The Two MAGAs

Mike Johnson versus Marjorie Taylor Greene.

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia speaks to reporters in the U.S. Capitol Building on April 10, 2024, in Washington, D.C., after meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“It’s an impossible job. The Lord Jesus himself could not manage this conference. You just can’t do it.”

So said Republican Rep. Troy Nehls, speaking to CNN on Wednesday morning. How’s that for an election-year bumper sticker for a party that will soon enjoy a one-vote House majority?

It’s hard to find something new and interesting to say about the state of the House GOP, particularly if you write a daily newsletter about the foibles of populism. The dysfunction had already reached historic levels by the close of business on day one of this congressional term last year before descending into truly unprecedented misery nine months later. We’ve all gotten used to it. Nowadays, when some House Republican calls for upwards of half of his GOP colleagues to lose their next elections, no one blinks. 

Even so: Do you realize just how bad things have gotten lately?

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  1. Sai Ayila

    Here's the conservative Washington examiner mocking Trump's golf event with mtg https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washington-secrets/1432851/liv-cheered-mtg-for-vp/

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    Gbr0wn

    If Catdog wants new material he should write about purists and pragmatists in the Dem party

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    WJHEsq

    "His big idea of late has been to package any new military aid as a loan, not a gift—as though the Ukrainians will ever conceivably have the means to repay it."

    If memory serves, most of military aid to Ukraine has been sent via the lend/lease laws similar to what was done with the UK in WW2.

    (And we did get repaid by the UK following the war. The last payment was made in 2006/2007. For Ukraine, there has been a presumption that the repayments will be sent to the US from the EU as part of a reconstruction program following the end of hostilities).

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  4. Gry.Solingen

    I have a low opinion of many politicians, but find very few actually repulsive. MTG is one of those few. I cannot stand her in my head or heart or guts. Don’t even have to hear that awful voice of hers – just seeing her, I heave the gorge.

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  5. Bill Donnelly

    Calling MTG a revolutionary glorifies her ultraconservative totalitarian Christian-based demagoguery.

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      Trevor Reid

      There is very little Christian in someone who thinks that Russia is actually protecting Christians. That’s what Christians do, you know, kidnap children and forcibly remove them from their parents. I’m sure there is something about that in two Corinthians or 1Assumptions or something like that.

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      Mandy B.

      IS she 'ultraconsevative'? I think that's an insult to ultraconservatives -- whatever they are. I just think she's NUTS.

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    Magpie

    Great article! Mr. Cattogio is a very perceptive observer of right-wing populism.

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  7. Randall Briggs

    Excellent, as usual!

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  8. Goatprairie

    When both major parties are totally screwed up and the leading third party challenger is an anti-vaxxer screwball himself, you know your country is in a bad way and needs a major housecleaning.
    The GOP is in the thrall of a narcissistic demagogue while the Dem Party is being led by a senile corruptocrat who is being led around the nose by the far-left element of his party.
    The third party main challenger is relying on his last name of which if it were different would be nowhere. Nobody would pay a smidgeon of attention to Kennedy except for his last name. There is still that segment of Americans who revere the name Kennedy for some strange reason.
    Don't vote for any of those three scoundrels. Find somebody else or do a write-in.
    No more scoundrels.

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    1. Balthazar

      Biden is one of the less corrupt presidents our nation has ever had. An instance of plagiarism and a drug-addled son, and that's really it. And he's not senile. He is older than I'd like, but only one of the parties is clearly broken and I think you know which one.

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      1. Goatprairie

        Ha, ha,...if you want to defend this piece of you know what, go ahead. Because he's not quite as rotten as Trump doesn't make him untainted.
        It's time you liberals recognized the bad actors on your side.

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        1. Balthazar

          That's absurd and you must know it. Biden isn't going down as one of the great presidents, but on the corruption ladder he's just not bad at all. He's no Reagan or Obama, but he's also no LBJ, Nixon, Clinton or for heaven's sake, Trump. You need to find a less biased news source if you seriously believe that he is because there's just no evidence to support it.

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          1. Goatprairie

            Biden is probably the weakest president ever. And as far as obeying the law, he's deliberately letting in millions of illegal aliens and flouting the SC concerning student loans.
            Point out to me the part of the constitution that gives a president power to forgive private loans. He told the SC to stuff it, he was going tto do it anyway. His accomplices in the justice department will most likely help him. He's basically lawless.

