 Scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis has just appeared in her final movie of the “Halloween” franchise. But not to worry, there are plenty of real-life scream queens to haunt our dreams. The foremost is the far-right conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene who is masquerading as a member of Congress. Normally I wouldn’t waste my time writing about a person I don’t respect, don’t agree with, and who represents a cancer within the Republican Party. But rather than becoming marginalized for her outrageous views and shunned by her political party, Greene’s star is shining brighter than ever and her influence within the Republican Party is alarming. She represents a real danger to our democracy and she shouldn’t be ignored. Why? Because the Republicans are heavily favored to win back the majority in the House of Representatives in the midterm elections next month. The next Republican Speaker of the House, presumably Kevin McCarthy, will need the support of the Trump wing of the party. There is no more vocal supporter of Donald Trump and his lies about the stolen election, than Marjorie Taylor Greene.  Who is Marjorie Taylor Greene? She is a first term congresswoman from the mostly white and rural 14th congressional district in northwest Georgia. Greene is a member of the Republican Party and a very vocal supporter of former president Donald Trump. She frequently claims that Trump won the 2020 presidential election in a landslide and that the election was stolen from him. Greene arrived in Congress with no previous political experience and describes herself as a “Christian Nationalist”. What she did bring to Congress was a lot of baggage stemming from her support for far-right conspiracy theories, which she freely shared on social media. Some of her most outrageous posts supporting white supremacy, antisemitism, QAnon, and Pizzagate, to name a few, have been taken down.  Upon entering Congress Greene quickly established herself as a Democrat foil. She voted against certifying the election of Joe Biden, filed articles of impeachment against President Biden for dereliction of duty, and has antagonized several Democrat members of Congress. Barely a month into her congressional term Greene was stripped of her two committee assignments in response to her extremist statements and endorsement of political violence. Eleven Republicans as well as all Democrats in the House voted for her removal from all committee assignments. A formal censor of Greene has been referred to the House Ethics Committee.  Without any committee assignments Greene has been very busy, appearing on right-wing media outlets like Newsmax and Steve Bannon’s “War Room”. She has also become a prodigious fundraiser, bringing in more money in the past year than all but three other House Republicans. In 2021 she raised over $7.4 million, mostly from small donors. Corporations have mostly shunned Greene for her outrageous views. Greene has become a huge draw at Republican events, and she has been very active on the campaign trail. She has recently stumped for other MAGA firebrands such as Arizona Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, and J.D. Vance, the Republican candidate for the Ohio Senate seat. Greene is a regular at Trump rallies, firing up the faithful for her political hero Donald Trump.  Views Held by Marjorie Taylor Green 2020 Presidential Election: The election was stolen from Donald Trump making Joe Biden an illegitimate president. January 6th Capitol Riot: Antifa was responsible for the riot, and the FBI is to be blamed for possibly instigating the violence. She voted against awarding police officers who defended the Capitol that day the Congressional Gold Medal. Abortion: Should be outright banned and anyone providing abortion services should be tried for murder. Climate Change: Advocates eliminating any and all laws intended to address climate change. COVID-19: Opposed to mask-wearing, and was fined over $100,000 for refusing to wear a mask on the House floor during the pandemic. Greene claims that COVID-19 is not dangerous for non-obese people and those under 65. She has refused to get vaccinated, calling the vaccine ineffective at best and possibly responsible for killing people. Greene was kicked off of Twitter for spreading misinformation about COVID-19. It will be interesting to see if Elon Musk allows her back on the platform. FBI: Should be defunded for the raid on Mar-a-Lago. Gun Rights: All gun-control laws should be overturned. She has introduced legislation to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Immigration: Through the “Protect America First Act”, which she introduced in Congress last year, Greene calls for the suspension of all immigration into the United States for four years. She advocates building the border wall and naming it after Donald Trump, and cutting off federal funding to sanctuary cities. Religion: America should have a Christian government and prayer should return to public schools.  