Talking tough, talking stupid

As I’ve mentioned before Republicans love to talk about killing their opponents but they don’t want to be held responsible for their rhetoric. Case in point, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene declaring Americans must use the Second Amendment to fight liberal tyranny, but of course she’s not suggesting violence, not her!

Conversely, when indulging in heated rhetoric about liberal fascism or the communist takeover, they evoke Stalin while offering tame examples like liberals “manipulating their access to status and comfort.” Stalin did a damn sight more than that, dudes. Likewise, lying Trump toady Matt Gaetz claims that blaming Republicans for 1/6 is the blood libel. Dude the blood libel involved mobs killing Jews for supposedly using children’s blood in their Passover bread; I don’t see mobs coming for your head, The QAnon accusations about cannibal pedophiles are much closer to the blood libel in substance, and they’ve already led to some violent incidents. And they do want people’s heads.

That does not, however, stop them from just making up injustices, like J.D. Vance claiming dozens of 1/6 seditionists have been jailed without charges. It’s a lie. So is Dennis Prager’s claim the 1/6 insurrection was a false flag like the Reichstag fire. Ted Cruz told the truth about 1/6 this month, but then had to walk it back. SC Senator Lindsay Graham has a shit fit that Biden calling out the insurrection as just that is politicizing events. Yes, what could be political about an attempt to overthrow the duly elected president.

By contrast Republicans have no problems with the Republican party committing to the goal of more people dying of covid. And yet some members of the press pretend there are no significant issues in current politics.

Now, to the stupid —

Speaking of covid, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, brings the stupid to his anti-vax arguments with “Why do we think that we can create something better than God in terms of combating disease?” Yes, remember how natural immunity has conquered smallpox, polio, tetanus, measels and flu? Oh, wait, we get shots for those. In Wisconsin state government, nitwit Republican Treig Pronchinske argues that since we can’t see covid virus particles, we can’t tell if anyone has it, let alone treat it. Again, a few centuries of medical history show he’s full of it.

Then there’s anti-vax militant Christopher Key, who says you can beat the Trump virus without a vaccine by drinking your own urine. And the conservative who claims, a la Ron Johnson, that God’s a better doctor: healing through prayer will be like universal health care with no deductibles. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court is siding with anti-vaxers on the dubious grounds that workplace safety laws don’t specifically cover pandemics.

And then there’s the guy who said history classes about Nazism and Soviet communism should be impartial.

David Bateman of the Silicon Valley firm Entrata lost his CEO gig after claiming the covid vaccine is part of a Jewish takeover plot (“For 300 years the Jews have been trying to infiltrate the Catholic Church and place a Jew covertly at the top. It happened in 2013 with Pope Francis.”).

Returning to  the tough talk, at least a few bullies are getting their comeuppance. Kaleb Cole of the Atomwaffen Division neo-Nazi group got seven years for threatening journalists with death. The leader of the right-wing Oathkeepers has been arrested for his 1/6 role.