"MAGA Mike" Johnson
Nov. 7th, 2023 09:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerTwo weeks ago the Republican majority in Congress elected "MAGA Mike" Johnson as Speaker of the House. That sobriquet isn't my invention, by the way. It was used first by fellow Republican (and attention-seeking clown) Matt Gaetz in praising his colleague's strong Trumpist credentials in the hours after he was elected speaker. Since then it's been picked up widely by opinion writers— and probably more using it in scorn than praise. But how MAGA is "MAGA Mike"? Here are three things:
Rep. Mike Johnson is not just an election denier, in the sense that he was one of the 140+ current members of Congress who, on 6 January 2021, voted to discard the will of the people expressed through a free and fair election that was not at all close; he is also an architect of election denial. He filed a brief in an utterly frivolous Supreme Court lawsuit attempting to nullify the election results of four states (Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) and encouraged dozens of Congressional Republicans to sign on to it. He was also a key figure in communicating with Donald Trump to organize actions ahead of January 6.
Johnson staunchly opposes gay civil rights. He not only opposes marriage equality, he has tried to pass laws making LGBTQ sexual activity illegal. He has equated gay marriage to bestiality, equated being gay to being child molesters, and said that allowing LGBTQ rights will destroy America.
Asked by reporters after his election to describe his beliefs, Johnson scoffed, "Go pick [up] a bible." Okay, so he's Christian.... But he doesn't seem to differentiate that the parts of the bible widely cited as condemning homosexuality condemn equally many other things that modern self-professed Christians take far less exception to— including premarital sex and adultery. And, depending on which section of the bible we're talking about (Leviticus 18-20), mixing clothing fabrics such as cotton and wool. And where in the bible does it say it's okay to overturn an election? Oh, right, some of the passages that condemn homosexuality also condemn thievery (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) and liars (1 Timothy 1:8-11) in the same sentence.
Rep. Mike Johnson is not just an election denier, in the sense that he was one of the 140+ current members of Congress who, on 6 January 2021, voted to discard the will of the people expressed through a free and fair election that was not at all close; he is also an architect of election denial. He filed a brief in an utterly frivolous Supreme Court lawsuit attempting to nullify the election results of four states (Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) and encouraged dozens of Congressional Republicans to sign on to it. He was also a key figure in communicating with Donald Trump to organize actions ahead of January 6.
Johnson staunchly opposes gay civil rights. He not only opposes marriage equality, he has tried to pass laws making LGBTQ sexual activity illegal. He has equated gay marriage to bestiality, equated being gay to being child molesters, and said that allowing LGBTQ rights will destroy America.
Asked by reporters after his election to describe his beliefs, Johnson scoffed, "Go pick [up] a bible." Okay, so he's Christian.... But he doesn't seem to differentiate that the parts of the bible widely cited as condemning homosexuality condemn equally many other things that modern self-professed Christians take far less exception to— including premarital sex and adultery. And, depending on which section of the bible we're talking about (Leviticus 18-20), mixing clothing fabrics such as cotton and wool. And where in the bible does it say it's okay to overturn an election? Oh, right, some of the passages that condemn homosexuality also condemn thievery (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) and liars (1 Timothy 1:8-11) in the same sentence.
