Navalny was willing to take on Vladimir Putin and risk his life. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is so afraid of losing his speakership that he caves to Marjorie Taylor Greene
Upon the news of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death, House Speaker Mike Johnson denounced Vladimir Putin.
“As Congress debates the best path forward to support Ukraine, the United States and our partners must be using every means available to cut off Putin’s ability to fund his unprovoked war in Ukraine and aggression against the Baltic states,” he said in a statement.
Of course, Johnson’s words would hold much more weight if he had actually put through the aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that the Senate passed on the floor of the House of Representatives. Indeed, as the Senate labored late into the night on Monday and into the wee hours of Tuesday to pass that aid bill, Johnson summarily killed the bill because it did not address immigration at the US-Mexico border.
This came after Johnson and the rest of House Republican leadership blew up a bipartisan agreement that would have included aggressive restrictions to immigration in exchange for aid to Israel and Ukraine. Johnson, like most of the Republican Party, did so in the service of Donald Trump after he came out in opposition to the deal — despite the fact it would give him sweeping authority to deport migrants if he became president again.
Where did I say border was policy? I specifically said that it wasn’t. I called that out intentionally because some people may think that it counts as policy when it doesn’t. Over arching changes to border security and or immigration would count but something as stupid as build a wall and make Mexico pay for it isn’t policy.
you intimated that these ideas are not from his own head. I would say that many of them are. he is a politcal used car salesman and knows quite well what motivates his base. It would seem (likewise, without proof) that much of the bullshit he erroneously puts forth as “policy” tracks pretty well with his entire life arc - its deeply embedded in him; a means to an end.
he is now surrounded by a cadre of likeminded conmen, so lots of walls to throw shit at, but the execution is all him.