To be truthful, what I know about Dean Phillips, or believe I know, is he is more liberal than Mike Johnson. And - who online seemingly has more praise for Johnson than most have?
Do I care to know more about Deano? Not for now. If some of Jim Jordan's mud slinging sticks, somehow, to Joe Biden; ask me then.
On new Speaker of the House, in an earlier post a War Room video between Bannon and Gaetz was linked. It showed both are happy with the unified whole GOP House caucus 1000% dedicated to the man as their Speaker. They liked him, in lockstep, more than they liked Hakeem Jeffries as an alternative. Which does not surprise us.
Who else likes Mike Johnson, and what might we learn of praise for the man? Crabgrass will link and quote, readers can take it from there. One item only.
The praise seems unequivocal. Quoting the item in full:
Leading pro-life groups have unanimously come together in praise of new pro-life Speaker Mike Johnson.
As LifeNews reported, Johnson (R-La.) was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“National Right to Life congratulates Speaker Mike Johnson,” stated
Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Speaker Johnson is
committed to the right to life, and he will make the right to life and
protecting women and their unborn children a priority in Congress.”
Speaker Johnson represents Louisiana’s 4th district. He is a
constitutional law attorney widely recognized as a leading defender of
the right to life. He has served as vice chair of the House Republican
Conference and, as an active champion of pro-life issues, Congressman
Johnson has co-sponsored multiple pieces of pro-life legislation and is
the lead sponsor of the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act.
“We congratulate Speaker Mike Johnson,” said Ben Clapper, executive
director of Louisiana Right to Life. “Speaker Johnson has been a strong
ally of the pro-life movement and Louisiana Right to Life. Speaker
Johnson will be a proudly pro-life Speaker of the House who will protect
babies and help moms.”
Louisiana Right to Life, one of the pro-life organizations that knows Speaker Johnson the best, says he’s solidly pro-life.
“We are THRILLED that our friend, Congressman Mike Johnson, has been
elected the U.S. Speaker of the House! Without a doubt, Speaker Johnson
is a strong ally and friend of Louisiana Right to Life, and has served
the pro-life mission for decades,” Ben Clapper, head of the state
pro-life group, told LifeNews.
Together with his wife Kelly, Mike has led many pro-life efforts with
us, including our Life March in Shreveport that garners thousands of
participants each year. Prior to becoming a State Representative, he
served as our Legal Counsel.
When I first met Mike many years ago, I could immediately sense his
heartfelt dedication for protecting babies and helping moms. He cared
deeply about the Shreveport area, especially the high number of
abortions occurring in the area. He regularly helped many efforts in
Shreveport that serve moms and babies, including pregnancy resource
centers.
From working with him for many years, I know that Mike is a man of
integrity with a deep faith. We believe God has placed Mike in this
position to accomplish great things for our nation.
I expressed recently to Mike how the entire pro-life movement is supporting him and praying for him. Thank you for your prayers!
And Frank Pavone of Priests for Life also spoke out in celebration of Johnson’s election as Speaker.
“Great news in the election of Rep. Mike Johnson as our new Speaker
of the House. It is great news for America and great news for the
pro-life movement. He has been a great friend of Priests for Life and of
the unborn for many years and we look forward to his leadership,” he
said.
They look forward to his leadership. As if having expectations that the whole damned GOP caucus will be in lockstep with the Johnson Speakership. It could be.
The bet here is Matt Birk favors the selection too, although no web searching was done in that direction. Just guessing . . .
Of interest to some, perhaps, the item used the term"Right to Life" only nine times, but for those who may have not read past the first few paragraphs, it might have seemed the term density would result in a higher count. Almost the entire second half of the item, perhaps the entire second half, kept up the praise but without the defining phrase. Along with Bannon and Gaetz, they like the caucus choice.
One
thing is clear, however. Johnson is a social conservative’s social
conservative — the most culturally conservative lawmaker to ascend to
the speakership in decades, if not longer.
He has a faith-driven outlook toward
governance and longstanding ties to the evangelical activist group
Family Research Council, which could one day prove discomfiting to
members from swing districts or of a more secular orientation.
His first brush with national
prominence came in April 2015, when Johnson, then a Louisiana state
legislator, proposed a bill called the Louisiana Marriage and Conscience
Act that would have prevented “adverse treatment by the State of any
person or entity on the basis of the views they may hold with regard to
marriage.” Critics called it legalized discrimination against married
gay couples, and the bill failed, but the media attention got him on the radar of the influential FRC and its president, fellow Louisiana native Tony Perkins.
Perkins, who hosts a national radio
show called Washington Watch, began tapping Johnson to guest host.
Johnson, a constitutional lawyer, appeared to be a natural — by December
2015, local Shreveport, La. ABC affiliate KTBS said he “may have a budding second career on the airwaves.”
