Few politicians get so impotently worked up as Marjorie Taylor Greene.
The rabblerousing, controversial Republican is famous for her ridiculous stances, which have led to everything from her implying that Jewish space lazers cause wildfires to supporting a number of insurrectionist Americans. Her undying love for seasoned criminal and one-term president Donald Trump has also led to her turning her attack dog instincts toward her own party. In recent weeks, the recipient of her ire been speaker Mike Johnson. His crime: actually trying to pass some legislation.
Greene has used the conflicts in Palestine and Ukraine to argue that the government should avoid sending money abroad and instead focus on the southern border. She did not tweet about the fact that she and a number of other hardline Republicans lobbied successfully to quash a bipartisan bill that would have put money towards border security funding, as in their eyes it might have hurt Trump in the upcoming election.
Greene, who has shown she can’t tell the difference between a Confederate and Union monument (hint: the latter honors those who thought slavery was a bad thing), has yet to display a nuanced view of these two conflicts, which are informed by centuries of geopolitical strife, cultural tensions, and a number of historical ties. However, her agenda and position is consistent with that of Vladimir Putin’s, who has used the notion of what he deems to be hypocrisy to criticize the West’s opposition to his illegal invasion of Ukraine. This is not the first time that Greene, like Trump, has proven to be a useful asset for Russia, and it certainly won’t be the last.
While Ukraine faces a much larger invading army than the Palestinians are, they have both the land and the funding to somewhat defend themselves. They are also being helped heavily by Western powers, a response that is heightened by their position on Europe’s doorsteps. Palestinians, on the other hand, have seen Gaza nearly razed to the ground and have no active defense force other than small Hamas cells. The minuscule Muslim nation has been utterly ravaged by the IDF in a way that simply isn’t comparable to Ukraine, and that, many experts have said, resembles ethnic cleansing.
These disparities go some way to explaining the Biden Administration’s decision-making on what strategy to support and why, but the idea that every situation needs a bespoke solution seems like a little too much for Greene to handle. Maybe it’s time she stops talking and starts listening, but let’s not count our baboons before they shriek.