Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) has an idea of how to handle Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) concern over blue state residents moving to red states. He thinks she should be expelled from Congress.
The indignant tweet from Bowman (whose brand is indignation) came over a Twitter thread to which MTG responded. A Twitter user announced his decision to move from the Bay Area in California to Miami and included some pros and cons to the move. The cons included “worse politics” and guns. He tweeted about his decision in conjunction with a piece he wrote on his website. The title of his piece is ” The American Dream is on Life Support in the Bay Area” and he addresses the decision to move away.
So, here we go. I’m moving out of the Bay Area.
This is obviously not a fresh opinion; but the framing may be slightly controversial. My biggest reason is that I believe the Bay Area is no longer the best crucible for the American Dream. 🧵 https://t.co/00BwcbJSPS
— Hari Raghavan (@haridigresses) December 28, 2021
His tweet thread goes through reasons for his departure – no longer feeling safe in the Bay Area, the political animus, hostility to small businesses, and so on. He gives the same reasons that others do for moving. However, his mention of Florida politics set off the associate editor of Chronicles Magazine, Pedro Gonzalez. Gonzalez response is that liberals moving to red states should have a waiting period before being allowed to vote and be “taxed for their sins.”
This guy is moving from California to Florida because he can't stand living in the mess that lib politics created and he *still* has the audacity to talk down to Floridians about their politics. Libs are a cancer. They are the absolute worst people in this country. https://t.co/3naThdjoGV
— Pedro L. Gonzalez (@emeriticus) December 29, 2021
I support actively discriminating against transplants like this through legislation. They shouldn’t be able to vote for a period, and they should have to pay a tax for their sins.
— Pedro L. Gonzalez (@emeriticus) December 29, 2021
The guy was popping off and none of what he suggests will come to pass because there are First Amendment issues here as well as voting rights and tax laws. What I think he is doing is voicing frustration at the fact that liberals destroy the cities in which they live with their politics and policies. He doesn’t want to see red states go the same route. That is understandable but his solutions are not acceptable. Discrimination is not the way to go.
So, MTG responded. Shocker, I know. She brought up the concept of National Divorce.
All possible in a National Divorce scenario.
After Democrat voters and big donors ruin a state like California, you would think it wise to stop them from doing it to another great state like Florida.
Brainwashed people that move from CA and NY really need a cooling off period. https://t.co/NB2dVj7n2X— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) December 29, 2021
The idea of a “national divorce” or some kind of legal separation of red states and blue states, prompted by a polarized political climate, popped up earlier this year. Left-wing comedian Sarah Silverman floated the idea in September, proposing dividing up into “two or three different countries” based on ideology.
About 4 in 10 Biden voters and half of Trump voters think that it is time to split up the country and favor states seceding from the United States, according to a University of Virginia survey conducted this summer.
Critics, though, say that a national divorce would be impractical and ineffective for conservatives.
Yeah, no. That isn’t any more of a way to help the two political parties co-exist than when I hear fellow Texas residents call for Texas to secede from the other states. And since when do people take Sarah Silverman seriously? C’mon.
Jamaal Bowman couldn’t just ignore the hubbub, though. He weighed in with his insistence that MTG is calling for civil war and therefore should be expelled from Congress.
The fact that a sitting Member of Congress is toying with the idea of a civil war 8 days before January 6 should alarm everyone.
We expelled 14 Members in 1861 for supporting the confederacy. Why does Marjorie Taylor Greene still have her seat?
She must be expelled.
— Jamaal Bowman (@JamaalBowmanNY) December 29, 2021
MGT has already been removed from her committee assignments after about a month in office. She’s a backbencher who throws rhetorical bombs for attention. Nonetheless, other Democrats jumped on the bandwagon.
There is no “National Divorce” either you are for civil war or not. Just say it if you want a civil war and officially declare yourself a traitor. https://t.co/5bAxVcoReX
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) December 29, 2021
🚨Don’t ignore this. I want you to see what a GOP-run country looks like. They will take your right to vote if you don’t agree with them. MTG may sound batty but she’s not kidding and she has @GOPLeader McCarthy fully behind her. Register to vote now: https://t.co/oWU1VnWnR5 https://t.co/KImYmWTqmX
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) December 29, 2021
This is the kind of nonsense we see on a slow news week. This is one reason why American voters are fed up with Congress. MTG has been floating this idea since October. It’s isn’t a serious idea for Republicans in Congress. Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with this gem from Marianne Williamson.
When fast food companies can kill a min wage hike, airline execs unduly influence the CDC, Big Pharma keeps drug prices so high people die unnecessarily, & Big Chem, Ag & Oil can poison our food & land, we’re living in a system of corporate tyranny. Time for nonviolent overthrow.
— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) December 28, 2021
What does a nonviolent overthrow of the government look like? An election, perhaps, as our system employs to make changes in governmental leadership? Williamson ran for the Democrat presidential nomination in 2020 and was a source of great entertainment during the debates in which she was allowed to participate. However, I don’t recall a call for overthrowing the government as a part of her campaign rhetoric. She did call Joe Biden’s comeback on Super Tuesday a “coup”, though. She deleted that tweet. The tweet above is still on her Twitter feed.
To answer Rep. Bowman’s question, MTG still has her seat because the people who voted for her put her there. She faces re-election in 2022 just like the rest of the House. If she runs for re-election, she’ll likely “cruise” to victory, according to the latest internal poll. “Likely Republican primary voters in her northwest Georgia district chose Greene overwhelmingly over her potential opponents, and 53% would back her regardless of who challenges.” She exercised her freedom of speech. Bowman’s looking to advance in his party into leadership. Is this his way of governing – just kick out those who talk about ideas he doesn’t like? Her idea isn’t going anywhere, nor should it.
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