Barbie and Ken's Treason Tour
June 7, 2021
It began on May 7 when the toxic two-some -- Florida Representative Matt Gaetz and Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene -- kicked off their “America First Tour” at a sleepy retirement community in Florida. The turnout was singularly unimpressive, roughly as many who turn up for a Kiwanis luncheon. But that didn’t matter because the cameras were rolling.
They are part of the new Trump playbook. Barbie and Ken appeal to diehards, aggrieved Americans, and eternally irate Fox anchors. Gaetz has gained national name recognition with obnoxious posturing in Congress, then the baseless suggestion that the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6 was caused by far-left commandos, and finally his trip to Wyoming to sabotage fellow Republican Liz Cheney for the sin of denying the Big Lie. But above all else, he’s a Fox News regular because the FBI is investigating him for having sex with a minor – a predicament that would cause most to hide, but in TrumpWorld allows him to recast himself as a martyr at the hands of the Deep State.
Barbie is more notorious and even has her own acronym on Fox News – MTG – a privilege reserved for the famous and infamous. She skyrocketed to headlines last year as the first QAnon cultist to be elected to Congress, distributing an election poster threatening four Democrats with an automatic weapon and endorsing social media death threats that Nancy Pelosi needs a “bullet to her head”. Her hateful mouth has gotten her booted off all House committees, and she’s widely reviled for her views that the Parkland High School and Sandy Hook mass murders were fake and staged to hurt the pro-gun lobby.
This Tag-Team of Terribles also plays the grievance card at every opportunity, which appeals to those racist-unemployed-estranged-angry-convicted-trigger-happy-unsuccessful-involuntarily-celibate-shunned-miserable morons who worship Donald Trump. To those, Gaetz crooned: “I’m a marked man in Congress. I’m a canceled man in some corners of the Internet. I might be a wanted man by the Deep State. But I am a Florida man, and it is good to be home. Today, we send a strong message to the weak establishment in both parties: America First isn’t going away. We’re going on tour.”
The 200 who attended their May 7 shindig listened to “We Are the Champions” -- an anthem about triumph which was written, ironically, by a gay British guy who was not white — as the dreadful duo jumped onto the stage. The event was a flop, mostly ridiculed by the media, so the team since then has turned up the heat on their messaging from a simmer to a boil. It’s now a roiling traveling tirade spouting treason in tandem with libel and the Big Lie and will, as it has before, end in a trail of tears and possibly murder again.
Their next stop was May 27 in MTG’s state, Georgia, where only 100 attended, so Gaetz and Greene ratcheted up the rhetoric even more, lest the puny crowd size became the next-day media story. MTG compared Democrats to Hitler’s Nazis. “You know, Nazis were the National Socialist Party. Just like the Democrats are now a national socialist party.” And Gaetz publicly endorsed political violence, saying that the nation’s founders wrote the Second Amendment (“the right to bear arms”) to enable citizens to rise up against the government. “It’s not about hunting, it’s not about recreation, it’s not about sports,” he said. “The Second Amendment is about maintaining, within the citizenry, the ability to maintain an armed rebellion against the government if that becomes necessary…We have the Second Amendment in this country, and I think we have an obligation to use it!”
On Memorial Day weekend, the two joined the extravaganza “For God and Country” organized by QAnon supporters in Dallas. But it headlined Looney Luminaries such as convicted-then-pardoned former General Michael Flynn; pedophile conspiracy advocate and Big Lie lawyer Sidney Powell; plus Fox-TV major advertiser and Trump twerp, the MyPillow guy Mike Lindell. Mike, who’s been sued for billions for making up stuff, has political ambitions and claims to have evidence for the Supreme Court that will prove China interfered in the election … then the race's results, he pledged, are going to go "bye-bye". Sidney concurred.
Appearing in a biker’s vest, Sidney and Pillow Guy introduced the fantasy that Trump will be reinstated by August because recounts and courts will reverse results, claims that have no basis either in the constitution or in reality. She mused that Biden will be physically forced to leave the White House.
But Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor, and retired General stole the show — and more headlines — when he responded to an audience question by stating there is “no reason” the U.S. shouldn’t have a coup d’etat like the one in Myanmar in February that removed a democratic government, adding, “it should happen.” He walked it back and could be charged with sedition, but what matters is that the cameras were rolling.
To reinforce the wackos, Trump is amplifying the August reinstatement nonsense, picked up in two Tweets posted on June 1 by New York Times ace reporter, Maggie Haberman.
Thus unfolds the Trump takeover playbook: Using proxies to make threats and to concoct outrageous scenarios; desensitizing the public with talk of political violence to frighten some and entice more, and raising money. Donations flood in, and so does fear. Gun sales soar as record numbers of Americans buy a weapon for the first time in their lives because the 45th President is dog-whistling his dangerous domestic terrorists again. Even if far-fetched, he must be taken seriously.
My fear is that the next move will be a reprise of what the first Republican lunatic to run for high office — gun-toting Sarah Palin — did in 2011. Her political action committee posted a map that put 20 Democrats who voted for health care in the cross-hairs and identified all by name. “Don’t retreat, instead – RELOAD!” was how Palin introduced the map on Twitter.
Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona appeared on the list and was shot shortly afterward while addressing a small crowd of constituents in Arizona. She was permanently disabled and six others died and yet both Palin and Giffords’ opponent, a Tea Partier who also incited violence against her online, were never charged with making a criminal threat to cause bodily harm. A jailable offense. Likewise, Mike Flynn’s coup d’etat remarks constitute sedition and he hasn’t been charged under a military code that also applies to retired officers.
All of this and more underscores why the Trump Military-Coup-for-Dummies playbook is no laughing matter. It’s a cause for concern.
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Thia is an amazingly powerful piece; a brilliant use of language to express the realities of the events happening before us, and the emotions that they elicit!
Diane, thank you for your newsletter.
Yes, this is a cause for concern. I don't understand how and wow people can get away with making criminal threats to cause harm. Is it because the court cost, or it's a hard case to prove? I feel like this just empowers the haters even more. How can we get the Justice Department, Merrick Garland to file criminal charges, and or sedation charges? What are people thinking?