The travesty is that some of the members of the so-called Freedom Caucus are still in Congress and given any credibility. A number of the members of this group (in my belief) actively participated in the effort to subvert the Constitution and overturn the election.
Scott Perry was engaged in the effort to install Jeffrey Clark as the acting head of the DOJ, to raise questions about the integrity of at least the Georgia Elections, hoping ultimately to submit the fake electors in GA.
Perry, Roy, Biggs, Brooks, MTG, Jordan and others were part of the group working with a few senators and the White House to coordinate the effort to object to the Electors from the swing states, hoping to either: throw out the certification on January 6; submit fake electors; throw those states elections into enough chaos that each statehouse would be allowed to reconsider their elections; and/or create enough confusion that the election certification was halted, and the election would then be decided by a vote in the House of Representatives, as allowed under the Constitution. Members of the Freedom Caucus were the "R Congressmen" Trump referred to when he asked Jeffrey Rosen (Head of DOJ), Richard Donoghue and others on Dec. 27, 2020 to "Just say the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me and the R Congressmen." per Richard Donoghue's notes. Yes, this effort was a long shot (the ultimate "Hail Mary"), and they needed Pence to help - the effort to pressure Pence was a part of the entire scheme.
Members of this group actively engaged in trying to overturn the will of the people as determined by a free and fair election - why should they have any standing or credibility? Why are they not being held to account? And it should not matter what party one is with - their actions were wrong, regardless of party or affiliation.
And what is our reward? This group will now endeavor to shut down the Government during budget negotiations. Why, because they believe they can, and enjoy being oppositional to anything the current administration does. Unfortunately, we are the ones who will continue to pay the price for their brand of performative politics.
They offer nothing in terms of substance. I would submit that they never really have, but that point could certainly be debated. And, from a practical standpoint, it really makes no difference if MTG is a "formal member" of the "Freedom Caucus" or not. She's a like-minded individual.
Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), founding member of the Caucus told Ryan Lizza of 'The New Yorker,' "We had twenty names, and all of them were terrible. None of us liked the Freedom Caucus, either, but it was so generic and so universally awful that we had no reason to be against it...one of the working titles for the group was the Reasonable Nutjob Caucus."
1. Obviously, these were a bunch of knee-slapping funny guys in 2015, but there had to be some concept underlying that aspect of "Freedom."
Today's Caucus members seem to apply "freedom" to not having to take
~ responsibility for developing useful legislative policies, all impeachments, all the time,
~ seriously one's role on a standing committee, only grandstand examples of stupidity,
~ advantage of the federal largess for one's district constituents.
Boebert, Gaetz, and Greene (the most venal camera huggers) requested $0 for their districts in 2022. Eventually, in 2023 Gaetz requested $140m for a new helicopter facility on a Navy base (no constituent $$$), and Boebert asked for $13.4m for "water projects" for her constituents in a very large geographic district in western Colorado. [NYT - April, 202]
You are SO on target with your insight into the Freedom Caucus...nobody could've said it better. The thought of the Freedom Caucus dissolving, as a group of egomaniacs "who don't believe in anything anymore" says it best, and your outlook gives me hope for the future.
<b>A group organized around members who love publicity and are willing to do whatever it takes to get noticed is not going to be a group that sticks around for the long haul.</b>
Add in grifty fundraising appeals and you’ve described over 90% of House Republicans. Stefanik had a fundraising scam recently that was supposed to be dollars for Trump’s defense where 99% of the money went to her.
Random metaphor of the morning: this is why the Sith have the Rule of Two. When there were more of them than that, they’d destroy themselves fighting over power before they could get anything done. So they reduced it to two members, one holding the power, and the other learning to take it.
However, two crazy people is too few to get anything done in the House. It’s a vicious cycle.
The travesty is that some of the members of the so-called Freedom Caucus are still in Congress and given any credibility. A number of the members of this group (in my belief) actively participated in the effort to subvert the Constitution and overturn the election.
Scott Perry was engaged in the effort to install Jeffrey Clark as the acting head of the DOJ, to raise questions about the integrity of at least the Georgia Elections, hoping ultimately to submit the fake electors in GA.
