It’s been a week since the GOP took control over the House. They won’t exactly be very powerful; they won by a slim margin, which means the legislation they wish to pass requires some Democratic support, which means said legislation can’t be too loony. But there’s nothing stopping them from almost getting into physical altercations, or from making bizarro rants on the taxpayers’ dime, which is exactly what one freshman Republican did.
Meet Ryan Zinke. You might know him. He was once one of the quieter members of the Trump administration. As secretary of the interior, his big controversies involved using charter jets for personal reasons and spending way too much money on doors. No big whoop. Zinke was recently sworn in as a Montana representative, but on Tuesday he made himself known by taking to the House floor and ranting about how the “deep state” was after an obvious foe: cowboys.
Zinke: Despite the deep state's attempts to repeatedly stop me I stand before you as a duly elected member of the congress and tell you that a deep state exists… They want to wipe out the American cowboy pic.twitter.com/BrOiIltbMp
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 10, 2023
He started by painting himself as a target of shadowy minions. “Despite the Deep State’s attempts to repeatedly stop me, I stand before you as a duly elected member of the United States Congress and tell you that a Deep State exists and it is perhaps the strongest covert weapon the left has against the American people,” Zinke told his colleagues. He then went even more conspiratorial.
“There is no doubt the federal government Deep State coordinates with liberal activists and uses politicians and willing media to carry their water,” Zinke said. “The Deep State runs secret messaging campaigns with one goal in mind: To increase its power, to censor and persuade the American people.”
But the alleged deep state — a favorite boogeyman of the Trump-era far right — weren’t only trying to stop him. “Dark money groups funded by liberal billionaires and foreign investors funnel money to shell organizations and repeatedly attempt to destroy the American West,” Zinke charged. “In many cases, they want to wipe out the American cowboy completely, remove public access to our lands and turn Montana into a national park.”
Sounds like someone’s been watching too much Yellowstone. And with that, following an entire week in which House Republicans struggled to elect a Speaker, it’s clear the next two years are gonna be bananas.
(Via Raw Story)