even those of us who didn’t vote for them and those who detest the idea that Donald Trump is being paid 400 grand annually to serve as POTUS.
One must presume that Trump might do something that is so outrageous that most members of Congress no longer can support that dipshit. President Nixon found the drop-dead moment in 1974 when the Supreme Court ordered him to turn over the Watergate tapes that had him ordering the CIA to cover up the Watergate caper.
Is such a moment awaiting Donald Trump? The man appears to have buffaloed the political right wing.
But I will hold out hope.
Speaker losing shutdown battle?
Mike Johnson — bless his heart — is trying desperately to blame the government shutdown on Democrats who oppose Republican bills to reopen the government.
What the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatves never says while chastising his Democratic friends is the reason for the string of “no” votes. Republican honchos leave out the part about Affordable Care Act subsidies being swept away by these GOP efforts to unlock the doors of the federal government. Getting rid of the ACA only will send insurance premiums far into the deep blue sky. It will deny health insurance to millions of Americans who depend on what is referred to colloquially as Obamacare.
Do you remember when “Obamacare” was tossed around as an epithet? These days, even the former president, Barack Obama, uses the term when referencing the ACA at political rallies. The ACA was the 44th president’s signature piece of domestic legislation, which then-Vice President Joe Biden was heard calling a “big fu**ing deal.” And it is!
The government is shut down and heading for a record stint of governing inaction by the political party that runs both congressional chambers, has one of its own in the White House (which he is destroying with the ballroom construction), and yet these numbskulls can’t find their ass with both hands.
Speaker Johnson is losing the battle and possibly the public relations war over this government shutdown. To be honest, I don’t give a crap about Johnson and the Republicans’ standing in the polls. I do care that the government restarts and gets revved up to help those of who are paying for the services … which we aren’t getting!
GOP fails to govern
Look for the common denominator … which happens to be one of my favorite pieces of advice I hand out.
If, after looking at all the tempests and tumult and you find something in common that runs through them, then you have a culprit you can separate from the pack of demons.
What, then, is the common denominator in all the government shut downs we have endured over the past five decades or so? One jumps out at me. It’s the Republican congressional leadership. All these shutdowns seem instigated by GOP hotheads intent on making names for themselves. They place notoriety over notable legislative achievement.
The latest government shut down is the on the verge of setting a dubious record for longevity. The GOP blames Democrats because they keep rejecting Republican efforts to pass continuing resolutions that would re-open the government. Democrats counter that the GOP plan includes the notion of ending Affordable Care Act subsidies that uninsured Americans need to continue receiving health insurance.
The stalemate drags on. We have found the common denominator. It mirrors prior such schemes from the same political party that has given us too damn many of these misadventures.
Why do they hang with this guy?
Men and women of good will, a deep faith in God, of conscience and commitment to public service all swear allegiance with the same oath of office.
They all pledge to serve the Constitution of the United States without fear or favor.
Why then — I have to ask — do so many of them stand behind a man who has become the embodiment the perversion that has overtaken so many men and women who get into public service? Donald Trump has become the antithesis of what we once called the better angels of our society.
His vengeance campaign against his political foes is beginning to make many of his Republican allies squeamish. The longer we watch the GOP leadership back away from their unconditional support for Trump, the more concern I feel for the very fabric of our democratic republic.
I stand behind my earlier assertion that the Constitution will hold up under this intense pressure. That it will show how well it works even as the president does all he can to undermine it. That doesn’t mean I will enjoy seeing the Constitution being stretched beyond recognition as it faces pressure from all three government branches.
Through it all, we have 535 members of two congressional chambers who take an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies. Too many of them don’t seem to realize that the founders implied strength for them by ensuring that their power matches that of Congress and the courts.
The sooner they snap out of their daze, the better for the nation.
Look for common denominator
When we complain about policy disagreements and dysfunction in government, I am fond of reminding the complainers of a simple fact.
Look for the common denominator, I am bound to say. All the issues that erupt have something in common. It’s more or less like the dysfunction I have witnessed in my immediate family. I can point to an individual who is at the center of the dysfunction as the cause of it all.
