How green was Marjorie Taylor Greene’s valley?

By Alfred P. Doblin

Memory is a strange thing, particularly when it comes to recalling things we should never have done. We all have things in our past we regret, but most of us have not engaged in public acts of toxicity. I am not sure if there is such a phrase, but there is now.

This past weekend, Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was speaking with Dana Bash on CNN and said, “I would like to say humbly, I’m sorry for taking part in the toxic politics. It’s very bad for our country. And it’s been something I’ve thought about a lot, especially since Charlie Kirk was assassinated.”

Greene and her family have become targeted for violence after President Trump denounced her, calling her a traitor. Greene is rightfully concerned that her family’s safety has been compromised. Yet, her contrition comes late in her political career. It’s akin to someone throwing Molotov cocktails for years being surprised that innocent bystanders could ever have been burned or killed by the incendiary bottles.

Greene’s fall from grace with the president – and possibly her finding of redemptive grace – is a result of her wanting the release of the so-called Jeffrey Epstein files, something the president has fought until just the other day. As an aside, a person could get whiplash from the sudden changes in direction in D.C.’s beltway.

The president is dismissive of Greene’s claim that his comments have put her in harm’s way. He said he does not think Greene is in any real danger; that no one cares about her. I leave that statement as is. It is consistent with his messaging. So, it is hard to believe that Greene did not realize that if she fell out of favor with the president, she would be treated just as he and she have treated others no longer orbiting the sun.

Still, I believe in redemption narratives, with a caveat. Forgiveness is a spiritual act; it has no bearing on the temporal need for accountability. Erika Kirk showed the world what Christian love is when she said at her assassinated husband Charlie’s memorial that she forgave his killer. That remarkable act of grace did not absolve the killer from what he did, or should it have any impact on the killer’s date with justice.

We should not live in the past, but we cannot change the past. We are called to live with it – the good, the poor, and, sadly, the evil. How we process that, effects how we move forward.

The “Swift-boating” speed of the president’s turn on Greene is not surprising in the least. And when the most powerful person turns on you, and he is also, for good and bad, the most effective communicator of his message on the planet, it is also not surprising that more than the trolls of Middle Earth arise from the darkness to do harm.

Greene has an opportunity now to rise above her own limitations and her incendiary past. Whether she can do that will be revealed in the coming weeks and months. Her genuine fear for her family’s safety is a strong incentive to push back against ingrained poor choices.

As someone who believes there is a grace to be found after suffering, I believe Erika Kirk unleashed a wave of grace that could help put out some of the fires of politically stoked hate. But I am not so naive to believe, that it will.

On CNN, Greene appeared willing to accept that she has helped foment public toxicity. But on X on Sunday, she wrote, "President Trump’s unwarranted and vicious attacks against me were a dog whistle to dangerous radicals that could lead to serious attacks on me and my family."

Her comments are still in the first person – the president did something to “me” and to “my family.” It’s a half awakening. When she writes that the president and his followers are doing the same thing to many, many others, she will be looking with eyes not wide shut. Because grace and true conversion is seeing how our actions, and the actions of others may affect people we do not even know, and we would not even like.

Toxic politics is dangerous, not because it may affect us, but rather because it affects all of us. You can’t escape this nuclear winter by hiding in a gilded cave.

Greene’s political rise is attributed to her embrace of toxicity. That was her entire brand. She did not build a political career on being a serious person, with respect for others. None of that is admirable. But none of that provides a rationale for putting her or her family in harm’s way.

Maybe this is a crack in the MAGA dam. Maybe it is nothing more than a blip, and the president is correct when he said nobody cares about Marjorie Taylor Greene. The sign that it is a crack in the dam, will be when the president’s statement is correct, but incomplete: Nobody cares about Marjorie Taylor Greene, but they still think this is wrong and unacceptable.

When that happens, when that dam does break, there will be a flood in the valley below, and we will be awash in grace.

Until next time, this is Alfred with a P