Do you know who these people are? I suspect you know the ones on the right. But not the two on the left. Why is that? Why do you know who Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene are, but not the two members of Congress on the left? Why is it that Colin Allred and Abigail Spanberger aren't household names, but Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Lauren Boebart are? Let's talk about Colin Allred for a second. He's running for the US Senate from the state of Texas. He may well be the general election candidate who would face off against Ted Cruz. Colin Allred can beat Ted Cruz, but whether he does or not, doesn't really matter. His character does because there are profound lessons in it. It was my privilege recently to spend some time with Colin Allred on The Warning podcast. Let me tell you a story about him. He never knew his father. He was raised by his mother. He found his way to Baylor College and onto the football team. Colin Allred says that, if not for football, all of the good things in his life wouldn't have happened. It's a tough sport. He played it very, very well. And hard. He loved his teammates, and they loved him. He made it all the way to the NFL. One day, he found himself severely injured with a neck injury. I asked him about it. Colin Allred told me what went through his mind when he was lying on the field. It was in the middle of a conversation about optimism and pessimism. Colin Allred said in that moment, he knew his NFL career was over and that he would never play football again. And the only thought in his head was, "I guess, well, I'm going to law school now." And he did. Then he went on to serve his country in the Obama administration, and then was elected to the United States Congress. He's a person of character, pragmatism and common sense. Why don't you know his name? Abigail Spanberger could have done anything she wanted with her career. She chose to become an officer in the Central Intelligence Agency. She chose to serve her country. She is an absolute expert in national security issues. She studies. She takes her jobs seriously. She cares deeply about the national security of the United States. Why don't you know her name? Why hasn't she been made a household name by the American media like these two loons? Marjorie Taylor Greene is a total nut job? That's what she would have been thought of, seen as, and called not so long ago in America. She's a bizarre and peculiar person in a country filled with them. Until very recently, the country as a whole has understood that whatever it is that these people may do, and wherever they may find themselves, certainly it shouldn't be in a position of political power, where they author the laws that affect how the rest of us live our lives. Marjorie Taylor Greene is an anti-semite. She is a QAnon adherent, and she is so profoundly unfit that she was stripped of her committee assignments justifiably and appropriately. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been rehabilitated substantially, at least in her political standing in Washington, by two people: Kevin McCarthy and Donald Trump. Kevin McCarthy needed Marjorie Taylor. For his speakership vote, Kevin McCarthy needed Marjorie Taylor Greene's vote. He needed the vote of the craziest person in the room -- MTG -- to have the bonafides to get the votes from the other people in the Freedom Caucus. That, incidentally, just kicked Marjorie Taylor Greene out of the Freedom Caucus, which sided with Lauren Boebert in their feud. The Freedom Caucus is a hive of extremism and sedition in the United States Congress. What the Freedom Caucus produced was Mark Meadows. What the Freedom Caucus produced is Donald Trump. It is the epicenter of MAGA. It is the wellspring of Marjorie Taylor Greene's power. Marjorie Taylor Greene should have been laughed at, should have been derided. Any decent, normal person with a position of responsibility and power in the United States Congress would look at Marjorie Taylor Greene and say, "no thank you" on any given day, but not Donald Trump. Marjorie Taylor Greene is a political whore, made so by the billion-dollar Trump industrial complex. What the American people are shown on a daily basis is "this is politics" -- Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene. This is the choice, and that choice that's laid out to the American people produces apathy, indifference, and what millions and millions of Americans say is that it's too broken for me to pay attention to it at all. And when that happens, we are on the doorstep of losing democracy. Lassitude is the word for the type of political indifference and apathy that can rise up and destroy a democracy. We have a lassitude problem in America. We have an apathy problem. We have become detached as citizens from the concept of obligation and responsibility, that we are temporary stewards of the United States of America. We are custodians of a treasure, a gift that's been passed down to us. A work of genius that, over time, has become a document of justice that preserves the rights and the dignities of every person in America, regardless of race or creed or religion, or the country that they were born in. The Constitution of the United States is what the president raises their hand and swears an oath of allegiance to in 35 words. It's the same oath that every president has taken from George Washington, to Joe Biden. and the president promises to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Preserve, protect, and defend. What Trump did was tried to burn it down. What he did, was tried to take power and liberty from the American people, installing himself as leader. Among his greatest cheerleaders in the effort among America's most prolific liars in the cause is one of America's most committed conspiracy loons> Marjorie Taylor Greene. She was at his side all the way. Marjorie Taylor Greene, perhaps the most unfit member of Congress, is a sea of unfitness, but Marjorie Taylor Greene has thrived in this era. How much? Let's take in this quote. It is astounding. Marjorie Taylor Greene is thinking about our future. Will she be a senator? Might she be in the cabinet? Maybe she'll be the vice president. And after that, who knows? Let's see what Marjorie Taylor Greene says about it. She was asked a question about whether she's going to run for the Senate against Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. She said she hasn't made up her mind whether she'll do that or not.
