They had a go at having Tom Emmer, but apparently he was simply not fanatically religious enough and not a homophobic bigot so they quickly bounced him off the field…
They then dug up Mike Johnson.
He is asked, but wait aren’t you a Jan 6 Coup leader?
Such a tricky question to him, for which the only honest answer is yes, apparently merited a boo and a dismissal. Yet he really was indeed a key architect of the Jan 6th strategy to overturn the US election.
So who exactly has every single Republican house representative now crowned as 3rd in line to the Presidency?
Beyond being a Jan 6 coup leader …
- Mike Johnson is a guy who built a legal career in Louisiana opposing the basic civil rights and civil liberties of the LGBTQ+ community
- He is well recognised as a Christian nationalist. Religious-right activist Rick Green says he is “literally in tears” that Rep. Mike Johnson has been elected Speaker of the House because “this is one of our guys.”
- He embraces the lies promoted by pseudo historian David Barton to claim the US was founded as a Christian nation. In 2021, Rep. Mike Johnson spoke at the WallBuilders ProFamily Legislators Conference, where he heaped praise on Christian nationalist pseudo-historian David Barton, saying that Barton’s work “has had such a profound influence on me and my work and my life.”
- There also exists a group called Answers-In-Genesis. This is a batshit crazy creationist group that believes God created the entire universe just 6,000 years ago. Rep. Mike Johnson not only legally represents them, he is one of their writers.
In other words, he is a religious MAGA extremist who really believes some deeply crazy stuff that is very blatantly false and he is deeply motivated to try and impose it all on the rest of us.
The Handmaid’s Tale is supposed to be a cautionary tale, but for him it is a visionary guidebook. He is armed with both the intelligence and fanatical zeal that will motivate him to attempt to steer legislation shaped to bring his supposed religious utopia ever closer one step at a time. He is also capable of inspiring even more zeal amongst those within his circle. Bereft of basic human compassion for those they attack, devoid of empathy for the downtrodden who suffer under their boots of bigotry and hatred, what sorrowful spectres these are that we now gaze upon.
The new House Speaker Mike Johnson is Anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ, anti-gun safety, and anti-democracy.
We need to do better, far far better than this pitiful excuse for humanity that has been so utterly corrupted by a cult of religious and political delusions. He and his companions have been rendered utterly incapable of tackling the things that truly matter such as climate change or meaningful gun legislation. Instead we are greeted by attacks upon marginalised minorities, denial of basic medical science, and an increasing waves of refusal of access to basic reproductive health care. It all merits nothing but utter contempt.
We are all now rapidly becoming a tad more cognizant of who it is that has been crowned …
- Nikki McCann Ramirez @ Rolling Stone: The New House Speaker Is a Far-Right Extremist Who Helped Plot 2020 Coup.
- Jack Jenkins @ Religion News Service: Mike Johnson, pedigreed evangelical, suggests his election as House speaker ordained by God.
- Jennifer Bendery @ HuffPost: New Speaker Mike Johnson’s Long History With The Religious Right.
- J.D. Wolf @ MeidasTouch: New Speaker Mike Johnson Blamed School Shootings on the Teaching of Evolution.
- Isaac Schorr @ Mediaite: Speaker Mike Johnson Condemned by Far-Right for Comments on His Black Son and George Floyd: ‘Undercover Democrat?’
- RWW has more on him here … What It Means That the New House Speaker Is an Acolyte of Christian Nationalist Pseudo-Historian David Barton
Also …
- Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson is aghast that any of his colleagues would dare to argue “that our rights do not come from God”: “Think about how scary that is. If you believe your rights come from government, then it means you don’t owe any allegiance at all to God.”
- And of course Christians nationalists like David Barton, Jim Garlow, and Bunni Pounds are predictably thrilled with Johnson’s elevation.
- Rep. Matt Gaetz also laid out what electing Johnson to the speakership really means: “MAGA is ascendant, and if you don’t think that moving from Kevin McCarthy to MAGA Mike Johnson shows the ascendance of this movement, and where the power of the Republican Party truly lies, then you’re not paying attention.”
OK, one more item … a bit of his History from 20 years ago …
Moving on, below you will once again find my usual selection of some truly bizarre and extreme claims that have popped up during the last 7 days.
With my usual hat tip to my various sources, let’s once again dive into this very murky pool of absurdity and stupidity.
Christian Nationalism
Jarrin Jackson declares that “Christians worldwide should see every nation as a nation that must become Christian.”
