Jamie Raskin shuts down Marjorie Taylor Greene
I try to be careful when reiterating the words of a Republican politician, even if it’s to present why what they’ve said is absolute nonsense – because all too often, the purpose of their lying to you blatantly is just to get other people to echo their message. Repeating the message long enough and loud enough, whether it’s true or false, and you typically get people in the middle figuring that there has to be at least some degree of truth to it. That’s why Republicans downplaying the events of January 6, 2021, is so particularly dangerous.
While you and I know that it wasn’t just a protest that got out of hand – or a visit from some tourists that got out of control, Republicans are using these approaches in part because they expect us to push back against it by explaining the facts to defend our own position. The problem is that in politics, if you’re explaining, you’re losing. Voters don’t like long lectures for understanding why a particular side is right.
Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene and James Comer have already embarrassed their side by saying idiotic and racist things nearly every time they appear in public – but now they’re taking their recklessness a step further by denouncing the supposed inhumane treatment of Jan 6 rioters currently doing prison time – claiming that they’re political prisoners and not violent seditionists regardless of what they’re being charged with.
It was enough for Rep. Jamie Raskin to take the floor and set the record straight – not only decrying their falsehood but demanding that these reps actually name an example of mistreatment that the jailed insurrectionists face. Of course, there isn’t any.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making