What Would Nellis Say?

Mighty MAGA Midget Mike Johnson
 

 

With the unanimous Republican election of Louisiana's extreme evangelical “Christian” Representative Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House, any claims of moderation by members of his caucus were proven false. As a result of his elevation from obscure fake-Christian fascist to MAGA star at the direction of and in service to Donald Trump, there can be no doubt that his colleagues knew exactly who and what they were installing in the third most powerful position in our government.

 

Johnson’s entire career has been spent in the very fringes of the party’s theocratic wing, which is defined by the singular goal of forcing extreme Evangelical decrees on our society by eliminating every right or privilege that conflicts with his fundamentalist intent. He might carry a well-worn Bible but it’s just a prop because, other than pomposity, there is nothing “Christian” about the man. His vision of a “Christian” future foresees domination by white men and subservience by women and people of color, that will supplant the tenets of other faiths.

 

After hiding from right-wing rioters during the insurrection of January 6th, 2021, and despite virtually no evidence of voter fraud, he organized the 147 Republican mutineers in Congress, who chose to deny the will of the American people instead of defending our democracy. The actual and legitimate tally gave Biden 7 million more votes than Trump and an electoral college thumping of 306 to 232. 

 

He, like so many of his colleagues, has no interest in defending the Constitution or the Bill of Rights, the will of the people, or governing to promote the best interests of the nation. He would reverse the separation of church and state so the teachings of “his” Bible could take precedence over all other philosophical foundations in creating or enforcing the laws governing our country and our people.

 

Considering his repeated public statements, he will expedite efforts to shepherd a national bill to ban abortion without exceptions and outlaw sending contraceptives through the mail. The new Speaker not only supports discriminating against LGBQT citizens and banning gay marriage, he is very publicly advocating the criminalization of gay relationships and barring medical treatment for transgender citizens.                                                                                                                                                                                                As chairman of the Republican Study Group, his committee suggested national budget would decimate our social safety net, which protects not only the poor but the elderly and every working American. Advocating massive cuts in expenditures, the committee’s proposal would target Medicaid, children’s health coverage, food stamps, and every social program passed in the last century.

 

The report recommends raising the retirement age from 65 to 70, which would postpone every citizen’s ability to begin taking Social Security or benefitting from Medicare coverage at a critical time in the aging cycle. It would eliminate the corporate tax incentive that requires companies to provide health care coverage for every employee rather than just over-compensated executives, eliminating coverage for 23 million Americans under the Affordable Care Act.

 

His bills to stave off a government shutdown for several months separate departments like the veterans programs, transportation, agriculture, and energy from the heavyweight Department of Defense and the State Department, making it easier for Republicans to defund agencies and programs they dislike with a separate vote from those that meet their approval…if and when the Republican House decides to produce a real budget proposal. 

 

There is no money in either bill to support Ukraine’s war against Putin’s aggression and aid to Israel would be contingent on a massive reduction in funding for the IRS (to inhibit audits and financial investigations of his ultra-wealthy donors who pay little or no taxes). Future budget negotiations will be stymied by demands to defund the FBI, the EPA, the Department of Education, Health and Human Services, foreign aid, and every agency that oversees programs that benefit women, children, minorities, and the least among us. 

 

Johnson’s “Christian” ethic is brutal and cruel and he will employ it to perform his singular goal of protecting the tyranny of the white Evangelical male minority and rewarding his billionaire sponsors with control of a future theocratic autocracy.

 

The new Speaker was elected by a unanimous vote of this Republican caucus, which leaves no doubt that officials once considered “moderate” no longer exist. The radical minority has stymied the business of Congress with no hope of progress until after the next elections. 

 

The corrupt “Christian” Supreme Court wrote itself a “Code of Ethics” which does not bar taking enormous gratuitous “gifts or favors” from wealthy businessmen who have cases pending before the court, with no penalties for transgressions of the new rules, and no one, other than the nine justices, has any power to enforce the new code. Their next big case will address a lawsuit that could lead to the elimination of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which ensured every citizen’s right to vote.

 

Couple all of that with the fact that more than half the Republicans support the re-election of Donald Trump, despite ninety-one indictments and numerous civil lawsuits. Their favorite candidate has been touting plans for rounding up millions of immigrants and confining them in giant concentration camps, cleansing our country of “vermin”(code for anyone who is not a loyal white evangelical bigot), employing the Insurrection Act on election day to deploy the military to arrest and detain any marchers who might be protesting his presidency, and taking control of the Justice Department to initiate a massive revenge campaign against his political enemies.

 

Anyone aware of the history of the twentieth century understands that this is the exact script used by Hitler and Mussolini to promote fascist agendas that led to mass executions of Jews and minorities and the most devastating war in the history of man.

 

When he took office in 2017, Trump was a novice politician who had no intention, let alone any idea of how to govern our country. His Republican administration was not ready to grasp the levers of power over the government and the economy. They will not make that mistake again. 

 

Over the past four years, the radically right-wing Heritage Foundation and the equally fanatical Federalist Society, along with extremist think tanks around the country have spent more than four years developing a detailed, in-depth, and terrifying agenda for the next Republican administration called Project 2025, which is available online.

 

It is a blueprint for the destruction of our democracy and the demolition of the Federal government that starts by replacing more than 50,000 expert non-political bureaucrats with loyalists tasked with dismantling the foundations of our society. 

 

The Republicans are making no secret of their intention to enshrine minority rule. They are broadcasting their plans at full volume and Americans who value our democratic system would be wise to pay attention and respond accordingly. The future of our free democratic nation is in your hands. Stand up! Speak up! While your voice can still make a difference.