With Mike Johnson as speaker, Matt Gaetz and company "won" after all

 

Well, instead of inserting it into tomorrow’s topic, I just want to throw in my immediate take on the Republicans electing an “inexperienced,” evangelical Christian and election denier in Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House. Democrat Gerry Connolly issued this statement in regard to Johnson…

“With today’s election of Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Republican Party has completed its devolution into chaos and extremism. Instead of working with Democrats toward a responsible, bipartisan governing coalition, Republicans – including supposed ‘moderates’ – have weaponized the bad behavior of their most extreme members and cemented far-right extremist rule in the House. Having served with Mike Johnson on the so-called Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, I know him to be a far-right ideologue and a defender of insurrection. House Republicans have had three weeks to decide between bipartisan governance and MAGA extremism. Today, they made their choice.”

… and it is clear that Matt Gaetz and company are the “winners” after all. I suspect that Johnson has an equal chance of bringing “stability”—meaning control of the House by the far-right—or more chaos as his extreme views clash with Senate Democrats. Republican “moderates” seem to have forgotten or are ill-informed about his "Old South" extremist “cultural,” anti-abortion and racial views, in which "freedoms" and "rights" should be restricted to, and protected for, bigots like himself (here opposing an anti-discrimination policy in regard to gays from his pre-politician days)…

 

…that won’t be popular in those swing districts that “moderate” Republicans currently hold. Obviously he was elected because he can be manipulated by those he believes he “owes” his election to—and that is the far-right of the party, being that he is a charter member of the extremist white nationalist Freedom Caucus; he just hasn’t had the media exposure or a habit of making himself look ridiculous (i.e. Lauren Boebert) on a regular basis. Unless he “moderates” himself, this “aw shucks” version of Jim Jordan is a disaster in the making for governance.