How Stupid is Marjorie Taylor-Greene?

[Gunnar]

Marjorie Taylor Greene just took stupid to a new low and the jokes write themselves

Among other things, she tried to ridicule the very idea of electric powered airplanes:

After learning that Air Canada recently placed an order for 30 electric airplanes, Greene expressed some rather dim concerns. True to form, she also managed to be as offensive as possible.

“Air Canada, get this, has ordered 30 electric airplanes…I mean, it shouldn’t surprise you, look who’s the president of — I mean, Justin Trudeau, right?” she told a crowd at the Texas Youth Summit.

It goes without saying, but Justin Trudeau is not affiliated with Air Canada.

Then she really went off the rails, comparing electric planes to… slave ships?

“We were talking, how is there an electric airplane and what does that look like?” she said. “Remember back a long time ago when you’ve seen movies where people in those slave ships and, they’re down there and they’re rowing, and they’re being whipped to row?”

“We’re saying, how are they gonna keep powering these electric airplanes, what are they gonna have, it’s like a spin class in a tube? Where they’ve got everybody riding spin cycles, and those mean nasty airline stewardesses that forced you to wear masks all the time on the plane…are they gonna be forcing you to like keep spinning to keep the airplane in the air? It’s absurd!”

It's almost like she never heard of batteries!

Heart Aerospace, the manufacturer of the short-range planes, explained in a press release:

“The new airplane design, called the ES-30, is a regional electric airplane with a capacity of 30 passengers and it replaces the company’s earlier 19-seat design, the ES-19. It is driven by electric motors powered by batteries, which allows the airplane to operate with zero emissions and low noise.”

[Moksha]

Oh yeah, Gunnar? Marjorie Taylor Greene has the backing of the Gazpacho Police.

[Gunnar]

Oh yeah, Gunnar? Marjorie Taylor Greene has the backing of the Gazpacho Police.

I thought she was opposed to the "Gazpacho Police." Is she now trying to enlist them in her service?

[Moksha]

I thought she was opposed to the "Gazpacho Police." Is she now trying to enlist them in her service?

Since they were an object of her creation, I'm pretty sure they would follow Marjorie into any chilled kettle. Marjorie has the power to reduncify the Republican Party (she will have the help of many already duncified Republicans nationwide).

[Gunnar]

I thought she was opposed to the "Gazpacho Police." Is she now trying to enlist them in her service?

Since they were an object of her creation, I'm pretty sure they would follow Marjorie into any chilled kettle. Marjorie has the power to reduncify the Republican Party (she will have the help of many already duncified Republicans nationwide).

Can't argue with that!

[Some Schmo]

Republican politicians are idiots, and that's the way their base likes them.

She's an American representative and she thinks the leader of Canada is a "president." Jesus Christ. What a damned moron.

[Father Francis]

I thought she was opposed to the "Gazpacho Police." Is she now trying to enlist them in her service?

Since they were an object of her creation, I'm pretty sure they would follow Marjorie into any chilled kettle. Marjorie has the power to reduncify the Republican Party (she will have the help of many already duncified Republicans nationwide).

I no longer cook for a living, but I identify as a chef as much as I do as a nurse. In fact, my harsh culinary school training prepared me for the even harsher reality of nursing school. I've had three nurses that are veterans tell me nursing school is worse than boot camp. That being said, I don't appreciate her dragging the good name of gazpacho through the mud. It is a simple dish, yet quite delicious. One thing I learned in culinary school is that a chef's true skill can be best tested by how well they make a simple dish. Take for example, cream of mushroom soup. The canned thing that is mostly used for casseroles is disgusting. Have you ever had it made from scratch with fresh ingredients? It isn't hard to make and is incredible. The best foods are simple ones that the true chefs can make into masterpieces from experience and seemingly miniscule decisions made from experience and skill.

