02/04/2021
Alyse Kaminski | Staff Columnist
There has already been so much drama in politics this year and it is only February. Between the insurrection at the Capitol and subsequent impeachment, it’s hard to even imagine what all is in store for 2021. And with so-called leaders like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, I just know we are in for one crazy term.
To recap, Rep. Greene hails from Georgia, representing the 14th District which covers Rome, Calhoun and Dalton. She was the lady at the impeachment debate wearing the “CENSORED” mask while on national television. It is not surprising that a Republican with such strong and far-right views was elected in this district. However, that does not excuse her behavior, past and present.
Recently, a video of Rep. Greene harassing and following David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland shooting and common sense gun legislation advocate, has surfaced. In an interview in 2019, she also called him an idiot, according to NBC News.
It is as though she fails to recognize the trauma that David Hogg and his fellow classmates endured the day 17 of their peers and school faculty were murdered. Rep. Greene, an elected official sworn to protect her constituents, shows absolutely no empathy to a person about 25 years her junior who experienced the unthinkable.
Not only that, but Rep. Greene has supported the execution of Democrats through liking posts advocating for such violence. According to a CNN report, she liked a post essentially saying that “a bullet to the head” would be the quickest form of removing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, from office. I cannot fathom what would happen to any Democrat if they liked such a post referring to a Republican.
Rep. Greene also said on Facebook Live that Pelosi was responsible for treason and should be punished by death. Those words came out of her mouth. News has additionally surfaced that Greene has shown support for baseless conspiracy theories from Q-Anon. I personally saw one she liked where Jewish people were being accused of controlling space to start the wildfires last year.
Between all of this, and the time in 2018 when she said Reps. Omar and Tlaib are part of a “Muslim invasion on our government,” I am at a loss. It is genuinely hard to come up with the words to describe this all. It is such insanity.
What feels even more insane is that I am siding with Rep. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on this one. He said it better than I can — Rep. Greene is a cancer to the Republican Party.
This woman, and all like her, represent the worst in us as Americans. She represents those who believe everything they see on Facebook. Those who don’t do research. Those who go to church on Sunday to worship our Lord, but then will turn around and push lies about their Muslim brothers and sisters.
Her lack of empathy and ability to reason should not be tolerated in any elected office. I am in full support of all efforts to have her removed from her committee assignments, especially if she will really be working on education. Anyone who harasses a student who survived a school shooting should not be making decisions regarding anyone’s education.
Yes, Rep. Greene and her like-minded colleagues represent something truly broken in America. Let her be a reminder of a few things. First, the danger in electing anyone who uses Facebook as their main source of information. And second, that if we all were just a little more empathetic, we would not be so deeply entrenched in the disaster that is America right now.
