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Polite Extremism and the Speaker of the House — The Week in Editorial Cartoons (Update x 9) [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-11-02
Please scroll down a bit to see manual updates to this diary. I’ll continue to post more editorial cartoons both as updates and in the comments section. Thanks. First Things First x Thursday pic.twitter.com/9mIXC4nO8k — Irena Buzarewicz (@IrenaBuzarewicz) November 2, 2023 The House Will Be in Order x Lisa Benson @newcounterpoint #MikeJohnson pic.twitter.com/NpPNtNbaea — Editorial & Political Cartoons (@EandPCartoons) October 31, 2023
Don’t Be Fooled by This “Polite Extremist”
From Newt Gingrich to Mike Johnson almost three decades later, it just keeps getting worse in the US House of Representatives.
Until his recent ascension to the Speakership of the US House of Representatives, Congressman Mike Johnson (R-LA) was a relative nobody. As one of his colleagues noted on the day he was elected, Johnson was, unlike other nominees who lost including Jim Johnson (R-OH), Steve Scalise (R-LA), and Tom Emmer (R-MN), the person most Republican US House members were least mad at.
Johnson’s cheery outlook and optimistic demeanor do not — in any way, shape, or form — diminish his policy extremism. Behind a carefully constructed facade of “country club” politeness and religiosity, lies a gun-loving political extremist of the worst kind. How could one possibly oppose such a nice guy?
If You Don’t Succeed At First...
Mike Johnson’s public demeanor reminds me of what I wrote about the chauvinistic behavior displayed by Bobby Riggs in this two-part 2021 diary about the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match between Billie Jean King and Riggs — “The Male is King, the Male is Supreme, and Women Should Know That." (Part I)
I could tell you dozens of stories but suffice it to say, it is an environment where, even to this day, you will find many 1%ers like Mitt Romney — perfectly pleasant, rather privileged, incurious men who are totally at ease practicing a phony kind of civility one often sees in business circles. Rarely if ever, are such men forced to examine their core beliefs. Why would they? The system works for them and in their isolated world, that's all that counts. Proles are, after all, more a nuisance to be tolerated or exploited and in their way of thinking, of limited use to society. Uneasy is The Head That Wears The Crown x pic.twitter.com/3ZsSUmavlV — mike luckovich (@mluckovichajc) October 26, 2023
While his brief tenure and low profile in the US House of Representatives makes him a difficult target for the Democrats to define, the sooner it is done, the better. Tying vulnerable Republican US House members — who won in US House districts that Joe Biden won in the 2020 Election — to this “MAGA Extremist” is something the Democratic Party has already started to do. After all, his political strategy for funding the federal government is suspect, at best. A recent report revealed his virulent anti-LGBTQ positions and belief in “conversion therapy” — a suspect and discredited theory that claims that gays and lesbians can be cured of their “deviant behavior!”
Who Will Control Him?
Is such a person worthy of being second in line to becoming the President of the United States? An article in the anti-Trump publication The Bulwark details Johnson’s social views and hostility toward democracy.
x GunCrazy pic.twitter.com/H43j1HUmte — Marty Two Bulls Sr. (@M2Bulls) November 1, 2023 Mike Johnson, Polite Extremist The new speaker of the House has deep ties to proponents of the New Apostolic Reformation, a movement that helped fuel the January 6th insurrection. HOT-OFF-THE-PRESSES PROFILES of Mike Johnson, the new speaker of the House, contain a seeming paradox. Some emphasize that he is a “mild-mannered,” “soft-spoken,” and temperamentally courteous individual. They similarly describe him as a “Christian conservative” and a “deeply evangelical Christian.” But many of the same profilers have also highlighted Johnson’s troubling activity surrounding the 2020 election and Trump’s attempt to overturn the American people’s verdict. Johnson’s involvement was substantial enough that he has even been labeled the “mastermind of the January 6 plot” and “a threat to democracy.” So which is he: an anti-democratic politician and an insurrectionist, or a mild-mannered Christian? Part of the problem is that we have come to imagine that a person cannot be both at the same time. Mike Johnson shows that you can… There is no contradiction in observing that Mike Johnson is both a mild-mannered, courteous, conservative evangelical Christian and a politically extreme ideologue. He has surrounded himself with some of the most dangerous, anti-democratic Christian leaders in the country—the same people who theologized the January 6th insurrection—and offered them his public support and praise. Is there any doubt about the flock to which he belongs? Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) Telling It Like It Is x Rep. Jamie Raskin putting the smackdown on MAGA Speaker Mike Johnson.