Perry, Roy, Biggs, Brooks, MTG, Jordan and others were part of the group working with a few senators and the White House to coordinate the effort to object to the Electors from the swing states, hoping to either: throw out the certification on January 6; submit fake electors; throw those states elections into enough chaos that each statehouse would be allowed to reconsider their elections; and/or create enough confusion that the election certification was halted, and the election would then be decided by a vote in the House of Representatives, as allowed under the Constitution. Members of the Freedom Caucus were the "R Congressmen" Trump referred to when he asked Jeffrey Rosen (Head of DOJ), Richard Donoghue and others on Dec. 27, 2020 to "Just say the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me and the R Congressmen." per Richard Donoghue's notes. Yes, this effort was a long shot (the ultimate "Hail Mary"), and they needed Pence to help - the effort to pressure Pence was a part of the entire scheme.
Members of this group actively engaged in trying to overturn the will of the people as determined by a free and fair election - why should they have any standing or credibility? Why are they not being held to account? And it should not matter what party one is with - their actions were wrong, regardless of party or affiliation.
And what is our reward? This group will now endeavor to shut down the Government during budget negotiations. Why, because they believe they can, and enjoy being oppositional to anything the current administration does. Unfortunately, we are the ones who will continue to pay the price for their brand of performative politics.
They offer nothing in terms of substance. I would submit that they never really have, but that point could certainly be debated. And, from a practical standpoint, it really makes no difference if MTG is a "formal member" of the "Freedom Caucus" or not. She's a like-minded individual.
RE: Freedom Caucus
Interesting piece, Chris.
Founding of the Caucus in 2015:
Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), founding member of the Caucus told Ryan Lizza of 'The New Yorker,' "We had twenty names, and all of them were terrible. None of us liked the Freedom Caucus, either, but it was so generic and so universally awful that we had no reason to be against it...one of the working titles for the group was the Reasonable Nutjob Caucus."
1. Obviously, these were a bunch of knee-slapping funny guys in 2015, but there had to be some concept underlying that aspect of "Freedom."
Today's Caucus members seem to apply "freedom" to not having to take
~ responsibility for developing useful legislative policies, all impeachments, all the time,
~ seriously one's role on a standing committee, only grandstand examples of stupidity,
~ advantage of the federal largess for one's district constituents.
Boebert, Gaetz, and Greene (the most venal camera huggers) requested $0 for their districts in 2022. Eventually, in 2023 Gaetz requested $140m for a new helicopter facility on a Navy base (no constituent $$$), and Boebert asked for $13.4m for "water projects" for her constituents in a very large geographic district in western Colorado. [NYT - April, 202]
Yet another disgraceful aspect of the current state of the GOP
You are SO on target with your insight into the Freedom Caucus...nobody could've said it better. The thought of the Freedom Caucus dissolving, as a group of egomaniacs "who don't believe in anything anymore" says it best, and your outlook gives me hope for the future.
<b>A group organized around members who love publicity and are willing to do whatever it takes to get noticed is not going to be a group that sticks around for the long haul.</b>
Add in grifty fundraising appeals and you’ve described over 90% of House Republicans. Stefanik had a fundraising scam recently that was supposed to be dollars for Trump’s defense where 99% of the money went to her.
Random metaphor of the morning: this is why the Sith have the Rule of Two. When there were more of them than that, they’d destroy themselves fighting over power before they could get anything done. So they reduced it to two members, one holding the power, and the other learning to take it.
However, two crazy people is too few to get anything done in the House. It’s a vicious cycle.
“That was the first time we got together and decided we were a group, and not just a bunch of pissed-off guys,”
A bunch of pissed-off guys is not a group? I could see mob or gang, too. But still, a group.
Rightwing logic escapes me.
Another day, another grift
Hey Chris, off topic, but if you’re looking for something to write about the Gal Luft story is looking pretty hilarious.
I am hearing flashback to the People's Front of Judea
Oh, that’s what I was hearing. I couldn’t quite make it out. Thank you.
Roads, Sanitation, the Aqueducts, but apart from that, what?
That sounds a little socialist, if not downright communist to me.
Anyway, they don’t seem to have gone full-on French Revolution yet. Until they break out a guillotine I wouldn’t worry.
And I doubt any good literature, like "The Tale of Two Cities" would come from these grammar school level firebrands.