As if a global pandemic were not enough to deal with, we find ourselves in the eye of another storm- one so vile, it leaves us speechless. Be thankful that Canada just declared that Proud Boys, a neofascist group (like the right wing QANON base) constitutes a terrorist entity.

The mutating virus is the dark cloud hanging over us all, just as vaccinations are beginning to roll out. It has not been quite a year since the contagion enraptured mankind, but we are all weary and fear normalcy is beyond our immediate reach.

The challenge to inoculate everyone is mammoth and daunting but the system perseveres. Truly, can we afford any distractions with such a colossal goal to save more lives in front of us?

And yet, the unspeakable is happening. Trump was ousted, but his influence lingers. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, was quoted the other day that: “The enemy is within the House of Representatives.”

Politics can be a nasty game. Often opponents try and dig up dirt on each other to diminish credibility. Just look at history to reveal how finding something on a prospective candidate, could easily eliminate them from running. Watergate, in comparison, appears like a small blemish, compared to what is happening now.

Remember Tom Eagleton, who after two weeks of the 1972 Democratic convention admitted he had ECT for clinical depression? That alone ruined him from becoming a vice presidential candidate. Yet, he never championed theories so beyond belief that he was discredited, let alone voted in.

In contrast, several former presidents have suffered from depression or other mental health ailments, including Abraham Lincoln, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Calvin Coolidge, Dwight Eisenhower, Theodore Roosevelt (bipolar) and Lyndon Johnson also bipolar. They ran the country and were not viewed as lunatics coming up with extremely far-fetched fanaticism.

But now, just about anything goes. We have foreign interference with elections and now conspiracy theorists saying the most outlandish, offensive rhetoric and they are getting elected. Even “Tricky Dickey” could not hold a candle to this game.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is a 46-year-old racist from Georgia who got voted in a legitimate election. She is a member of the Republican party, who has never been shy from espousing her extremist ideologies ranging from; Pizza gate, a conspiracy where Hilary Clinton is supposedly operating a pedophile ring, the endorsement of political violence, her approval to execute Democrats (including Nancy Pelosi), questioning aspects of 911, inferring that a plane didn’t hit the Pentagon, claiming that various school shootings including Sandy Hook and Parkland were staged,  (she just walked those back after getting a slap on the wrist by the GOP), the Clintons crashed the place that JFK Jr. was in, as they feared he’d run in an election,  and her belief that the California forest wildfires are as result of the Rothchild family, Jews who are shooting lasers from space, in order to facilitate a high speed rail project.

She has also been accused of making Islamophobic comments and claiming that white men are the “most mistreated “group in America. (Independent UK)

Aside from her anti-Semitic views, she suggested that Muslims do not belong in government; and thinks black people “are slaves to the Democratic Party.” (Poltico.com)

“Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country," McConnell (Senate Minority Leader) said in a statement. (CNN)

“During the Electoral College vote count, she was among a group of Republican legislators who unsuccessfully objected to votes won by Biden. Greene files articles of impeachment against Biden the day of his inauguration, alleging abuse of power.”  (Wikipedia)

Ms. Greene has gone so far, that in 2019, she suggested that Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had already passed and that the State was using a body double of her. 

I have written before about the dangers of conspiracy theorists. Never did I expect any of them to get elected and appointed to an official political position holding power. They have existed on the periphery of society with their followers. Now we are faced with a daily reminder, that they have entered the political arena and without a trojan horse. She got elected fair and square. So, what does that reveal to us? It uncovers that there is a large group of individuals, Americans, who share her position on many conspiracy theories, and they executed their right to vote her in. This goes well beyond the pale.

Picture if you will, the parent of one of the grade one students, riddled with bullets in the Sandy Hook massacre. It was surreal for many of us to comprehend the slaughter of innocent children, within the USA. Did it change gun legislation? To a bare minimum.

How does one move on from such tragedy? I suspect you go onto autopilot and try your best to live out the rest of your life, minus one precious family member.

I cannot fathom how it must feel to hear an elected member of The House of Representatives, a conspiracy theorist, denounce that shooting plus other ones, were staged? Remember, there is an empty chair at your kitchen table and all you have are photos and old art projects to cherish the existence of a child ripped from your life. You dropped them off, the same as you would every other day. One last kiss goodbye. But that child’s life was extinguished, and you are left with an enormous void. 

Fast forward to 2021, you hear Marjorie Taylor Greene deny it ever happened amongst other national tragedies ever occurring. The smears are so outrageous, as she gains notoriety for saying the unspeakable. And what is more disabling, and frightening is that others too, follow suit. She is forcing thousands of Americans to be retraumatized as they relive those horrors. How is this being allowed? It is surreal and outrageous indeed.

She had been appointed to a variety of committees such as the educational group. But the House recently took a vote, and she has been removed from serving on them. Will this punitive measure fuel her followers? It may, but it was an absolute necessity.

Ms. Greene has apparently raised funds to the amount of $1,6 m in donations which were made after calls for her expulsion.  So, she has financing behind her madness.

These falsehoods she espouses and promotes, are shocking as they are reflective of the most perilous type of rhetoric we have heard since the 1930’s?

Adolf Hitler wrote in Mein Kompf, about the BIG LIE. In essence he proclaimed that it is easier to get away with a big lie than a small one. “The big lie works because the masses are easily manipulated in their emotions … they fall more readily to the big lie,” (nj.com)

Hitler was also quoted: “What luck for rulers than men do not think.”

Trump utilized this strategy and it worked for him until his bombastic calls invoked an insurrection, where democracy was threatened and 5 lives ended, including that of a Washington police officer who got bashed in the head with a fire extinguisher. 

Trump has already placed a call to Ms. Greene which she proudly informed the House and the media. He was delighted with her. After being banished from all committee involvement, she was quoted as saying; “that the Republican party belongs to Trump.” She further insulted the Democrats with this posted comment:” I woke up early literally laughing this morning thinking about what a bunch of morons the Democrats are giving someone like me free time.” The Guardian

She is going forward full throttle despite being forced to draw back a few of her conspiracy comments.

If ever there was a time for the Republicans to take back their party, it is NOW. They enabled Trump for four years and even with his loss of the election- his spirit still lives on more than ever. If they wish to salvage what is left of their political platform, they must denounce people like Greene. She poses such a tremendous threat.

Former presidents can request intelligence briefings. Biden has decided that Trump will not be privy to such information, as he views him as erratic.  What sensitive and delicate material will Greene have access to as a Congresswoman? The threat is now internal and makes this civil war within the Republican party vulnerable – as it does to the entire country. How is the world viewing this matter?

It is now mandatory that individuals wear face masks in all federal buildings. Clearly an opponent to this COVID-19 safety measure, she now ironically wears a variety of masks which speak volumes, as they have words always written on them; TRUMP NOW, CENSORED, FREE SPEECH, STOP THE STEAL, and one I must admit I had to look up: MOLON LABE- it come from Greek language meaning “Come and take (them)’, is a classical expression of DEFIANCE.”  Wikipedia

Enemies are not typically from within. You need both the Democrats and Republicans to have strong, ethical, democratic and sane members sitting.

“We The People” I’m afraid now includes the most defiant group of domestic terrorists ever seen in America, since the Civil War in the 1860’s.

May God Save America!