No Lone Voice in the Wilderness: Since joining Congress, Greene’s views have not moderated. If anything, they have become more extreme. Rather than being ostracized for her views, more Republicans in and out of Congress have shifted their views to be more in line with hers. It is important to remember that 139 Republican members of the House of Representatives voted to dispute the Electoral College count on January 6, 2021. Greene is a member of the Freedom Caucus, the most conservative caucus within the House Republican Conference. This group of at least 44 members of the House is a powerful far-right voting bloc. Its members are among Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters within Congress. If the Republicans regain control of the House, many within this group will gain leadership positions in the new Congress.  Kevin McCarthy’s New Best Friend: On September 23, 2022 Greene sat directly behind Kevin McCarthy as the Republican House leader announced his legislative agenda at a manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania. In recent months McCarthy has invited Greene to high-level policy meetings, such as a discussion about the National Defense Authorization Act. According to Greene, in order for McCarthy to be an effective speaker of the House and to please the base, “ he’s going to give me a lot of power and a lot of leeway. And if he doesn’t, they’re going to be unhappy about it.” McCarthy has reported to have spoken to Greene about a possible leadership position, which she neither confirms or denies. But according to Greene, “I don’t have to have a leadership position. I think I already have one, without having one.” Scary, but probably true.  What to Expect Under Republican Leadership in the House: Kevin McCarthy would probably sell his soul to the devil to become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. That is why he is aligning with Marjorie Taylor Green and the Freedom Caucus. Under Speaker McCarthy, the House will utilize its investigative authority to avenge the wrongs done to Donald Trump, investigate Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine, and possibly go after companies that stopped donating to the Republican Party after January 6, 2021.  At the top of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s agenda will be the impeachment of President Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas. The Republicans will certainly disband the January 6th Committee, and minimize or reject any recommendations that the committee makes. Republicans in Congress will work to block President Biden’s agenda and attempt to pull back some of the initiatives that the President has championed. But the main focus of House Republicans will be to prevent President Biden from winning a second term.  The Republican Party had their opportunity to marginalize Marjorie Taylor Greene and bar her from the House Republican Conference. They could have endorsed and funded a 2022 primary opponent against her. But they allowed Greene to stay within the Republican tent, perhaps to appease Donald Trump, which seems to have normalized her. The Republicans’ embrace of Donald Trump’s lies and the fringe views of Marjorie Taylor Greene, has ushered in a dangerous chapter in America’s political life. Greene has turned political rhetoric into a dangerous weapon. In her opinion, Democrats are not just wrong, they are evil, and left leaning Democrats are no longer Socialists, but members of the Communist Party out to destroy our country. If Greene is given any type of leadership position in Congress, it will come back to haunt the Republican Party. But even worse, it could become a national nightmare. Greene’s style of politics will only lead to further division, hate, and violence. The attack on Speaker Pelosi’s husband Paul on Friday is the latest example of this.  Right-minded people can prevent Congress from becoming a real horror show. This means being informed, voting in the upcoming election, and holding elected officials accountable for their words and deeds. This Halloween let’s keep the scream queens in scary movies and out of positions of power.
