MTG belongs on MTV

There are some things to admire about firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene, sometimes dubbed “MTG.” After earning a Business degree from the University of Georgia, she and her then-husband took over her father’s contracting business. She quit in a few years and began serious CrossFit training and co-founded a CrossFit gym. After becoming interested in politics, she won a seat in the House of Representatives.

It goes downhill from there. She ran for Congress as a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, and won, but he didn’t return the favor; he did not endorse her.

Along the way, she has falsely claimed that AOC is not a legitimate Representative because she was sworn in on the Quran; she took a couple hundred thousand dollars in COVID money for her little contractor company; she says the Jan. 6 rioters were actually Antifa agents in disguise – even as she expressed support for them.

She has questioned whether school shootings were staged; she refers to her critics as “Pharisees”; she said “I don’t believe in evolution, I believe in God” as if people who believe in one cannot believe in the other.

She suggested that the California wildfires may have been caused by “what looked like lasers or beams of blue light” that were delivered by “solar space generators” involving a conspiracy of Jewish companies. She thinks mass immigration to Europe from Muslim countries is being orchestrated by “Zionists” to undermine Western culture.

In amusing malapropisms, she has referred to Capitol policemen as the “Gazpacho”, and referred to a petri dish as a “peach tree dish.”

She was censured by her own party for calling fellow conservative Representative Lauren Boebert “a little bitch.” (Her evolution-denying “God” could not be reached for comment on that tidbit.)

It’s not just her assault on decorum and language.

It’s that her histrionics get in the way of her job. That job is to govern. She’s the antithesis of governance. She is unable to govern even herself or her mouth.

She was instrumental is forcing out House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for daring to get real legislation accomplished by – shudder! – making political compromises with the other side. This is in the House where Republicans hold a majority of only a few seats. Then she was a ring leader in the ensuing circus to replace him.

Now she has made a motion to oust McCarthy’s replacement for the same sin of compromising with the Democrats to get things done that need to get done. She does these things not quietly behind closed doors where she might find common ground with those she disagrees with, but in front of cameras and bright lights.

The latest is her loud opposition to foreign aid bills for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. She insists that any aid be tied to money to secure the southern border.

To be sure, aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan are debatable policies. I personally favor all three, but I tend to come from the peace-through-strength camp and not the isolationist camp. But the isolationist camp has a legitimate case. That’s why we debate such things.

And I certainly favor securing the border. Illegal immigration is inhuman to the immigrants and destructive to America.

But tying money for securing the border, to foreign aid, is wrong for at least two reasons.

First, they have very little to do with one another. The people who seek to tie them together say “we should secure our own border before helping other countries secure theirs.” That’s catchy but they might just as well say, “We should secure the border before we send out Social Security checks” or “We should secure the border before we spend another dime on soldier salaries.

We can do all those things. It’s not one or the other. Holding one hostage to another is not constructive. It simply thwarts both – we wind up with an unsecure border and betraying our allies.

It’s like saying “I’ll hold my breath and shut down government unless I get my way 100%. It’s government by temper tantrum.

The second reason that tying foreign aid to securing the border is foolish is that the unsecure border has little to do with Congressional funding and everything to do with Joe Biden and the Democrat-controlled immigration apparatus. Congress could appropriate a trillion dollars to secure the border, but nothing will change until we have a president who will take the necessary actions – most of which would not cost money, but save money.   

OK, let’s stipulate that today’s Congress is not known for its eloquence or erudition. For example, there’s the guy (who, like MTV, is from Georgia) who expressed concern in testimony by a Navy admiral that American buildups at a military base on Guam might tip the island over.

(The Admiral refrained from laughing out loud. He instead paused and replied dryly “We don’t anticipate that.” Such self-control is why he’s an Admiral and his questioner was just a Congressman.)

Then there’s the Senator who challenged a person testifying at hearing to “stand your butt up” for the purpose of, apparently, a fistfight (or maybe to dance The Bump).

MTG falls closer to the Guam-tipper and the stand-your-butt-up Bump guy than to that Admiral. In fact, I’ll bet she dances a mean Bump.

Since this story has now taken us to the dance floor, I suggest that it’s time for yet another career change. MTG should go to MTV. She could call herself MTG/V and make music videos. Her career change might get her the attention she craves, and might get us a replacement representative to work on the governing we need.