Saturday morning, Congress took what, by most accounts, was a simple vote and long overdue. The U.S. allocated 26.4 billion to Israel in three separate funding voting measures, including humanitarian aid to Gaza, 60.8 billion to Ukraine, and 8.1 billion to Taiwan. Funding for Israel and Taiwan was never really at risk. There is a contradictory religious reason for the GOP’s support of Israel that is tied to the belief that support for Jews will be rewarded someday by Israel’s fall, signaling the return of Jesus. Taiwan’s conflict with the Chinese is enough for most politicians, especially the Republicans who have replaced Russia with China as the great Satan, as evidenced by its symbolic fourth vote against a Chinese media concern [Tik Tok] it barely understands. Then there is Ukraine.
Donald Trump, amidst his legal problems, is seeking legitimacy. Unlike his previous actions, such as torpedoing the Southern border bill, he remained relatively silent on Ukraine funding. Trump did say I stand with the Speaker[Mike Johnson], while further conflating his misunderstanding of NATO, asking, “Why isn’t Europe giving more money to Ukraine.”
Now, the Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, may need Democrats to save his job. The potential recall of the Speaker, amidst the spinning cyclone of jumbled racism, xenophobia, and tangled religiosity, led by Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), along with two other Republicans, Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ), is a significant political development.
The former head of the RNC, Reince Priebus, attempted to mock Democrats for floating the idea of saving Speaker Johnson’s job Sunday on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. “The Democrats need to be careful,” said Priebus. They need to be quiet as far as their willingness to jump up and down and save Speaker Johnson….” Preibus looked to pigeonhole Democrats as mere bystanders in an internal fight, further painting Congress as both sides do it. After heated crosstalk, political strategist Donna Brazile pointed out that the Democratic Party wants a ‘country that functions and protects America’s dignity.’ Brazile’s point was that the Democrats have no obligation to save Priebus, but they should accept the responsibility to help save America from its worst instincts.
Mike Johnson has made it clear that he wants a theocratic government. When asked how he would govern after being elected House Speaker following the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, Johnson said, “Someone asked me today in the media, they said, ‘It's curious, people are curious: What does Mike Johnson think about any issue under the sun?’ I said, ‘Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That's my worldview.”’ The founders were specific about not making the U.S. a theocracy. Both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison—although sometimes contradictory and complicated, warned that the government’s compulsion of religion violated a person's natural right to shape their own life according to their convictions.
In a country and world that includes Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, and other religions, as well as atheists and agnostics, tossing out the establishment clause of the First Amendment separating Church and State is an invitation to a return to The Crusades. The real question for Democrats is not saving Mike Johnson but supporting the foundational pillars of America.
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