The Madness of Marjorie Taylor Greene

By David Starr

 

Plenty of epithets can describe Marjorie Taylor Greene, and with good reason. Someone who accuses Jews of using space lasers to start wild fires in California is mad and in the habit of saying ridiculous things. 

 

And that ain’t all. Greene called Washington, D.C. a “gulag.” If only she knew what a gulag really is, given the consequences of Stalinism. Greene wallows in ignorance.

 

Greene also made a remark about Nancy Pelosi’s “Gazpacho Police.” It’s a pathetic play on the word Gestapo. (Gazpacho is actually a cold soup.) Greene rhetorically accuses these “police” of spying on Congressional members. 

 

Vice President Kamala Harris was also a target. Harris said that people of color are impacted more by natural disasters and are “impacted by issues that are not of their own making.” Greene remarked in a Tweet that “Hurricanes don’t discriminate. And neither should the federal government [give] aid to people suffering from the devastation of Hurricane Ian. Is your husband’s life worth less bc he’s white?”

 

Regarding the military, Greene claimed that one is throwing their life away if one joins up. On the one hand, the U.S. military has largely been an imperial force and should be opposed. On the other hand, there are sincere people in the military and should be supported, especially those who realize and understand what the military essentially protects around the world, that is, the rule of capital. But there are also Nazi/fascist elements in the military who should obviously should be opposed.

 

In another bizarre comment, Greene claimed that Global Warming “Actually is healthy for us.” She figured that Global Warming results in more food grown, “which feeds people.” And Greene apparently supports the fossil fuel industry. She said that it “keeps people’s houses warm in the winter. That saves people’s lives, people die in the cold.”

 

The January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol was treated lightly by Greene, calling it only “a little riot.” Quite the contrary, it was a violent, major event with the rioters breaking into the Capitol and temporarily occupying it. Greene also claimed that there were protesters singing and praying there who were “persecuted.” She called this a “political witch hunt.” But the thing is that the Capitol police had their hands full with violent rioters. Thus, it is hard to believe that there were massive arrests against the singing and praying protesters. (Were there actually peaceful protesters at the riot?)

 

Greene was visiting a Civil War monument claiming that it was dedicated to Confederate soldiers, when it was actually dedicated to Union soldiers. “I will always defend our nation’s history!”, she exclaimed. What history is Greene talking about? Is she defending the Confederacy, which enforced slavery? What does that say about Greene herself?

 

Regarding Ukraine, Greene said she does not support giving aid to that war-torn country. An argument can be made against providing military aid to Ukraine given the provocations, lying, and sabotaging of negotiations by the United States/NATO alliance. The latter is fueling a proxy war with the danger that there would be a direct confrontation between the United States and Russia. This is inexcusable with the U.S./NATO alliance practically surrounding Russia with weapons of war near its borders. Is a country’s sovereignty important? Sure. But that also includes Russia’s sovereignty.

 

To her opinion on Ukraine, Greene added an inflammatory accusation that the Democrats could care less about the security of the United States: “They [Democrats] don’t care about our border or our people.” She indicated that the Democrats care more about Ukraine. 

 

An argument can be made about some Democrats being mainly concerned with maintaining the United States as an empire, thus having capital dominate over labor. And that means interfering in the affairs of other nations. But there are many Republicans who think the same way; in fact, more so. They can be politely called ultra-nationalists. A more direct term is fascistic. The Republicans have a habit of being trigger-happy, and push for war regardless of the circumstances. Both Democrats and Republicans are drunk on exceptionalism.

 

Greene’s take on the Democrats disregarding the security of the U.S. is not only a weak argument but is also hypocritical. There are democrats who not only are concerned with U.S. security, but also concerned with the plight of migrants crossing over the border into the U.S. The migrants are not generally drug dealers and rapists and leave their home countries for valid reasons: the violence and poverty. (That is one reason why the current world order should be changed, which is characterized by the existence of many poor countries and a few rich ones.) Trumpites like Greene do not feel concerned over the migrants’ circumstances. Some or even many of the Trumpites are infected by racism. It would not be surprising if Greene was one of them.

 

But like the imperialist that she is, Greene made an insane suggestion to stop drug trafficking: bomb Mexico! More specifically, bomb the drug cartels there. This is not only a potential violation of Mexico’s sovereignty; it would result in a large number of deaths. Innocent civilians would pay the price. U.S. military actions usually go that way. (Look at Iraq, for example. About 1 million Iraqi deaths.) Greene asserts that the cartels “are an international criminal organization murdering our people by lacing deadly fentanyl from China in drugs they illegally sell across our border to U.S. citizens.” For one thing, it is U.S. citizens willingly taking the drugs in the process of satisfying demand. So, the United States is not totally innocent and is not in a position to lecture other countries.

 

Mexico’s people are no doubt against having the U.S. military bomb their country. But ultra-nationalists like Greene arrogantly ignore the input of people in other countries. This can be said of other U.S. citizens as well, especially members of the Republican Party. Ask war criminals like Dick Cheney and George W. Bush Jr., involved in the conjuring up of lies used to justify invading Iraq. 

 

This whole idea of bombing Mexico came from none other than Donald Trump. The latter got this idea from books written by former defense secretary Mark Esper and New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman. And leave it to Greene, a Trumpite, to go along with this. After all, Trumpites make up the followers of the Trump cult of personality.

