Sure, MAGA Loves Mike Johnson Now, But Wait Until Next Year
Best of luck next year, a-holes
by Bob Cesca
WASHINGTON, DC – Mike Johnson might not be a familiar name in the rogues gallery of Republican crypto-fascists, but is now. This week, the entire Republican conference, every last one of them, elected Johnson to be the new Speaker of the House.
Johnson is the kind of Republican we’ve been worried about – he’s not a berserker Trump-style screecher who deliberately blurts shocking things to manufacture headlines and social media engagement. He’s gone relatively unknown for his six years in office so far because his extremism is comparatively quiet.
Even though he resembles Tim Kazurinsky’s meek and awkward nerd character from Police Academy, he’s a monster. As soon as he starts talking, his extremism emerges. For example, Johnson has in the past expressed support for the criminalization of homosexuality:
Johnson called homosexuality a “inherently unnatural” and “dangerous lifestyle” that would lead to legalized pedophilia and possibly even destroy “the entire democratic system.” And, in another editorial, he wrote, “Your race, creed, and sex are what you are, while homosexuality and cross-dressing are things you do,” he wrote. “This is a free country, but we don’t give special protections for every person’s bizarre choices.”
It gets worse:
“Homosexual relationships are inherently unnatural and, the studies clearly show, are ultimately harmful and costly for everyone,” he wrote. “Society cannot give its stamp of approval to such a dangerous lifestyle. If we change marriage for this tiny, modern minority, we will have to do it for every deviant group. Polygamists, polyamorists, pedophiles, and others will be next in line to claim equal protection. They already are. There will be no legal basis to deny a bisexual the right to marry a partner of each sex, or a person to marry his pet.”
I sense another dost protest too much situation. Place your bets on when Johnson will get caught having fun with another man’s johnson. By the way, he also worked for an outfit called the Alliance Defending Freedom, which:
“...supported the recriminalisation of sexual acts between consenting LGBTQ+ adults in the US and criminalisation abroad; defended state-sanctioned sterilisation of trans people abroad; contended that LGBTQ+ people are more likely to engage in paedophilia; and claimed that a ‘homosexual agenda’ will destroy Christianity and society”
Forced sterilization. Funny how people still tell me the word “fascism” is too harsh. And Johnson personally authored the federal version of Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation. Oh, and one last thing:
Johnson has also co-sponsored legislation by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called the Protect Children’s Innocence Act, that would make it a crime to provide gender-affirming care to people under 18 years of age.
Johnson also supports the criminalization of abortion services and a national ban. He voted against the Violence Against Women Act and the Women's Health Protection Act. He’s a climate crisis denier. And according to New York Magazine, he was the “most important architect” of the 2020 coup – the congressional prong of the plot to illegally overturn the election. So, yeah, shocker that among all of his other oppressive views and votes, he’s also anti-democracy.
All of this makes him a hero among the Trump-owned MAGA Republican Party, and a villain to everyone else. But in terms of electoral politics – the democracy he so casually shit-canned in 2020 – he might not be the hero the Republicans should’ve been rallying around.
As of right now, there are 19 House Republicans from districts that Joe Biden won in 2020. Here’s the list for your scorecard:
Anthony D’Esposito, New York 4th District (Biden +15)
David Valadao, CA-22 (Biden +13)
Barry Moore, AL-2 (Biden +12)
Mike Garcia, CA-27 (Biden +12)
John Duarte, CA-13 (Biden +11)
Mike Lawler, NY-17 (Biden +10)
Lori Chavez-DeRemer, OR-5 (Biden +9)
George Santos, NY-3 (Biden +8)
Brandon Williams, NY-22 (Biden +7)
Don Bacon, NE-2 (Biden +6)
Michelle Steel, CA-45 (Biden +6)
Marc Molinaro, NY-19 (Biden +4)
Brian Fitzpatrick, PA-1 (Biden +5)
Thomas Kean Jr., NJ-7 (Biden +4)
Young Kim, CA-40 (Biden +2)
Jen Kiggans, VA-2 (Biden +2)
David Schweikert, AZ-1 (Biden +1)
Nick LaLota, NY-1 (Biden +0.2)
Juan Ciscomani, AZ-6 (Biden +0.1)
To be fair, six of these districts (the last six on the list above) were narrowly won by the Republicans in the 2022 midterms. So let’s say 13 of these Republicans – each one of them voting for an election denier to be speaker – will face that much more opposition next year from Normals who are fed up with minority rule, fascism and fascism-adjacent policies, and most importantly Trump sycophants who are willing to subvert democracy to anoint him president-for-life, which is precisely the Republican goal.
So best of luck next year, a-holes. And all of this just on the heels of the Republicans making national news for being in complete disarray, stepping on every rake then buying more rakes and stepping on those rakes. Again and again. All we need to do is to bring the same energy we had in the previous two national elections, and I’m optimistic Trump and his Republican copycats will be toast. Let’s make Mike Johnson second on the list of speakers with the shortest term in modern times.
Unlocked Members Only article (read for free):
The Politics Of Suffering, And A Reason To Hope
by Ben Cohen Strongman leaders and terror groups do not emerge in stable times. When there is economic uncertainty, political turmoil or violent conflict, extremist characters emerge and promise to ail the grievances of their people. They feed off of fear and use suffering as political capital.
Read the latest for Banter Members and get 50% off a Banter Membership!:
Leaving An Anonymous Legacy
It’s a curious sensation to create a thing that may yet become an institution, much less two of them.
by Justin Rosario
In September of 2014, a year after we had moved down to Virginia from NYC, I did something incredibly dumb: I joined the PTA. Jordan was going into the First Grade and Anastasia had been accepted into full-day Pre-Kindergarten. With both kids in school for the first time, I wanted to be more involved in school life. The PTA seemed the easiest way to do that.
I can honestly say it’s the most stressful job I’ve ever had in my life and I’ve worked in both video game and toy stores on Christmas Eve (I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe…). But for all the stress and occasional nightmares, it has been worth it.
You see, Deb and I left a couple of things behind and they’re just a few years away from cementing themselves into the fabric of the community, possibly forever.
Congratulations on the promotion!
William Ramsay Elementary has long struggled with its PTA. The Fall I arrived on the scene, the school hadn’t had one for a few years before a new PTA had been built from the ground up. It was…not super functional. Our president lacked management and interpersonal skills and no one got along.
By the time Winter rolled around, half of our already small number had quit and I had volunteered to be vice president. VP of this particular PTA wasn’t necessarily supposed to be training to take over. It was “help the PTA president do whatever she needed to do.” And I was fine with that. She was flailing and I had the time to help. If only she would accept it.
One problem we had was fundraising. As in, we didn’t have any. I suggested we start a monthly movie night. We would show a recently released DVD in the auditorium, sell tickets at a low price, and set up a table for inexpensive snacks and drinks. It would be easy, cheap, and was sure to make money while serving the community. I was told, in no uncertain terms, this was a stupid idea…
 | A guest post by
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He's just MTG or Jordan with a friendly face. No difference in substance, however.
The scariest thing about him, should he remain in the chair, he will almost certainly deny the election results should Trump lose -- and then not bless the ridiculous "certification ceremony". My only hope there is that a protracted legal appeal would keep Biden in office til settled.