"Under His eye." pic.twitter.com/MUYRRkdjRu — Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) November 2, 2023
Updates Posted Here
Update #9 — 11:25 pm ET
What Does Mike Johnson Stand For?
Not a Legislative Record to Be Proud Of
Update #8 — 10:17 pm ET
Oh, It’s Totally Fair
When Will It Stop?
Update #7 — 7:25 pm ET
What’s Good for the Goose…
Introducing Himself
x Jack Ohman, Tribune Content Agencyn pic.twitter.com/8lmj6j0ZWw — Editorial & Political Cartoons (@EandPCartoons) October 31, 2023
Update #6 — 7:20 pm ET
The Keeper of the Faith
Just As He Planned It
Update #5 — 7:17 pm ET
It’s An Outrage
x Tom Toles, The Washington Post (2017) @TomTolesToons pic.twitter.com/1NdlE8migB — Editorial & Political Cartoons (@EandPCartoons) October 31, 2023
His Man in the US House of Reps
Update #4 — 7:02 pm ET
Safe Travels in Texas
x How to safely travel through Texas. pic.twitter.com/zLxlJaKMom — StrictlyChristo 🇺🇦🌻 (@StrictlyChristo) October 30, 2023
A Message for the New Speaker of the House
x Tell Speaker Mike Johnson: pic.twitter.com/YUYTZ6FpQS — David Cay Johnston (@DavidCayJ) October 28, 2023
Update #3 — 6:56 pm ET
Damn, All the Witches Are Against Him
The Law is After This Guy
x Nate Beeler, The Columbus Dispatch @natebeeler pic.twitter.com/uJvynEWNp8 — Editorial & Political Cartoons (@EandPCartoons) October 31, 2023
Update #2 — 6:48 pm ET
Being Decisive
Telling the Truth
Update #1 — 6:28 pm ET
Play Ball
x Jack Ohman The Sacramento Bee pic.twitter.com/mW4GxbnsAj — Editorial & Political Cartoons (@EandPCartoons) November 2, 2023
Not Him Again!
x Jeff Danziger, The Rutland Herald pic.twitter.com/3giugNmILl — Editorial & Political Cartoons (@EandPCartoons) November 2, 2023
The New US House of Representatives
He’ll Fit Right In
x Jack Ohman, Tribune Content Agency #MikeJohnson pic.twitter.com/Jt3POaxXKj — Editorial & Political Cartoons (@EandPCartoons) November 1, 2023
Attribution for the above cartoon: Jack Ohman, Tribune Content Agency, @EandPCartoons
The Long Goodbye
x My latest for Counterpoint today: pic.twitter.com/T72sRB5NWl — Ward Sutton (@WardSutton) November 2, 2023
No Escape
x Christopher Weyant, The Boston Globe @ChristophWeyant pic.twitter.com/H8mfIBh9SI — Editorial & Political Cartoons (@EandPCartoons) November 1, 2023
Behind the Phony Civility
Gun Lovers
The Solution? Vote Them Out!
x I'm praying for a strong voter turnout that has thoughts about sensible gun safety laws, reproductive freedom, & saving our democracy:
https://t.co/4aj81BnqWH — Allyson Ford - #IStandWithUkraine 🌊 (@AFinLA) November 1, 2023
x A staggering majority of Americans support common sense gun reform, even on Fox News polls.
Why can't we get it done? pic.twitter.com/3sPlen714B — Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) October 31, 2023
His Worst Nightmare
Turning Against Him
Stormy Weather
Next Year’s Most Popular Halloween Costume
Giving Up
x Chosing the constitution over trump is magacide pic.twitter.com/f6aIp28Wr6 — Matt Wuerker (@wuerker) November 1, 2023
Any Friends Left?
Leaving a Bad Taste
Not Very Popular
x Chris Britt @chrisbtitt01 pic.twitter.com/kz1p2hNcSz — Editorial & Political Cartoons (@EandPCartoons) November 1, 2023
Diary Poll
Remember to take the below poll .
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