Cowardice or blind loyalty?

I listened with revulsion to Republicans’ refusal to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee assignments, failing to repudiate her destructive broadcasting of QAnon conspiracies, anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim views, and white supremacy violent racist rhetoric.

Did they research her online presence to see evidence of her stalking Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student David Hogg, berating him about gun control and shouting about having a gun in her purse? She called school shootings false flags, grieving parents crisis actors. She has not refuted her statements disbelieving the 9/11 plane crash into the Pentagon. She promoted the 2020 presidential election as stolen, wearing a “Trump Won” mask on her first day in office.

While running for office she posted on Facebook a picture of her holding an AR-15 pointed in the direction of pictures of Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib captioned “Squad’s Worst Nightmare.”

In the House of Representatives vote on two-thirds to remove her from committees she blamed government and media for “allowing” her to believe QAnon conspiracy theories. Do we really want someone who admits to her own inability to think critically making decisions about our government?

Only 11 Republicans had the courage to join Democrats stripping her assignments. Cathy McMorris Rodgers was NOT one of them. What does this say about Cathy’s critical thinking? Her statement condemns Greene’s previous behavior but hopes Greene will do better in the future, a fragile bet at best.

Mary Ann Gibson

Spokane