"I have a lot of things to think about. Am I going to be part of President Trump's cabinet if he lands? Is it possible that I'll be VP?" Is it possible that Marjorie Taylor Greene will be the vice presidential nominee? And the answer to that question is, yes, it is. It's entirely possible. The thousands of MAGA Republicans will be cheering for the conspiracy theorist. It will be a grotesquerie at the next Republican convention, hoping to put her into the national command authority, one heartbeat away from the office of president of the United States, where she would be commander in chief of the world's most potent weapons and largest nuclear arsenal. Isn't that a nice thought? Here's the thing, though. Trump is collapsing. His approval levels are down to 35%. The American people can see through the bullshit an dthe lies. The American people know that we don't live in a banana republic, despite the aspirations of 35% of the country for us to do so. The American people understand, though, that our criminal justice system is flawed and broken at some level, but it still works, and that they have trust and faith in the men and women who seek to preserve the traditions of the rule of law, who seek to preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States. Most Americans have not surrendered their intellectual agency. Most Americans have the judgment to understand that QAnon is nonsense. Most Americans have the judgment to be able to keep themselves out of the internet rabbit hole. Most Americans have common sense and intellectual capacity. And the simple truth is, most Americans can be trusted with responsibility -- though Marjorie Taylor Greene is not amongst them. We should never be in favor of broad generalizations, and certainly, there is no such thing as just collective guilt. Marjorie Taylor Greene won an election. She is the person her district from the state of Georgia chose amongst them to represent them in Washington, DC. Let's just say it doesn't reflect well on their community. But Marjorie Taylor Greene isn't going beyond that community. She won't be elected statewide, in a state like Georgia, just like Ron DeSantis has flamed out at a national level because Florida is so out of touch with the rest of America. Marjorie Taylor Greene's district is out of touch with Georgia, and also the country if that's their idea of a leader, and Marjorie Taylor Greene is deluded enough to believe that that's how the rest of the country sees her. Her next campaign for a higher office will be an interesting experience. I suspect it will be very enjoyable for all the rest of us. The bottom line about failing and flailing autocratic movements, is they don't give up the fight easily. As we get closer to the end of MAGA, it will get hotter. It will get crazier. It will become more prone to violence. But it is collapsing, and we know that because Donald Trump's numbers are slipping. The people who are starting to walk away are Republicans. Republicans understand the party is at its end, making Donald Trump the nominee. Again. We will destroy it. It will take down with it scores and scores and scores of the cowardly men and women who didn't have the guts and integrity to stand up against this for seven years. Marjorie Taylor Greene will be a footnote to history. A loon who temporarily had the spotlight shine on her. She's had her 15 minutes. Her time is nearly up. Her fantasies are growing hotter, but understand, they're delusional, like her political views, like her anti- semitic conspiracies, and like her belief that Donald Trump won an election that he lost. What's the job of president of the United States? It's to keep us safe. What type of sick society would ever put this woman into a position like that?