 

The fentanyl fib was used by Greene to target U.S. President Joe Biden, saying that he is to blame for the increase in fentanyl usage. While Biden is not a real alternative for change, it’s the same game the right plays with condemning liberals for all the problems the U.S. has. Individuals like Greene are seeing liberals under their beds. It is not as bad as the witch hunts against communists in the 1950s with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) pointing accusing fingers at anyone it suspected of being a communist. (HUAC would be a perfect entity for Greene to use against “undesirables.”) But the right has an obsession with demonizing liberals. 

 

In an inexcusable cheap shot, and related to fentanyl, Greene tweeted, “Joe doesn’t seem to mind drug abuse bc he campaigned for POTUS while his daughter Ashley was in drug rehab writing about inappropriate showers with dad.”       

 

Greene did admit the following: “Washington always has a lust for war. If that’s the case, they need to turn their lust towards a war that actually defends America’s borders and the American people’s lives.” Greene is not exactly a promoter of peace. It appears that she can’t comprehend the idea of prioritizing this in order to make for a better and secure world. It’s the same old idea of seeing the United States as exceptional while other countries are virtually not equal to this “Beacon of Democracy.” 

 

Greene’s concern for the “American people” is based on a homogenous mindset. Only a certain culture, language and race counts, as has been the case in U.S. history up to the present time. While this is gradually breaking down with the changing of demographics, Greene and other right-wingers see their “country,” or in actuality their privileges, being threatened. They are in such denial about their superiority complex being an obstacle to the evolving of humankind. Rather than learn from the past, right-wingers, Trumpites especially, dwell in it. There is a B/W illusion of selective, past glory, emphasizing the triumphs while ignoring the historical oppression of those who have not traditionally looked, thought and spoke like “True Americans.” 

 

Unfortunately, this kind of oppression still lingers on among the right, sometimes subtle, sometimes overt. It is used either way based on the prevailing political winds. There are racists who would not openly admit that they are that way. It would be a political liability, given the emergence and establishment of the civil rights movement. But those like Greene continue to impose their delusions of grandeur based on race, class and gender.

 

Marjorie Taylor Greene and other Trumpites, plus others on the right, are afflicted with what could be called Frank Burns syndrome. Frank Burns was a character in the movie and TV series called M*A*S*H. Burns was an arch-conservative and an incompetent surgeon who was with M*A*S*H in the early 1950s. The acronym stood for Mobil Army Surgical Hospital and the TV series and movie was set in South Korea during the Korean War. 

 

Burns had the personality of a typical right-winger that was more or less characteristic of right-wingers in the early 1950s. He fancied himself as someone with moral values, having the sort of gung-ho, B/W, too-good-to-be-true mentality generally evident among the right. But Burns would repeatedly contradict himself, that is, wind up taking a hypocritical position. If Burns was a real person living today he would no doubt embrace the “values” of a Marjorie Taylor Greene. Burns would think of himself as a super patriot, a Christian nationalist and have a fetish for war. His attitude toward other countries would reveal his ignorance of foreigners. In the TV series and movie, Burns was anti-China, as well as being an anti-communist, warning that the “Red Hordes” would invade “America.” 

 

While Frank Burns was just a character in a movie and TV series, there is, as alluded to above, similarities between him and Marjorie Taylor Greene. This is what Trumpites have become: superficial characters with a B/W view of the world with no, or hardly any, shades of gray. They see enemies in the form of liberals, communists and other “malcontents” criticizing and condemning the “American Way.” 

 

The following quotes offer more of a look at the madness of Marjorie Taylor Greene:

 

• “We should not be flying a flag of a group who wants to erase our history and bring mass destruction through Communism.”

 

Greene does not know specifically what communism really is. No one really does. The Stalinist version is a deformity and unfortunately set a precedent of what communism means. (It is thus important to separate the two.) Being an epoch, it would take actual communism to be established and developed in a matter of decades or centuries. Marx and Engels provided what could be called clues to the meaning of this society: an association of free producers, and from each according to one’s ability to each according to one’s need. 

 

• “It’s racist to teach children to treat other children differently because of their skin color.”

That is exactly what happened (and it is still happening) with children of color being treated differently because of white racism. In the U.S. the historical proof is there to reveal white racism. If Greene denies that, she had better read a history book or take a course on Critical Race theory.

 

• “The Democratic Party is the party of domestic terrorism.”

 

Greene is flipping reality on its head. Her statement is utterly ridiculous but she will deny the reality that domestic terrorism is mainly on the right side of the political spectrum. Her accusation is Orwellian.

 

• “We don’t let criminals serve in our office as president.”

 

This is probably a jab at Joe Biden. But, again, Greene is doing the Orwellian twist; a twist on reality. Donald Trump has committed so many illegalities that he can accurately be called a criminal.

 

• “I’m proud to stand up and defend against threats to our Second Amendment rights in Congress.”

 

Does Greene even know what the Second Amendment means? To paraphrase: A well-regulated militia, being for the security of the states, the right to bear arms shall not be infringed. A WELL–REGULATED militia exercising the right to bear arms. This was written at a time when the newly-created United States was protecting the revolutionary gains that it made with its triumph over aristocratic/feudal rule. Greene is one of those individuals that think gun rights mean one can flaunt their AR-15 in public. That is not responsible gun ownership.

 

There are other examples of Greene’s madness, too many to mention here. What can be concluded about Greene’s behavior is that she is definitely unqualified to hold office. Jews firing space lasers? Quick Marjorie, duck. Those lasers are lethal.