Dear friends:
If you want to see a microcosm of today’s Republican party, review the dynamics of removing Representative Ilhan Omar (D) from her assignment to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Warning: It’s ugly. So ugly I debated whether to include these names and terminology, hesitant to amplify them. I decided that it is important to look straight at them, and name what they are showing themselves.
Before the 2018 midterms, House Speaker McCarthy used anti-Semitic tropes to fire up Republican voters. Last week, he cloaked removing Representative Omar’s removal in smug words of accusation about her prior statements about Israel. They did include offensive content, Democratic leaders held her accountable, and she apologized.
https://rollcall.com/2022/12/01/house-gop-overlooks-internal-antisemitism-points-at-democrats/
Republican Representative Paul Gosar published an animated attack on Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D), for which he has never apologized. He now sits on the House Oversight Committee. Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose long history of endorsement of violence, acts of harassment, and anti-Semitic statements is well-documented, now sits on the House Homeland Security committees. Her strong support for Speaker McCarthy helped him win his powerful position, and she is being amply rewarded. Both have attended and/or spoken at events organized by the America First Political Action Conference, gatherings listed by the Anti-Defamation League as white supremacist.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/17/politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-paul-gosar-committee-assignments/index.html
https://rollcall.com/2022/12/01/house-gop-overlooks-internal-antisemitism-points-at-democrats/
Republican Jim Jordan, who now chairs the House Judiciary Committee and leads a subcommittee on the “Weaponization of the Federal Government” refused to honor a subpoena issued by the committee investigating the violent attack on Congress on January 6, 2021. Republican Representative George Santos, who lied about being Jewish in his campaign, was allowed to kick off the litany of white male supremacist gaslighting on the House floor as the vote to remove Rep. Omar was called.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/03/politics/jim-jordan-rebrand-weaponization-skepticism/index.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/21-mccarthy-holdouts-got-committee-assignments-rcna66152
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3838447-gops-santos-omar-battles-collide/
Maybe we are tempted to write all this off as political hypocrisy as usual. But it is not.
By turning a blind eye or excusing these behaviors, today’s Republican House leadership tacitly endorses the use of violence and threats of violence to achieve political power. They are systematically allowing the extremists in their midst to remove colleagues who stand against their intentions. They are not open to free and fair debate. While Republican Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, makes his anti-free speech in education agenda clear and above board, House Republicans make their pro-white male supremacy agenda clear in Congress.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/us/governor-desantis-higher-education-chris-rufo.html
Watch this space. These so-called leaders are showing us who they are. Take them seriously.
Recommit, every day, to the work of building inclusion and equity, taking care of one another, and cherishing this beautiful planet we call home.