- We should perhaps encourage him to start that “discussion” with the folks over in Iran … I’ll even help buy him a ticket to go fly there (one way)
Ella Maulding asserts that “America is a Christian nation” and therefore “any politician defending Jews before Christians has my utmost disrespect.”
- Having the “disrespect” of this religiously fanatical social media conservative diva is actually a badge of honour and not the negative that she believe it to be.
- Least you wonder who she is, she is the lady who hangs out with literal Nazis. Quote: “Maulding has posted photos with Fuentes in which she praised him as ”the greatest civil rights leader in history,” and her social media is replete with references to “white genocide” — a foundational ideology for neo-Nazi and other violent extremist movements.“
The Cult of Trump
Jim Bakker and Lance Wallnau assured Bakker’s television audience that former President Donald Trump is a Christian because multiple right-wing pastors “have led him in the Sinner’s Prayer”: “I’m sure one of ’em stuck.”
- As the old saying goes, if you believe that then please send me you name and address because I have a bridge for sale that you might be interested in.
- Meanwhile, via here … “Trump returning from his meeting with the pastors who laid hands on him and sneering, “Can you believe that bullshit?”
- Reminder: Jim Bakker can truly align with Trump’s values in so many ways … he made a $279,000 payoff for the silence of Jessica Hahn after he raped her … as a TV evangelist in the 80s he was convicted of financial fraud and went to jail because of that. These days its all still a con. He hosts cranks on his TV show to promote end-times scares so that he can flog his overpriced survival food buckets. NPR one bought one and tried it … quote (via here): “They taste, he says, like, “paper-mache,” “a bathroom at a bar at the end of the night in a college town,” and, simply, “one of the worst things I’ve ever eaten in my life.“
Meanwhile …
- Steve Benen @ The Maddow Blog: Trump adds Sidney Powell to list of people he pretends not to know.
- Jonathan Chait @ Intelligencer: Trump Is Actually Guilty of the Kind of Bribery Republicans Imagine Biden Did.
- Steve Bennen @ The Maddow Blog: At key juncture, Trump trashes Speaker-designate Tom Emmer.
Evangelicals
- Seriously now … is anybody actually surprised when this stuff comes out … anybody … anybody at all?
- And of course once again our regular reminder … not a Drag Queen.
Guns
For rather obvious reasons the topic of “Guns” is back … again, and again, and again …
I’ll start with this excellent point here …
The Same human heart beats in every nation on the planet, so it is indeed weird that none of those other countries that have restricted gun ownership seem to have any “human hearts” causing problems …
Meanwhile, some have indeed stepped up to the plate, admitted they were indeed wrong and now want to do what is right …
And to finish, here is one more almost daily reminder that there really are solutions, but we don’t get them because the GOP prevents them … (Hint: your vote really does matter) …
Religious “Freedom”
So this happened …
What’s deeply weird about the above is the House GOP grilled Merrick Garland because they wanted to pretend he supported the persecution of Catholics, and that was just a couple of months ago, but now apparently Catholicism is all Satanic, so persecuting them is OK, but only if they are doing the persecuting.
In other words “Religious Freedom” means freedom for just MAGA evangelicals and f**k everybody else.
Meanwhile here is @MaxwellFrostFL, a Christian, speaking out against white Christian nationalism and working to make sure it “doesn’t see the light of day.“.
Baal Worship
Environmentalism Is Baal Worship, Says Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian – He mocked concerns about rising global temperatures and climate change, declaring that environmentalism is Baal worship.
- He is, to use a phrase, mad as a box of frogs, but unfortunately he has power that impacts the whole world and he literally does not give one fuck.
- I really must take issue with the idea that we worship Baal because everybody knows we offer up daily recyclables to the goddess Ishtar.
- Side Note: When hundreds of Texas died in 2021 as a result of the state’s power grid collapsing during a severe winter storm, Mr Christian was quick to blame renewable energy and fight efforts to strengthen the power grid, but that was a deliberate lie.
Greg Locke: “We have Never Been to the Moon”
Greg Locke wants to be in Newsweek this week (yes, he really is an attention seeking diva), and he also gave Hemant a shout out …
Deeply Weird
Brenden Dilley doesn’t “give a fuck” about the suffering in Ukraine or Palestine: “My empathy, concern and focus doesn’t go beyond our own borders.”
- Brenden Dilley’s empathy doesn’t go beyond himself.
- That perhaps explains his popularity. When he stood for election in Arizona’s 8th in 2018, he only got 823 votes. The other 75,636 republican votes cast said “no way” and went for somebody else.
