How Bad Is MAGA Mike-- And Who Is Responsible For Putting Him In Charge Of The House?

Ready For The MAGA Mike-Donald Trump Shutdown After New Years?

MSNBC reported that MAGA Mike made his way down to the capital of Magadonia on Monday to kiss the Trumpanzee ring, which they termed “the bootlicking pilgrimage.” Before Trump dubbed him MAGA Mike, he had a more clear-eyed way of looking at Trump, who he said (2016) was a "hot head by nature, and that is a dangerous trait to have in a Commander in Chief. The thing about Donald Trump is that he lacks the character and the moral center we desperately need again in the White House.” Water under the bridge now… and MAGA Mike doesn’t need Trump to radicalize him— quite the contrary.

Forget for a moment the wildly popular-- if unfair-- aphorism that the only good Republican is a dead Republican and remember that even if none of them are “good,” some are worse than others. And as far as a speaker goes, a little neo-Nazi piece of shit in a suit and tie from the backwoods of Louisiana is going to be a lot worse than a rotund cocksucker from Illinois, a raging drunkard from southwest Ohio, an Ayn Rand fan boy from Wisconsin or… whatever the hell Kevin McCarthy was.

On Tuesday, CNN reported that MAGA Mike “voiced support for revisiting Supreme Court decisions that struck down restrictions on the use of contraception, barred bans on gay sex and legalized same sex marriages, according to a CNN review of his prior public statements. On a conservative talk radio show the day the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Johnson underscored Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion that the high court should reconsider those other landmark rulings. Johnson, citing his years as an attorney against ‘activist courts,’ defended Thomas’ view, insisting that what Thomas was calling for was, ‘not radical. In fact, it’s the opposite of that. There’s been some really bad law made,’ he said. ‘They’ve made a mess of our jurisprudence in this country for the last several decades. And maybe some of that needs to be cleaned up.’”

Who the hell put a reactionary goon like that into the speakers chair, 2 heartbeats away from the presidency? Well, among others, these guys from New York:

• Nick LaLota

• Andrew Garbarino

• Anthony D’Esposito

• Mike Lawler

• Marc Molinaro

• Brandon Williams

And these 7 from California:

• John Duarte

• David Valadao

• Jay Obernolte

• Mike Garcia

• Young Kim

• Ken Calvert

• Michelle Steel

Oh, and let’s not forget these 8 kooks from Florida:

• Aaron Bean

• Cory Mills

• Anna Paulina Luna

• Laurel Lee

• Vern Buchanan

• Brian Mast

• Maria Salazar

• Carlos Gimenez

And then there were random nuts from coast to coast who thought it was a good idea to hand this kind of extremist the gavel:

• David Schweikert (R-AZ)

• Juana Ciscomani (R-AZ)

• Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA)

• Ashley Hinson (R-IA)

• Zach Nunn (R-IA)

• Bill Huizenga (R-MI)

• John James (R-MI)

• Ann Wagner (R-MO)

• Don Bacon (R-NE)

• Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ)

• Tom Kean (R-NJ)

• Mike Turner (R-OH)

• Mike Carey (R-OH)

• Lori Chavez DeRemer (R-OR)

• Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)

• Scott Perry (R-PA)

• Nancy Mace (R-SC)

• Andy Ogles (R-TN)

• Monica De La Cruz (R-TX)

• Tony Gonzales (R-TX)

• Rob Wittman (R-VA)

• Jen Kiggans (R-VA)

• Bob Good (R-VA)

• Bryan Steil (R-WI)

• Derrick Van Orden (R-WI)

With very few exceptions— MAGAts Scott Perry (PA), Andy Ogles (TN), Bob Good (VA), Brandon Williams (NY), Anna Paulina Luna (FL), Cory Mills (FL)— these Republicans pretend to be vaguely mainstream. But none of them are… Each of them voted for the most radical right speaker in history. And if the DCCC didn’t exist each of them could be defeated next year. Andrew Kaczynski and Curt Devine: “CNN’s review of more than 100 of Johnson’s interviews, speeches and public commentary spanning his decades-long career as a lawmaker and attorney paints a picture of his governing ideals: Imprisoning doctors who perform abortions after six weeks; the Ten Commandments prominently displayed in public buildings; an elimination of anti-hate-crime laws; Bible study in public schools. From endorsing hard labor prison sentences for abortion providers to supporting the criminalization of gay sex, his staunchly conservative rhetoric is rooted in an era of ‘biblical morality,’ that he says was washed away with the counterculture in the 1960s. ‘One of the primary purposes of the law in civil government is to restrain evil,’ Johnson said on one radio show in 2010. ‘We have to acknowledge collectively that man is inherently evil and needs to be restrained.’ His vision has been well received as a congressman in his deeply conservative district in western Louisiana. But his surprising rise to the speakership has brought his particularly subtle brand of fire-and-brimstone to second in line to the presidency— delivering him a national platform from which to shape and influence laws.”