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 President Biden would love for the COVID pandemic to be over, as we all would. But declaring the pandemic over during a television interview doesn’t make it so. This topic has become more real to me in recent days. Last week I tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from a trip to Yellowstone National Park. The President is correct to conclude that in the minds of many Americans the pandemic is over, and they have moved on. To bolster this notice, infection rates, hospitalizations, and deaths from COVID-19 have dropped significantly over the past two months. But according to the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker, on average, over 300 Americans are dying from COVID-19 every day. This and other troubling developments may show that President Biden was a little premature in declaring the pandemic over.  Winter is Coming: The autumn and winter months bring colder weather to much of the Untied States. These are the months when children are back in school and people gather in large numbers for holiday celebrations. Cold weather leads to more indoor gatherings, a major reason for the increase in transmission of respiratory diseases such as COVID-19.  Worrisome Trends in Europe: COVID-19 infections are trending higher across Europe, and Europe tends to precede the United States by about four to six weeks. For the week ending October 9, 2022, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control reported widespread increases in all COVID-19 indicators, including infections, hospitalizations, and deaths.  Emergence of Variants: The last major variant to emerge was BA.5, a subvariant of Omicron. It peaked in July, and according to the CDC’s latest projections, BA.5 represents approximately 68% of the circulating strains of the virus in the United States. The World Health Organization is currently monitoring over 300 different variants. Of most concern are the variants XBB, BQ.1.1, and its sibling BQ.1. According to Yunlong Richard Cao, of Peking University in Beijing, these are the most antibody-evasive strains ever tested. In the lab, antibody therapies such as Evusheld, don’t work against these new variants. Infections due to BQ.1.1 in the United Kingdom and other European countries are increasing at an alarming rate. The highly transmissible BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are now spreading in the United States and are causing about 10% of new COVID-19 infections. This could be the next variant wave that hits this winter.  Low Acceptance of Boosters: Only about 40% of U.S. adults have received a booster (3rd shot) after they received their original two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. The new bivalent booster, released last month, has received a cool reception from the general public. Less than 5% of adults have gotten it. More troubling is the indication that only about one-third of adults are very likely to get the new booster, according to the latest Monmouth University Poll.  Best Defense Against COVID: Most people in the United States received their original COVID-19 vaccine in 2021. The protection offered from the original doses decline with the passage of time. These original vaccines were not developed to protect against the new variants that are now circulating in the population. Vaccines and boosters remain our best defense against serious illness and death from COVID-19. The new bivalent booster was designed to be effective against the BA.4 and BA.5 variants of the virus that causes COVID-19. Therefore, it should provide protection against the new variants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, which are descendants of BA.5 According to Dr. Ashish Jha, head of the White House COVID task force, 70% of people dying from COVID-19 are age 75 and over. The vast majority of those people are either not up to date on vaccines, or are not receiving treatments such as Paxlovid when they have breakthrough infections, according to Dr. Jha. In other words, most deaths due to COVID-19 could be prevented.  Cautionary Tale: Let my recent trip to Yellowstone National Park, where I contracted COVID-19, be a cautionary tale. For the past two and a half years I had done all the right things to protect myself. I got all the required COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, wore face masks whenever I went into a store or other public place, and practiced social distancing. Eating at an indoor restaurant or attending an indoor show were out of the question. Two weeks prior to setting off for Yellowstone I received the new bivalent booster shot, and continued to mask in most indoor settings. During our visit to Yellowstone, we wore face masks in indoor settings such as visitor centers. We ate breakfast in the hotel room, and took picnic lunches when exploring the park during the day. We chose early October to visit Yellowstone to avoid the summer crowds. But this is also the time of year when nighttime temperatures fall dramatically, and many of the lodging and dining options are closed. On the few occasions that we ate indoors we found ourselves in crowded dining facilities with people from all over the United States and other regions of the world. None of the wait staff wore face masks and neither did the vast majority of diners. Despite all the precautions, I fell victim to this highly contagious virus.  I can attest to the fact that vaccines and boosters are not enough to fully protect you against COVID-19, particularly as we begin to gather indoors. Other public health measures such as masking, social distancing and handwashing, need to continue. I know that COVID fatigue is real, and the prospect of wearing face masks indoors is not popular. But I think that the percentage of the population vaccinated with the bivalent booster and the amount of indoor masking, will determine if COVID-19 hits in a wave or a whimper this winter. President Biden may have declared the COVID pandemic to be over, but the virus has other ideas. As new variants emerge and cold weather forces people indoors, this is not the time to let your guard down.   If you enjoy reading this type of commentary please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776 @gmail.com.
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