Matt Gaetz throws a fit

| 1:57 pm EDT August 10, 2021
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House Republicans have refused to take any formal action against Matt Gaetz, even as he remains under federal criminal investigation on allegations including underage sex trafficking, with two cooperating witnesses now reportedly lined up against him. But even most House Republicans have silently been keeping their distance from Gaetz – with the notable exception of fellow pariah Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Gaetz and Greene recently went on an extensive national tour, which was highlighted by difficulty finding venues willing to host such a hate rally, and a reported net loss on the tour of hundreds of thousands of dollars. That tour is now over, and Greene has moved on to ratcheting up her lies aimed at tricking people into not getting the COVID vaccine.

Twitter finally cracked down on Greene today, suspending her for a week, and she now appears to be down to her final strike. Matt Gaetz promptly threw a fit about it on Twitter:

“Social media platforms like Twitter were meant to be a marketplace of ideas. Now, they aim to target and censor Conservatives and Republicans. Big Tech oligarchs have the power to silence their opposition at will. With today’s suspension of Rep. @MTGreenee on Twitter, this action should wake the American people up into seeing the importance of breaking up Big Tech immediately.”

Matt Gaetz has it all wrong, of course. A “marketplace of ideas” is supposed to be inclusive of views that you might disagree with or find offensive, not false claims that can get people killed. The fact that Gaetz is able to complain about Twitter, from his own Twitter account, makes clear that right wing idiots are not being censored for being right wing idiots. But at some point repeatedly yelling “fire” in a crowded theater means you lose your right to keep yelling things.