On 10/27/23, CNN ran a piece from Patrick T. Brown with the headline “Opinion: Why Mike Johnson is actually an inspired choice for Speaker.”1 It is a very sobering bit of hagiography. Mark the date. Be sure to read the piece in full. It is the first step in the Project 2025 oligarchs’ plan to jettison Trump and the MAGAts (the chaos caucus) and the insufficiently pure conservatives like Emmer (the remnants) as they remake the FRP (Former Republican Party) into a party that will appeal to bedrock conservatives and independents. They are trimming the fat as the largest of the three factions in the unstable coalition that is the current FRP, what I have called the grievance faction, reasserts itself. Polarization has served its purpose. Violence is bad for business. The long game is to have the Mike Johnson’s ultimately in charge.
What’s the evidence in Brown’s article for my take? Note that the buried links are from the CNN piece.)
Brown starts off by othering the MAGA as not being true conservatives. “The MAGA wing of American conservatism often seems more unified by its enemies than what policies they share. They dislike globalists, a left wing they see as obsessed with race and gender, and Republicans who seem to care more about mainstream approval than “fighting” for conservative victories.”
Later in the piece, he discusses the fragmentation of the party into my three factions in the FRP. “Other candidates, like Rep. Tom Emmer, who voted for last year’s bill to codify gay marriage, or Rep. Jim Jordan, who has been a defender of social media companies, may have treated many causes dear to conservative activists with a benign neglect, no matter how Trump-y their rhetoric. It may be a mark of how many fissures run through the GOP caucus that a run-of-the-mill Republican may have been the best choice to lead them through the next few months.”
He goes on to cast the 22 days of what I now think of as planned chaos, as personal beefs. There were never any policy disagreements, there is only one policy. “This fluid swirl of priorities made the intense drama over replacing former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy largely about internal party dynamics rather than any meaningful policy disagreements.”
Mike Johnson will be the savior, and he is smooth enough to keep the majority together, but the telling word in the quote is feel . “But that doesn’t mean Rep. Mike Johnson’s elevation as speaker won’t have a significant impact on the priorities of the Republican caucus going forward. No one can question his bona fides as a conservative’s conservative — which may help different factions of the party feel like their concerns are being heard and keep the thin Republican majority in the House together.” (The emphasis is mine).
Johnson is completely aligned with Project 2025 goals. “he has long been an ally of social conservative groups who see their mission as protecting the unborn from abortion and strengthening traditional family values.
His official website proclaims an appreciation for “free markets and free trade agreements,” and hits familiar notes around cutting spending and regulations, reducing the scope of government and ensuring America “remain[s] the strongest military power on earth.” There are many many more issues listed.
Those venturing into bipartisanship are scum and Johnson is a true believer. “If McCarthy was willing to wear any number of new skins to position himself as leader of the Republican conference, Johnson can’t hide his spots even if he wanted to — a dyed-in-the-wool conservative who stands up for traditional Republican principles even if others in the party wish the GOP would evolve past them.” The animal skin analogies and who is the real wolf among all that wool is somewhat confusing.
Trump is going under the bus. “former President Donald Trump was calling Florida’s six-week abortion ban, signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a “terrible thing” and suggesting he’d be willing to compromise on an issue many conservatives see as one of life and death.” (Emphasis is mine. This is the only mention of Trump himself in the piece.”
Johnson has been anointed and the grievance faction will be heard., not just feel that they will be heard. The MAGAts are going under the bus. “Johnson’s selection — at a time when the relationship between social and religious conservatives, establishment-wing Republicans and the MAGA movement had shown signs of fraying — may prove to have long-lasting ramifications.” “Having someone with these principles leading the Republican caucus is a strong endorsement that social and religious conservatives are still an important part of the conservative coalition and that their priorities will be heard.”
An apologia is needed to clean up a few inconvenient facts. Footsie is such a perfect metaphor for “not being in bed with.” The ground also has to be prepared for the Project 2025 dismantling of the executive branch. “As many politicians have, Johnson has made some statements that strike many today as tone-deaf. Like many Republicans, he played footsie with conspiracy theorists after the 2020 election and his policy stances on cutting government spending may not be popular with the median voter.”
And in case you might have thought all of the recent sturm und drang wasn’t purposeful, there is this. “It’s tempting to see the last month of Washington drama as not much more than an own goal for Republicans. But Johnson’s rock-ribbed, if bland, conservatism might give him some space for some prudential deal-making and strengthen the GOP’s hand at the negotiating table. If so, many Republicans will feel like replacing McCarthy was a gamble that paid off.” (Emphasis is mine. )
Who is Patrick T. Brown? He is “a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where his work with the Life and Family Initiative focuses on developing a robust pro-family economic agenda and supporting families as the cornerstone of a healthy and flourishing society.”2 Here are the priorities of the Ethics and Public Policy Center from their website.
