Marjorie Taylor Greene's Unlikely Gravitas

Mocked as a backwoods rube when she arrived in Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene has shown unexpected wisdom and courage.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was treated like an unsophisticated hick from Georgia when she arrived in Congress in 2021.

She was the target of relentless criticism from fellow Congress members and derision from the sneering, snobbish Eastern elite.

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel summed it up by calling her “a snowflake and a sociopath at the same time.”

Yet, as she prepares to leave Congress on January 5, Greene has established a gravitas that few would have predicted and that her critics lack.

MAGA

Greene complained that Republican President Donald J. Trump has failed to make good on his promise to make America first again.

While almost everyone else was silent, Greene condemned, along with the rest of the world, the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

Brown University’s Costs of War project recently estimated that U.S. taxpayers have paid for 70% of Israel’s total war costs since October 7, 2023. Despite polls showing that Americans disapprove of Israel’s actions, Trump and his Democratic predecessor, President Joe Biden, have sent more than $30 billion to Israel that is badly needed to address chronic problems in the United States.

Israel has killed 67,078 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 169,430. According to the Brown University project, this represents about 10% of Gaza’s 2.2 million population. Israel also has destroyed Gaza’s infrastructure, including its energy, water, sanitation, agriculture, housing and healthcare, making life impossible for the remaining Gaza residents.

Meanwhile, the U.S.’s support for Israel’s genocide has devastated America’s standing as a moral force in the world.

Leslie Stahl of 60 Minutes recently condemned Greene for failing to approve the latest proposed antisemitism act in Congress. Greene noted she has voted for several prior antisemitism bills. “It becomes an exercise they force on Congress and I got tired of it… we don’t have to get on our knees and say it over and over again,” she said.

When Stahl noted that most members of Congress disagree with her, Greene retorted that “most members of Congress take donations from AIPAC (the pro Israel lobbying group) and I don’t.”

APAC spent more than $100 million on congressional races and candidates in the 2023-2034 election cycle, including primary challenges against two critics of Israel who were not reelected. It is estimated that Trump has received about $230.5 million from pro-Israeli interest groups - including AIPAC, since 2020.

Other Issues

Greene’s stand on other issues separate her from the crowd of toadies and partisans in Congress.

Greene is one of the few women members of Congress who supported transparency with respect to the government’s files on the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted child sex trafficker and pedophile.

She is one of the few women in Congress who believes that female restrooms and private spaces should be off-limits to “all biological men,” including Democratic Rep. Sarah (Tom) McBride from Delaware.

By contrast, faux progressive Democrats, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, says bills banning males from female private spaces are discriminatory and “disgusting.”

Instead of supporting Epstein’s female victims and demanding disclosure of the Epstein files, Ocasio-Cortez resorted to demagoguery, calling Trump a “rapist” - a crime for which he has never been convicted - and accusing Republicans of playing politics.

Courage

In the final analysis, Greene had the courage to tell hard truths in the face of overwhelming opposition, while career politicians dodge the issues and accept the equivalent of bribes from a foreign country.

Greene announced her retirement last month, stating that she had faced threats for her views after Trump withdrew support for her, labeling her a “ranting lunatic” and “traitor.” “After President Trump called me a traitor, I got a pipe bomb threat on my house, and then I got several direct death threats on my son...,” she told 60 Minutes.

I never expected anything from Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Perhaps I bought into the subtle discrimination and snobbery held by the East Coast elite toward people from the South. I had no expectation that Greene would distinguish herself for anything of importance in Congress. She has.

I still don’t agree with Greene on many things, including her early wacky conspiracy theories (look it up), but she has earned my respect. She has displayed courage in an institution that is filled with cowards and partisans who are all too willing to sell out to the highest bidder.

She was a voice for Americans who are struggling and ignored.

I think it is unfortunate that she is resigning to save her district from a “hurtful and hateful primary.”