[Res Ipsa]

I think that dismissing Marjorie Taylor-Greene as stupid overlooks characteristics of the movement that have some explanatory power. The Atlantic did a long piece on Marjorie Taylor-Greene's background and history. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... nd/672229/ The picture that emerges is of a financially well off woman with a family who buys her father's successful business. None of her teachers recall her being anything but average. In fact, most don't remember anything about her at all. She's just one of millions of nondescript people who are processed by th system and end up financially comfortable with the things that are supposed to give her a fulfilled life.But, she's bored. Neither her husband nor her family nor her career provides her life with meaning, so she embarks on a journey to find something -- anything -- that will give her life some kind of meaning that she feels of lacking. First, it's Crossfit. But that's not enough. Next it's extramarital affairs, but that's not enough. Next, it's Jesus, but that's not enough. Next it's MAGA, but that's not enough. Finally, she finds QAnon. Smart money says that's not enough, either.

I don't think "stupid" quite captures what is going on. It's that the need to find something that gives her life meaning is so important she's willing to overlook inconvenient things like facts. And looking across the MAGA movement, you can find lots of MTGs -- people who are well off, narcissistic, and bored. Tom Nichols touches on this in his latest book "Our Own Worst Enemy," which I've added to my reading list. Here's an interview with him that will give you a feel for his views. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/ ... ic-virtue/

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

I think that dismissing Marjorie Taylor-Greene as stupid overlooks characteristics of the movement that have some explanatory power. The Atlantic did a long piece on Marjorie Taylor-Greene's background and history. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... nd/672229/ The picture that emerges is of a financially well off woman with a family who buys her father's successful business. None of her teachers recall her being anything but average. In fact, most don't remember anything about her at all. She's just one of millions of nondescript people who are processed by th system and end up financially comfortable with the things that are supposed to give her a fulfilled life.But, she's bored. Neither her husband nor her family nor her career provides her life with meaning, so she embarks on a journey to find something -- anything -- that will give her life some kind of meaning that she feels of lacking. First, it's Crossfit. But that's not enough. Next it's extramarital affairs, but that's not enough. Next, it's Jesus, but that's not enough. Next it's MAGA, but that's not enough. Finally, she finds QAnon. Smart money says that's not enough, either.

I don't think "stupid" quite captures what is going on. It's that the need to find something that gives her life meaning is so important she's willing to overlook inconvenient things like facts. And looking across the MAGA movement, you can find lots of MTGs -- people who are well off, narcissistic, and bored. Tom Nichols touches on this in his latest book "Our Own Worst Enemy," which I've added to my reading list. Here's an interview with him that will give you a feel for his views. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/ ... ic-virtue/

Thanks for posting that article. Board members should read it - I kept highlighting bits to c&p, but settled on this one:

What Marjorie Taylor Greene has accomplished is this: She has harnessed the paranoia inherent in conspiratorial thinking and reassured a significant swath of voters that it is okay—no, righteous—to indulge their suspicions about the left, the Republican establishment, the media. “I’m not going to mince words with you all,” she declared at a Michigan rally this fall. “Democrats want Republicans dead, and they’ve already started the killings.” Greene did not create this sensibility, but she channels it better than any of her colleagues.

Without naming names, we see this kind of thinking manifested over and over again, and any sort of thinking requirement vis a vis policy is rejected in favor of the brain candy dopamine hits of conspiracy this and conspiracy that. It’s remarkable how for so many a political awakening is rooted in fantasy.

- Doc

[Some Schmo]

I think that dismissing Marjorie Taylor-Greene as stupid overlooks characteristics of the movement that have some explanatory power.

I understood your argument, but here's the thing: if she's saying idiotic things in order to "fulfill her needs" (reduce boredom, give her life meaning, whatever), then isn't the end result that she's acting like an idiot? What's the difference between being an idiot and acting like one when the act has become your persona?

And, let's face it: if you take up idiotic causes, that says nothing good about your decision making. It's one thing to address the underlying anxiety that led to the MAGA phenomenon (which is a reasonable thing to do), but it's something entirely different to support MAGA with hypocrisy, idiocy, lies and nonsense.