Pushing back against the extreme progressive agenda while building a 2024 consensus for conservatives.
Developing a humane conservatism and advancing economic policies that serve working families rather than elites and Big Tech oligarchs.
Shaping the future of Jewish and Christian public witness for all who seek to lead full lives as faithful believers and engaged citizens.
Supporting culture makers and assisting families in living out their faith in their homes and in the public square.
Don’t be fooled by that line about serving working families and not the “Big Tech oligarchs.” The Ethics and Public Policy Center is one of the 75+ supporting organizations listed on the Project 2025 website.3 If you aren’t familiar with Project 2025, you should be. The centerpiece of the plan is the implementation of the far-right theory of “unitary executive power.” It is a 900+ page manifesto and playbook, freely available on the web, for how the Heritage Foundation intellectuals will gut the executive branch starting on Day One if Biden is not re-elected. Career civil service personnel who are not sufficiently aligned with Presidential views will be downsized as the federal departments and agencies are shrunk while a new layer of political appointees will be added to ensure that Presidential directives are carried out. They are already recruiting.
My last thought for you to ponder is that Brown’s piece ran on CNN, where it will be seen by independents and liberals and not seen by many MAGAts or conservatives. It is meant to normalize Mike Johnson’s fringe views and make him palatable because he is not a violent narcissistic thug and he is most definitely NOT Trump.
And yes, Brown bears a striking resemblance to Alfred E. Neuman.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/26/opinions/mike-johnson-house-speaker-gop-brown/index.html
https://eppc.org/author/patrick_brown/
https://www.heritage.org/press/project-2025-reaches-75-coalition-partners-continues-grow-preparation-next-conservative
UPDATE:
For those of you who want to learn more about the threat posed by the ultra-right-wing views of the new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, he and his wife have a series of 66 podcasts.. Below is the link to the most recent on the separation on church and state. Johnson is a constitutional lawyer and one of the far right's intellectual elites.
https://sites.libsyn.com/404672/episode-66-how-to-stand-for-religious-freedom-address-the-separation-of-church-and-state
From Wkipedia:
Before his election to Congress, Johnson was senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, now known as Alliance Defending Freedom.[9] While working at Alliance Defending Freedom, he wrote a prominent amicus brief opposing the eventual U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas (2003), while supporting sodomy laws that would criminalize homosexuality.[10][11][12] In 2004, he defended Louisiana Amendment 1, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman within the Louisiana Constitution, against legal challenges.[13]
In 2015, Johnson founded Freedom Guard, a nonprofit legal ministry designed to represent Christian clients in lawsuits.[14] He was its chief counsel.[15] During his time in Freedom Guard, he "defended the sports chaplaincy program at Louisiana State University from attacks that it was unconstitutional".[14] Also, when Kentucky officials withdrew millions of dollars of tax breaks from the Ark Encounter theme park in Williamstown, Kentucky because Ark Encounter required park employees to affirm that they held Young Earth creationist beliefs, Johnson represented Ark Encounter and its owner Answers in Genesis in a 2015 federal lawsuit.[16]
In September 2016, Johnson summarized his legal career as "defending religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and biblical values, including the defense of traditional marriage, and other ideals like these when they’ve been under assault".[17]
Johnson is a professor at Liberty University and teaches classes at its Helms School of Government.[18][19]
Thank you Georgia for a very enlightening article. First a comment on "family values"; whenever I see this phrase I always think of 'Father Knows Best' an old TV show from the 1950's, which I admit I never watched, but like the Apprentice, which I also never watched, I was aware of their existence. The premise was Father (a white male) was the head of the family. while mother and children were subservient to him. Fortunately for me I didn't grow up in that type of family. My father was very supportive of me, but expected me to make my own decisions, right or wrong. Both my parents worked outside of the home, and being the oldest I was the surrogate mother from age 4. What the billionaires (who in my opinion), want to run the Country from behind the screen, like the Wizard of Oz, so they never get their hands dirty. They want a 19th Century Country (as opposed to Trump who wants a 10th Century or before) in which white, prosperous, male citizens ran the country for the good of white, prosperous, male citizens and therefore we were all one big happy family. Of course a number of workers were killed on the job because of lethal hazards - but what the hell, they were replaceable, right? Some women bitched about not having the vote, but they were women for heavens' sake, what did they know?
Thank you, Heritage Foundation, I'll pass on Project 2025.