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      2. Craigb9997

        Really? Wow. He is not as corrupt as trump but that does not make him one of the least corrupt presidents ever. At a minimum he is the top 5 least truthful, or number one most scenile - you pick.

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        1. Balthazar

          What in the world do you think he's done? The Hunter thing? The plagiarism thing? Something else that I haven't heard of? He probably is a little senile (as is trump) but I think you must badly underestimate the average corruption level of a US president if you think Biden is anywhere near top 5.

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      BillAZ

      To compare the Democratic Party to the rolling Charlie-Foxtrot that is the Republican Party and declare some equivalence between Trump and Biden is such a perverse and monumental error in judgment... and gets Trump elected.

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      1. Goatprairie

        Because one piece of food is 90% rotten and the other piece of food is only 70-80% rotten makes little difference. They're both severely tainted and shouldn't be eaten. Find some untainted food.

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          BillAZ

          The kind of equivalence simply doesn't exist. One piece of food is rotten. It needs to be thrown out pronto. The other is distasteful but it won't kill the family.

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          1. Goatprairie

            Immediate death or slow death. They're both poisonous.

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            C C Writer

            That's a judgment, and it's based on a logical argument. But it's not a fact. Others may have a logical case supporting a different judgment. This is why voting is distributed among the public at large and not given to a few.

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        Ed

        If one sees a lot of equivalence between the two parties, and sees both parties as roughly equally bad, then one is morally bound to not exercise a perverse and monumental error in judgement and vote for either. The only moral choice is to vote for none of them.

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          BillAZ

          It would seem to me that one reverts to first principles. The first principles being the survival of a united, democratic Constitutional republic and its defense from foreign enemies.

          The question then becomes from which quarter do we consider that threat most immediate and salient?

          The answer to that question is the moral choice... the only moral choice one is left with. Sometimes all we get are bad choices but we are still required to act under "the bondage of necessity".

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        2. Balthazar

          "a lot of equivalence" is not the same as "equivalence". Work a little harder and make the call that's best for the nation.

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            Ed

            For heaven's sake, "close enough" is what it means. On a scale of 0-1000, the difference between 500 and 499 is not particularly meaningful unless one is involved in a precision project. How about accepting that not everyone has the same view of the world as you, and that we are making the call we see as best for the nation, please?

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          BillAZ

          Or perhaps one has simply lost the thread?

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            Ed

            Hmm, my apologies if I caused you to do so.

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          Magpie

          Perhaps it would be more moral to vote for the party or individual most likely to ensure that the US continues to assist Ukraine to defeat Russia.

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          1. Natty Bumpo

            This is where I am to be honest. Great disdain for both parties and presidential candidates. Particular disgust with one in particular and what he has done to my former party. But difficult to find reasons to support the opposite group. STRONG support for Ukraine in its battle for survival against another corrupting snake.

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            Ed

            If one saw that as sufficiently important, then I cannot disagree.

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    Greg Hurley

    The district that elects MTG must be dense with nut jobs and unreflective people.

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    1. Craigb9997

      Could not agree more, you either have to be a nihilist or severe low IQ to vote for MTG or even Matt Goetz . But this works both ways. What positive outcome are the Ocasi-cortez voters striving for, Or even better Rashida Talib. If one set of these people don't trigger your gag reflex and the other set does then you are a classic partisan hack

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    2. Balthazar

      My opinion is that MAGA types all feel like they've been victimized by American politicians and therefore by America itself. At least at a subconscious level, I think they're pissed at America and they want to hurt it - what better way to do that than by sending MTG to congress? Of course they're hurting themselves in the long run and they probably aren't reflective enough to see that, but they're definitely achieving their main goal of getting revenge on the nation for its imagined insults.

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  10. Shadraq

    If one's only impression of Congress is what one garners from news and opinion pieces, it would lead to the conclusion that there are only 5 - 10 total members of the House. Just how flaming cooks like MJT (being only 1/435th of the House) garner so much attention is mind-boggling. It's almost like she intentionally sounds stupid just to get press, and it's working, just as it does for AOC.

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    1. Balthazar

      It's the curse of a closely-divided nation - a small number of kooks become the decision makers. AOC is actually a success story if you ask me - she came to congress and said a million stupid things and got a ton of press, but leadership over time has seemingly convinced her to become a little more thoughtful (and a little quieter.)

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