Mike Johnson – Powers For the People

MAGA Mike keeps making news … homeless on BLM land … and what’s up with all of the sexy nuns?

Is Speaker Mike Johnson a White Christian Nationalist?

For someone who was unknown outside of the Bible Belt a month ago, newly elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson has been all over the news since he accepted the speaker’s gavel on October 25, 2023.

Some of the more shocking stories about Johnson focus on his flagrant disregard for separation of church and state.

Johnson describes himself as a “Bible-believing Christian.” If people want to learn his opinion on any topic, Johnson said, “Go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it — that’s my worldview.”

I served in the Arizona Legislature with many “Bible-believing Christians” who routinely voted against the teachings of Jesus and his message of universal love and compassion for everyone. Their version of the Bible had an exceptions list, as does Johnson’s. New York Times opinion columnist Charles M. Blow, who grew up in Johnson’s Congressional district, warns us not to be fooled by his Southern charm. Johnson is Trump in a “far more congenial and urbane package”, and he’s a pastor in the American Baptist Church.

Continue reading Today’s Shorts: Christian Nationalism, VanLife Gone Wrong & Halloween Costumes

“He [Johnson] is from a part of the country where your nemesis will smile at you and promise to pray for you, where people will quickly submit that they ‘love the sinner but hate the sin,’ where one hand can hold a Bible while the other holds a shackle. He is from a place where people use religion to brand their hatred as love so that they act on it cheerfully and without guilt.” [Emphasis added.]
— Charles M. Blow, I Grew Up in Mike Johnson’ District, Where Kindness Can Mask Cruelty, New York Times, Nov. 1, 2023

Continue reading Today’s Shorts: Christian Nationalism, VanLife Gone Wrong & Halloween Costumes

The recent manufactured chaos in the Congress points to the need for change. Campaign finance reform would fix dysfunction without term limits.

Congress Is Broken. Change Is Necessary

After more than three weeks without a Speaker of the US House of Representatives, the “Freedom” Caucus’ Tyranny of the Minority ended on October 25, 2023 with the election of Trump loyalist Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as Speaker.

Many Americans … including me … were wringing their hands over the lack of a fully functioning government in the US for 22 days, while the world was flying apart with multiple wars involving our allies; climate change causing extreme weather and population migration; domestic terrorists shooting innocent Americans in bowling allies, bars, schools, churches, grocery stores, sporting events and homes every day — AND no federal budget.

Given all of this, the Republicans’ election of an ultraconservative fringe candidate to Speaker of the House shows a shocking disregard for the seriousness of the issues facing our nation and the world.

Why elect a Congressional newbie, whose ideas are out-of-step with the majority of Americans and who has no management experience or background relevant to a position that is third in line for the Presidency? It makes you wonder who will really be in charge. Who will be writing the script … and thus, controlling the narrative?

Continue reading Today’s Shorts: Term Limits, Remembering John & Javalinas in Sedona