On November 17th, Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar was censured by two Republicans and nearly all of the Democratic conference in the House of Representatives. One may assume that Gosar did something genuinely horrific to convince an entire majority's caucus to take him off all the committees he was on, rendering his job to serve his constituents in AZ-04 harder. He must have assaulted someone, been caught in a scandal, or stolen money, right?
Nope. The cowards in the Democratic caucus brought the concern to the floor, successfully stripping Gosar of his committees for posting an anime cartoon video of him slaying Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats in a policy battle over immigration policy. Gosar's situation was not comparable to former congressman Steve King talking about straight-up white nationalism that he eventually lost his primary over, nor current Congresswoman Ilhan Omar tweeting out an anti-Semitic cartoon about the evils of a Jewish state, both of which deserve condemnation. The subject of punishment was that of a meme his office tweeted out to be funny and relevant to Twitter trends, and now the man has lost some of the most important aspects of his position for simply nothing.
The faux outrage and blatant hypocrisy from the Left are downright pitiful when an overview is performed of their own members' actions. California Congresswoman Maxine Waters advocated for the public harassment of President Trump's cabinet members while he was in office. Rep. Ayanna Pressley called for unrest in the streets in the wake of the Trump presidency. Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar refused to vote on a resolution acknowledging the Armenian genocide, and Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib called Israel an 'apartheid state' during the congressional bill to fund the Iron Dome. Not a single one of those congressional members were so much as condemned by any of the Democrats currently serving in Congress besides some feckless pearl-clutching, and they certainly were not held accountable in an official manner as Gosar was for a cartoon. If anyone will hear, this is on purpose. For what reason that the temporary majority would punish a congressman that was defended by all but two of his conference colleagues is not evident. However, one thing is for sure: Republicans need to fight back in equal haste.
Congressional Democrats have set a precedent to silence voices on the right as they have in official capacities with Representatives Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene. One was punished for a cartoon, and the other was held officially accountable for something said in a Facebook group before she was ever a member of Congress. The House Democratic Conference has set a precedent where they will silence comments or actions they deem unworthy or unethical and usually decide to draw it at the party line. Now, it is time for the Republican Conference to do the same thing. When the GOP gains power next year, they need to take effective action to disparage all power and influence the Democrats possess in Congress to oblivion and start defending their members efficiently.
One of the first moves the House GOP should make would be giving some power payback to both of their censured members. The second move would, of course, be censuring and removing from committee members such as Pressley, Omar, Tlaib, Waters, and Eric Swalwell, who was under investigation for having an unethical connection to a Chinese spy that previously served in his office.
It is finally time for Republicans in the House of Representatives to step up. For the last four or more years, conservative values and belief systems have been trampled on by the establishment and those with Democratic control. For far too long, Republicans have stood back and watched as they were run over by the opposition, and their base is beginning to notice. If the GOP wants to impact promoting and passing conservative policies, they need to act and respond aggressively and accordingly.