The FRC and Perkins are political
lightning rods among non-evangelicals — some of Perkins’ stances, like
his argument that natural disasters are divine punishments for
homosexuality, don’t sit well with broad swaths of the electorate. But
Johnson’s political and religious beliefs dovetail with Perkins’ views.
In a 2004 op-ed, Johnson argued that “homosexual relationships are inherently unnatural ... society cannot give its stamp of approval to such a dangerous lifestyle.”
When he ran for Congress in 2016, Johnson placed his faith at the center of his campaign, telling the Louisiana Baptist Message,
“I am a Christian, a husband, a father, a life-long conservative,
constitutional law attorney and a small business owner in that order.”
His connection with Perkins — and his
interest in evangelical radio as a political tool — continued after he
was elected to the House in 2016. As a first-term lawmaker, Johnson announced his bid to lead the Republican Study Committee, a conservative caucus that currently counts 156, on Washington Watch with Perkins. He won the election.
“It’s never been more important for conservatives to stand up and give voice — to be winsome witnesses — to [conservative] principles,” Johnson told Perkins in 2018 during his announcement.
Back in February, Johnson wrote
on X: “American taxpayers have sent over $100 billion in aid to Ukraine
in the last year. They deserve to know if the Ukrainian government is
being entirely forthcoming and transparent about the use of this massive
sum of taxpayer resources.”
Likewise, in May 2022, Johnson expressed America First sentiments,
saying, “We should not be sending another $40 billion abroad when our
own border is in chaos, American mothers are struggling to find baby
formula, gas prices are at record highs, and American families are
struggling to make ends meet, without sufficient oversight over where
the money will go.”
“Republicans for Ukraine,” a nonprofit that believes “the Republican Party must continue to support Ukraine,” has given Johnson an “F” on his support for the war.
Meanwhile, neocon Republican turned Democrat grifter Bill Kristol
fretted on X before the speaker vote, writing, “If Mike Johnson wins,
and unless he’s made private commitments for a floor vote on Ukraine and
funding government: Gaetz wins, MAGA wins, and Trump wins, and
institutionalist, responsible, moderate Republicans lose, once again
having pitifully folded when the crunch came.”
Ending funding to Ukraine means that President Volodymyr Zelensky
will finally be forced to negotiate a peace deal with President Vladimir
Putin. From the onset of the war, there has been no end strategy
presented by Ukraine or the American Uniparty other than the “total
defeat” of Russia. If there is a plan, no one has cued in the American
taxpayers who are bankrolling the war effort.
Well, NATO backs that Ukraine war, and if the US defunds, the remainder of NATO could carry the weight, were they so inclined. Why no negotiated end, so far, is an intriguing question.
Johnson isn’t known
for bipartisanship. He was ranked 429th out of 435 lawmakers in the 2021
bipartisan index kept by the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of
Public Policy at Georgetown University, situated among members of the
staunchly conservative House Freedom Caucus. The measure scores how well
members of opposite parties work together using bill sponsorship data.
The
lobbying arm of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington
think tank, gives Johnson a lifetime score of 90% for his voting record.
Johnson
has proposed legislation on issues central to Republicans’ policy
agenda, including a bill that would make it a federal crime to transport
a minor across state lines for an abortion. He is strongly opposed to
abortion access.
Another
proposal would cut off federal funding to any school district, museum
or other organization that exposes a child younger than 10 to the topic
of gender identity or sexual orientation, enabling parents to sue over
violations.
Johnson
has called for restrictions on medical interventions, such as surgery,
for transgender youth. Conservatives say children are too young to
access care with lasting consequences based on a self-diagnosis.
Yawn. Standard crap. One insight; Heritage Foundation loves his ass Gestalt. Given his Gestalt, is that really news, given the Gestalt of Heritage Foundation?
Again, from the second search, Heritage itself, and what would you expect?
WASHINGTON—Rep.
Mike Johnson of Louisiana won the speakership nomination for the House
Republican Conference Tuesday. Heritage Foundation President Dr. Kevin
Roberts made the following statement:
“As
I have said repeatedly, the speakership is not about any one person,
but about who will fight for the everyday American and their interests
over the power of the Washington Swamp. I congratulate my good friend
Speaker-designate Mike Johnson. As a former Republican Study Committee
chairman and current vice chair of the House Republican Conference,
Johnson has both a tremendous conservative track record and a
willingness to listen to his colleagues and put the will of the
conference and the American people first.
“This
kind of conservative servant leadership ought to unite House
Republicans. All of us at Heritage look forward to working with Speaker
Johnson to secure the border, rein in spending, conduct serious
oversight of the Biden administration, and provide real leadership on
the world stage. It’s time to get to work.”
As said, Heritage loves his Gestalt. So, the usual suspects shelter him with praise.
