Michael Rode The Book Ashore

Last week I understated the radicalism and dangerous, theocratic intentions of newly-anointed Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. Brought from on high from a district so gerrymandered that he’s had no opponent, never had to answer questions about his priorities, a self-proclaimed Evangelical Christian, his first words as Speaker were that God had placed him there. When news of the latest mass murder came (most killed so far, this year, but, hey, there’s still time) he said we need to pray for the end of this evil, and made a point of saying that’s all he had to say. “This isn’t the time,” he told Sean Hannity. To Republicans, the time is never.

Not a single Republican was bothered enough by Johnson’s religious-based extremism and election denialism to withhold their vote. But we can. It’s time to produce reasonable gun control, and for Americans not to vote for any legislator who declines. Doing so would place them among the eighty percent who, unlike virtually every elected Republican, demand sensible legislation. Including universal background checks and, finally, reinstituting a ban on military-style weapons for which no regular citizen has a need other than strutting around in phallocompensatory lib-sticking.

Out of step with the majority of Americans, Mike says he’s against background checks and waiting periods, too. We need more legislators like this one.

Mr. Johnson also said the way to learn how he feels about any issue is to read the Bible: “That's my worldview, that's what I believe.” Which values, one wonders; like all MAGA Republicans, his are the opposite of Jesus’. He’s all in on the lie, for example, that Democrats are for abortion right up until delivery.

Like Mike, anyone is entitled to believe Earth is six thousand years old and that dinosaurs (if their bones weren’t planted by the devil) lived alongside humans. But should such a person be the most powerful Republican in the country? One responsible for what legislation is brought to vote? One unable to grasp science or recognize the difference between fact and belief? Yeah, me neither.

Among theocracy-welcoming Republicans there is great rejoicing. But anyone who believes in separation of church and state, anyone holding beliefs other than Mike’s extreme ones, should be concerned. This, I want to believe (fact?), includes the majority of Christians, whose sensibilities Mike so thoroughly rejects. Americans who value America’s founding principles must help Democrats regain control of the House to oust Mr. Johnson; and make Trump – the farthest thing from a Christian – the farthest thing from the White House. But MJ is the closest thing to Trump. Even the Russia connection. And, as with Trump, we assume they expect to get what they paid for.

With the blessings of the current far-right, ethically-challenged Supreme Court, it’s unlikely any legislation passed by Republicans, no matter how unconstitutionally Bible-based, would be rejected. Johnson has argued for requiring the Bible to be taught in public schools. He says homosexuality will cause the end of democracy, and blames it and gun violence on banning school prayer and, entirely on brand, teaching evolution. Also feminism. He was at the forefront of efforts to overturn the election, and wants an “official impeachment” of President Biden.

Speaking of facts, Mike denies a human role in climate change (of course), wants to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid (no surprise), and advocates “covenant marriage,” a far-right Christian concept that effectively disallows divorce, even from wife-beaters. While Republicans distractingly warn of “Sharia Law” coming in through the back door, people like Mike Johnson are bringing extreme Biblical law through the front. The danger to democracy is obvious. As has been said, “Beware the preacher who tells you for whom to vote, and beware the politician who tells you how to pray.”

In his first legislative act as Speaker, Mike hit the expected notes: funding for Israel is contingent on cutting an equal amount from funding the IRS. To “balance,” he lied. Every dollar spent on the IRS returns more than three to the US treasury. Cutting funds increases debt, a Republican specialty. What his plan balances is his need for support from House renegades and the demands of his party’s wealthy patrons; for it’s they who benefit from underfunding the search for tax cheats. WWJL?

Regaining control of the House and ousting Johnson as Speaker, if red state legislatures have their way, will be hard, requiring massive turnout by democracy-loving voters. Subsequently approved by their supreme court, North Carolina’s legislature just passed radically gerrymandered redistricting that could flip four districts red. It’s a state with nearly even Democratic and Republican voters, yet the legislature is 80% Republican. When you can’t win on ideas, it’s what you do. Happily, a federal judge just batted down Georgia’s attempt to do the same. It’ll end up with the Supremes, no doubt, and we can guess how that’ll go.