Asked by Stew Peters if former President Barack Obama “hates America and wants to kill all of us and destroy the country,” Thomas McInerney replied, “Yes, and he hates the Jews.”
- It has been over six years since Obama was in the oval office and these guys are still freaked out by the concept of a non-white guy being a very successful POTUS.
- There exists a rock solid Stew Peters guarantee. If he or one of his guests says something, then it is highly probable that it is a lie.
- As for elderly 86 year old McInerney, his views are so toxic and so out of whack with reality that even Fox News has banned him from appearing since 2018. The only platform he is left is via wing-nuts like Stew Peters.
- So there you go then … make sure that you are getting your magic rituals from “genuine priests” or they won’t count. Apparently only the official Jesus Brand works, all the other fake brands don’t.
Meanwhile, there is always plenty more weirdness out there …
- Sarah Rumpf @ Mediaite: Seven of the Nine Republicans Running for Speaker are Election Deniers.
- Arthur Delany @ HuffPost: Another GOP ‘Bombshell’ About Joe Biden Turns Out To Be A Dud.
- John Knefel and Reed McMaster @ Media Matters: Heritage Foundation fellow appears on Infowars to spread conspiracy theories.
- Alex Bollinger @ LGBTQ Nation: Marjorie Taylor Greene suddenly cares about LGBTQ+ rights when she can attack Muslims.
- Nikki McCann Ramirez @ Rolling Stone: MAGA Diehards Are Furious Jenna Ellis Pleaded Guilty After Raising $200K.
The False Profit$
Right Wing Watch agree with MAGA pastor Hank Kunneman that you’d be better off following “prophet Right Wing Ding-A-Ling Watch” than listening to self-proclaimed “prophets” like him.
- It’s cool that he has endorsed Right Wing Watch.
- Hank also literally sneers are people who are asking for evidence and proof.
- Meanwhile we do need to give Hank some credit. Unlike the vague weasel-word prophets, Hank quotes God in the first person giving specific, time-based prophecies. He has been wrong every single time without exception, but his deeply gullible followers don’t seem to mind and just wait for the next one.
One other Hank Kunneman highlight from this past week is his complaint that he is fed up with congregants who complain that he doesn’t have time for them because he’s too busy being on TV: “I am a very, very busy man!”
- Yes Hank … being on TV soliciting donations.
- Hanks Actual words: “If you want to get that acquainted, I’m not your pastor,because there is just something about getting too familiar with people. It’s dangerous.“
- To paraphrase him … “If I get to know you, I might start feeling bad about grifting you. It’s unlikely, but I don’t even want to take the chance.” … “Keep your distance, keep giving me money, I’ll keep spouting bullshit. Deal?”
Self-Proclaimed ‘Prophetess’ Kat Kerr Is Rewriting Her Own Prophetic History – Prior to the 2020 election, Kerr repeatedly declared that she had heard directly from God that Trump would be reelected. In 2018, Kerr specifically claimed that God took her to Heaven and told her that not only would Trump win reelection in 2020, but that then-Vice President Mike Pence would subsequently be elected to two terms as president. Kerr has now changed her story. Speaking at a recent “Inhabiting Heaven” conference, Kerr claimed that she knew that the 2020 election would be stolen from Trump as early as election night because God directly told her so.
- Don’t get mad at her for spouting obvious BS, instead be mad about all the deeply gullible people who buy into her BS.
- Not a single one of these “prophets” is being held accountable for their false prophecies by their followers, congregants, or churches. This enables them to continue to deliver their supposed “prophecies” to large crowds, just as Kerr is doing.
Shane Vaughn tried to wiggle out of his false prophecy that Rep. Jim Jordan would be the next House Speaker by declaring that Jordan is Mike Johnson’s mentor and therefore “Mike Johnson is Jim Jordan.”
- I thought that Jim Jordan was literally Donald Trump’s proxy, making Donald Trump speaker of the house (Shane’s words). Now it’s another degree removed? So is Trump, Jordan or Johnson the true speaker of the house (and how many more degrees until it’s Kevin Bacon)?
- We really need to nominate Shane for an Olympic Gold Medal. He is truly a mental gymnastics master.
Meanwhile …
… and a final FFS moment where a Pastor and Wife mock homeless people just like Jesus would …
… and to finish off this week, we have tweet where a gun nut wearing an “All Guns matter” T-Shirt demonstrates a truly epic level of raw stupidity with his claim that “You can’t fight Fire with Water, you need to fight fire with Fire” …