Month: February 2021

Marjorie Taylor Greene 2, Media 0

~ Mr. Rantastic ~ Leave a comment

If you were wondering whether the media learnt anything from four years of Donald Trump, the answer is ‘not much.’ Freshman Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is the proof.

Greene has said some pretty politically extreme things and associated herself with political calls to action that are borderline criminal. The Democrats are outraged. The Republicans support her. The Dems punish her. Ok, granted, it’s a story. But Greene has made it much more than that.

Firstly, Greene has been able to take a story that might last a few news cycles and keep it front and center for over a week.

Secondly, every story the media runs about her includes a photo. And she has been smart enough to wear a mask with a different proactive political slogan on it every day, doubling her media impact.

Either Greene is brilliant media strategist or the media has learnt nothing from their experience with Trump. It is probably 1/3 the former and 2/3 the latter.

Maybe Greene’s next mask should read, “Media. So sad.”

The Bully (and the) Puplit

~ Mr. Rantastic ~ Leave a comment

A Democratic congresswoman wants to move offices because a Republican congresswoman physically bullied her in the hallway. Does this sound like middle school, or what?

It’s not surprising to find bullying politicians. Donald Trump was an accomplished bully even before he became bully in chief and set an example for the nation. So the fact that his female doppelganger, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, has latched onto bullying is not surprise. The surprise is that the freshman representative is getting away with it.

One might make excuses for her target, freshman Democratic representative Cory Bush. She’s a pastor and might just prefer to turn the other cheek rather than go to battle.

But Nancy Pelosi is another story. Is she really going to let Taylor Greene get away with bullying someone out of their office? Successful bullying just encourages more of it. Of course, Pelosi also has to balance making Taylor Greene a right wing martyr by coming down hard on her.

It will be interesting to see how Pelosi keeps her house in order. Look for the iron fist in the velvet glove.