One of my favorite people in all of American politics right now is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). True, that list of favorites is especially short these days, but Greene would probably be on my list in any era.
Greene rubs a lot of people wrong, which is often a plus for me.
The congresswoman is in the news a lot, almost as often for battling other Republicans as for irritating Democrats. This week, Greene and the Freedom Caucus are going their separate ways.
WASHINGTON—The breakup of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and the most powerful conservative caucus in the House was likely sealed when she called her colleague Rep. Lauren Boebert “a little bitch.”
Greene had made her name as a firebrand hard-right Georgia congresswoman and fit well into the House Freedom Caucus ideologically. But ever since she played a role in helping Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) overcome 14 failed votes to become speaker, she and caucus colleagues clashed over whether to continue to make life difficult for McCarthy, as Boebert and some others have done, or assist leadership in passing legislation, Greene’s preferred tack.
I would posit that focusing on making McCarthy functional in the most conservative way possible is what’s important, and that seems to be Greene’s goal. However, she isn’t exactly out there proposing legislation just to make friends:
341 members of the U.S. House of Representatives just voted to reject my amendment & fund a proxy war with Russia in our NATIONAL Defense Authorization Act.
Ukraine isn’t the 51st state. This should have never been included in the NDAA which should fund OUR military. https://t.co/166wbyFEnd
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) July 13, 2023
Everything I’ve observed in the last couple of years indicates that Greene is a woman who listens to and trusts her own inner counsel. That doesn’t mean she won’t listen to others, it just means she’s not desperately seeking anyone’s approval, which is rare in either chamber of Congress. The legislative branch is polluted with people who would rather get along with everyone at a Beltway happy hour than do anything substantive for the benefit of the republic while they’re at work.
Here is Greene’s take on her split with the Freedom Caucus:
“I think I enjoy being a free agent a lot better,” said Greene about her ouster from the caucus. She said that she shared the values of the Freedom Caucus, but was “interested in getting accomplishments done, not doing things just to disrupt and fight leadership. And that’s a major difference.”
I should make it clear that, for the most part, I love what the Freedom Caucus does, and admire everyone in it. Greene is right here, however. The Freedom Caucus fought hard for the concessions that would allow them to hold McCarthy’s feet to the fire. There is a difference between holding his feet to the fire and dousing them in gasoline while they’re there just because you want to hear him scream, though.
Both Greene and the Freedom Caucus will be fine. They don’t really need each other. I suspect that Greene will be in sync with her former caucus colleagues more often than not going forward. In fact, the Greene-sponsored amendment mentioned in the above tweet received strong support from the Freedom Caucus, despite the vote coming just a day after the announcement regarding their parting of ways.
Back to what I like about Rep. Greene. She doesn’t have much filter, she sticks to what she believes in, and — my favorite thing — she is not at all concerned about whom she offends. I have more than a few conservative friends and colleagues who find all of that off-putting. They like her politics, but they wish she’d dial it down a bit. It’s a lot of the same stuff I hear about Trump, to be honest.
The reason I am so fond of Greene’s modus operandi is that I am sick to death of polite Republicans. In four decades of conservative activism, I’ve watched polite Republicans roll over time and again and allow the Democrats to bring the United States of America to the brink of extinction. They are as much to blame for the mess we’re in as any frothing progressive in the Democratic party.
At this critical juncture, the GOP can either hitch its wagon to the likes of Notorious MTG (and the Freedom Caucus, for that matter), or it can follow the Romney Squish wing of the party off the cliff into oblivion.
There’s probably no beer in oblivion, so Notorious MTG it is for me.
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