More than a few Democratic candidates understand how to use their opponent’s support for MAGA Mike against them. Will Rollins, running is a blue-trending southern California district, tweeted “Mike Johnson was one of the architects of the plot to overturn the 2020 election in Congress. I helped prosecute insurrectionists. And once again, Ken Calvert just voted to make an election denier our next Speaker. Shame on Calvert. It’s time to remove him from office.” Aditya Pai is in a similar situation— blue-trending southern California district with a Republican incumbent. Yesterday he told me that “Steel’s lack of respect for our Constitution and the separation of church and state is alarming. Combined with her refusal to certify President Biden’s election, her passionate support of MAGA Mike means her days are numbered in this Biden +6 district. In 2024, CA-45 will vote her out.”

Norm Eisen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and a CNN legal analyst told Kaczynski and Devine that MAGA Mike “embraces a view that is not only outside of the mainstream but is so radical in terms of his endorsement of the Thomas position, that even the extremely conservative Supreme Court majority isn’t willing to go there. It would take the country back more than a half-century.”

Johnson served not only as an attorney at ADF but a national spokesman for the organization, making appearances on radio and national television where he often addressed so-called “right of conscience” cases involving Christian businesses.

Discussing one case in New Mexico, where a wedding photography company was found in violation of the state’s anti-discrimination laws for refusing to photograph a same-sex couple’s commitment ceremony, Johnson argued anti-discrimination laws did not recognize a “behavior” like homosexuality.

“There are laws on the books that prohibit discrimination against people for their immutable characteristics, their race and creed and that kind of thing,” Johnson said in a 2009 radio interview. “There’s a difference– and the law has recognized a difference– between that and homosexual behavior. As something that you do, not an immutable characteristic of what you are.”

The New Mexico Supreme Court disagreed and ruled against the company, which ADF represented. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Johnson “doesn’t understand the problem with a government compelling its citizens to follow not just religion, but a particular religion,” said Katherine Lewis Parker, the former legal director for the ACLU of North Carolina, who opposed Johnson in a lawsuit related to prayer at official meetings.

In that 2007 suit, three residents in Forsyth County, North Carolina, argued local officials had an unconstitutional “practice of sponsoring sectarian prayer” with specific references to Jesus during meetings. Johnson defended the officials and argued that even in Congress, prayers often contain Christian references, which he called a “logical function of the nation’s demographics.”

During a deposition, Johnson peppered one of the plaintiffs about what type of prayer would be acceptable in county meetings. “So if someone might be offended by virtually any prayer, should we just get rid of prayer entirely?” he asked.

An appeals court ruled against Johnson’s arguments in 2011, though the Supreme Court later ruled in favor of allowing such prayers in a separate case.

“I think he is a true believer and I think he wants to blend religion and government,” Parker said of Johnson.

Homosexuality was a frequent topic for Johnson, which he has called “inherently unnatural” and a “dangerous lifestyle.” In addition to suggesting he hopes the Supreme Court will reverse its decision allowing same-sex marriage, he also wrote in support of Texas’ anti-sodomy laws, which said gay men caught having sex could be fined.

“It recognized a fundamental right, a constitutional right to, to sodomy, which had never been recognized before,” Johnson said at a forum in 2005 on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Lawrence v. Texas— which struck down the ban on gay sex in that state.

Johnson supported an Arkansas law against same-sex couples adopting children, citing it as “good public policy” in 2008. In 2013, he opposed President Barack Obama’s appointment of an “openly homosexual” ambassador, Wally Brewster, to the Dominican Republic, calling it a provocative move against the Catholic country.

In 2015, transitioning from his role at ADF to a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, Johnson sparked national controversy with the “Marriage and Conscience Act.” The bill aimed to protect individuals objecting to same-sex marriage on religious grounds but faced opposition from Johnson’s hometown editorial board, business leaders and even Republicans in the state legislature.

Critics argued it could enable discrimination against LGBTQ individuals by businesses. Following backlash, the bill never reached a vote. In response to the bill’s failure, then-Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, issued a similar executive order.

“Apparently, defending religious liberty makes one ‘anti-gay’ now,” Johnson wrote on Facebook amid debate on the bill.

…In Congress, Johnson signed on to some of the toughest anti-abortion bills, such as a 2021 so-called “heartbeat bill,” which would essentially outlaw abortion after six weeks. He has repeatedly called states that allow abortion “pro-death” states.

“It is truly an American holocaust,” Johnson said in May 2022 on local DC radio. “The reality is that Planned Parenthood and all these big abortion (providers), they set up their clinics in inner cities. They regard these people as easy prey. I mean, it’s true.”

Johnson also supported plans to change Medicare and Social Security benefits while increasing the retirement age, emphasizing urgency in addressing escalating entitlement.

This is what members like Mike Lawler, Maria Salazar and Brian Fitzpatrick voted for to be speaker. Shouldn't voters hold them accountable-- either for their incredibly poor judgment or for their willful ignorance?