So it is with government. What is the common denominator in the troubles that have befallen the federal government, which at this moment has shut down many offices that provide service to those of us who pay for it?
It’s the Republican Party, its leadership and in this moment the MAGA wing that just can’t find a way to negotiate with those dreaded Democrats. They are the common thread that runs through all of this. They were present when the government shut down during Donald Trump’s first term in office. Indeed, they were in power when Newt Gingrich was the GOP speaker of the House.
Government shutdowns don’t serve anyone any good. They simply deny essential services to millions of Americans whose tax money pays for the government to work for them. Right now, it ain’t working for anyone!
Democrats want to keep health care available for millions of Americans. Republicans don’t. Hmm. What’s wrong with this picture?
I am not going to predict an end to this latest shutting down of the government. I just want us all to understand who is responsible for its occurence in the first place.
Then we need to respond accordingly when the time comes to vote on whether to keep these dipshits in power.
Meanwhile, a shutdown looms … again!
As the political world frets and ponders the fate of the Epstein files, a James Comey indictment over a frivolous perjury allegation, Congress and the so-called president are locking horns over whether to allow the federal government to shut down … again!
No one is governing. Not on Capitol Hill. Not in the White House. Congress is grappling with yet another continuing resolution and whether to enact it and fund the government for a few more weeks. If not, then we shut the government down — or much of it, anyway — while Congress and the so-called POTUS argue among themselves.
This is a shitty way to run the world’s greatest democratic republic. I say that with caution, because our greatness is being whittled away by Donald Trump’s efforts to usurp power from Congress and grant himself power the founders never envisioned.
I continue to be utterly flabbergasted that this Congress allows a president to strip the legislative branch of the authority granted it by the founding fathers. The founders created a presidency with limited power. They limited the legislative branch’s power, too. A president proposes legislation, but Congress disposes it. That’s how it’s supposed to go. Presidents are asked to work hand-in-hand with Congress, including with members of the opposing party, to fund the government. Is any of that occurring? Hah!
The federal court system, meanwhile, is juggling issues that have nothing to do with governance, but everything to do with presidential conduct.
Our government is broken. I won’t say it’s destroyed, but man … the damage is piling up.
I know this sounds a little like a “both sides at fault” argument, but in the case of the budget shutdown, I have to lay blame at the two governing branches’ feet. It would be up to the courts to determine if either sides does something in violation of the US Constitution.
However, I am sickened by Trump’s ongoing petulance and the revenge he continues to seek against his political foes. It is Trump’s vengeance that is driving Democrats away. As the only politician elected by the entire nation, it falls, therefore, on the president to step up and do what is right.
Find a solution to this ongoing budget crisis!
Making a personal plea
I did something today I don’t normally do, which isn’t a big deal per se, but it’s big enough of a deal for me to post a brief item on my blog.
U.S. Rep. Keith Self, a Collin County Republican, is going to get a letter from me. It’s not a long tome. I am asking him to rethink his rock-solid support for Donald J. Trump. Self is my congressman. He is a Republican. He also is a good guy who I happen to like personally. He and I are acquainted. We have shared some things we have in common, such as the fact that we both lived in Amarillo. Self grew up there; I got there in January 1995 to advance my career in journalism.
Self, though, stands behind a man who I believe is trampling on the founding fathers’ graves by seeking to seize more power for the presidency than the founders envisioned. The Justice Department indictment of James Comey, the former FBI director, was the final straw for me.
I want Self to rethink his loyalty to Trump. The president is a menace. He poses a dire threat to our very form of government.
Keith Self fought for this country. He is an Army infantry officer, a Ranger and a man with high honor. He is a devoted patriot. Trump has never served his country. Even now he occupies an office that he aims to serve his needs. I am baffled beyond belief that Keith Self, with his background and history of serving the United States of America, would stand so firmly behind a politiician who spits on the memory of those who have served with valor.
I harbor no illusion about whether a single letter from a single constituent is going to do the trick. I’m hoping that others out there will take a moment to let Keith Self know this indisputable fact: He works for you and me … and not for the president of the United States.