Mike Johnson, the smiling and utterly retrograde new U.S. Speaker of the House, got the big job because Matt Gaetz and Donald Trump allowed it. Johnson is said to be a “nice guy.” All this means is he has good manners and doesn’t habitually froth at the mouth in the manner of Marjorie Taylor Greene. As Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz said, he’s “Jim Jordan in a suit jacket.”Nobody, not even the cheeriest and silliest legislator, thinks Johnson will compromise. It’s a matter of “the human heart.”The root cause, as Johnson told Fox’s Sean Hannity, is teaching evolution. This is where we’re going, walking backwards into a future of hatred, theocracy, anti-intellectualism, science denialism, institutionalized misogyny, xenophobia, and second-class citizenship MAGA Republicans for anyone they deem “deviant.”Back to the 18th Century.

Source: The Guardian November 06, 2023 18:13 UTC