Knowing that Heritage and Right to Life are cheerleaders, while Federalist Society wonders how Neocon war may benefit - in total, we know nothing we did not already know by reasonable guessing. But we read of it from the web.
__________UPDATE_________
Learning is an ongoing process. More on friends of Mike Johnson - the more we know, the more we can adjust our outlooks and actions, knowing his.
https://religionnews.com/ in an item entitled, "Mike Johnson, pedigreed evangelical, suggests his election as House speaker ordained by God,"notes mid item:
Johnson has continued to voice support for conservative Christian
viewpoints while in office, even hosting a podcast with his wife, Kelly,
a licensed pastoral counselor, aimed at providing an “analysis of hot
topics and current events from a Christian perspective.”
Among other things, Speaker Johnson has repeatedly rejected many
broadly held interpretations of the separation of church and state.
House
Speaker Mike Johnson of La., flanked by the Republican conference,
speaks during a news conference outside the Capitol in Washington,
Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
“The founders wanted to protect the church from an encroaching state, not the other way around,” he said during a September 2022 episode of the podcast.
He went on to argue that “a free society and a healthy republic
depend upon religious and moral virtue,” arguing that society would
crumble without it.
His views echo the writings of David Barton, a controversial Texas activist who has spent years railing against the separation of church and state. On Wednesday, Substack writer Warren Throckmorton pointed out that Johnson lauded Barton during a 2021 talk [caution, Malwarebytes says that linked item might contain a Trojan, so Crabgrass did not follow that one link] to a group of state legislators organized by WallBuilders, an organization founded by Barton.
“I was introduced to David and his ministry a quarter century ago,
and it has had such a profound influence on me and my work and my life
and everything I do,” Johnson said at the time.
David Barton, on YouTube. Please do watch. Note also that the non-flagged other two links in the final quoted paragraph appear to be Trojan-free and okay - [no promises - but each was accessed by Crabgrass and deemed worth the read].
The gist of the two items is that MJ is a firm adherent against separation of church and state as a bedrock American principle. Briefly, "the Controversial Texas activist" link notes in its beginning:
Josh Mandel, a candidate in Ohio’s Republican primary for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat, insisted during a debate that “there’s no such thing as separation of church and state.” Three months later, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch made an off-hand reference to the “so-called separation of … church and state” during oral arguments.
In April, Pennsylvania gubernatorial primary candidate Doug Mastriano, now the Republican nominee, dismissed the separation of church and state as a “myth.”
By June, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, speaking at a Colorado church, proclaimed,
“I’m tired of the separation of church and state junk that’s not in the
Constitution. It was in a stinking letter, and it means nothing like
what they say it does.”
The growing popularity of these kinds of declarations is striking
given the place the separation of church and state has occupied in
American politics going back to the Founding Fathers. Though the phrase
“separation of church and state” does not appear in the U.S.
Constitution, the notion is deeply rooted in American jurisprudence and
popular culture.
More immediately, the rhetoric has alarmed some Americans who
associate the constitutional debate over the church-state split with
extreme versions of Christian nationalism.
Yet, antipathy toward the separation of church and state among
conservatives is not new but, rather, is a decades-old argument
popularized primarily by a controversial Texas activist in the early
’90s, when the religious right was ascendant.
In 1993, the Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr., founder of Liberty University and co-founder of the Moral Majority, promoted
a book called “The Myth of Separation” by a Texan named David Barton.
According to a Christian Century report, less than a month later on
Falwell’s television show, “The Old Time Gospel Hour,” he preached a
strident sermon in which he said, “Let everyone know that this
separation of church and state business is bogus.”
MJ is of that school of "thought." And he hence is as dangerous as it is.
Last -
Haaretz.com in an item (unfortunately behind a paywall/subscription wall) begins:
New House Speaker Mike Johnson, an Evangelical Christian, Holds Ties to Israel’s Far Right
Louisiana
Rep. Mike Johnson described his 2020 visit to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount
as ‘the fulfillment of a biblical prophecy’; his election is the most
significant victory to date for evangelicals in D.C.
WASHINGTON
– House Speaker Mike Johnson, confirmed Wednesday after three failed
previous Republican choices and weeks of inner party turmoil, is an
evangelical Christian whose connections to Israel reflect the movement's
deep ties to the Israeli right, which has become increasingly
mainstream over the years.
Okay. He loves Bibi, and Bibi loves his Gestalt. Got that. Filed away under "apartheid." Under "settlements." Under what's new these days in Gaza.
BOTTOM LINE: Not to diminish the man, after all he is now Speaker, but he appears fully akin to Michel Bachmann, more or less, but with a law degree and without the bullhorn, and taken seriously, (unlike Michel). That is relevant information. It helps knowing what must be done.
