Reps. Jack Bergman (left), Lisa McCain and Tim Walberg
Consistency isn't always admirable.
For the second time in a month, U.S. Reps. Jack Bergman, Lisa McClain and Tim Walberg of Michigan chose the losing side in a critical test.
Four weeks ago, they were the only Republicans in Michigan's delegation who voted against certifying two other states' presidential electoral votes, just hours after they and colleagues fled a Capitol mob.
Two days ago, they were among six Republicans from this state who voted not to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., from her two committee assignments. The resolution passed 230-199. Rep. Fred Upton of Kalamzoo and 10 other Republicans joined all Democrats on the majority side.
Reps. Jack Bergman (top), Tim Walberg and Lisa McClain
Greene, a House newcomer, was disciplined for embracing QAnon conspiracy theories, suggesting school shootings were staged and that a plane didn't hit the Pentagon on 9/11, as well as for repeatedly endorsing violence against Democratic politicians -- including Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.
Only one Michigan Republican explains publicly why he voted not to punish her. Rep. Peter Meijer of Grand Rapids issued a statement about "my process-related objection to this resolution," saying: "The responsibility for Rep. Taylor Greene’s committee assignments rests solely with House GOP leadership, and should remain so."
At the same time, the first-time congressman condemned "the dangerous conspiracy theories that Rep. Taylor Greene has espoused in the past, [which] have caused tremendous damage to this nation. If the GOP becomes the party of QAnon and plays to the darkest fringes of the online fever swamp, we will never earn the trust of the voters to govern."
Bergman, McClain and Walberg give no justifications for their party-line votes. Nor do Michigan Reps. Bill Huizenga and John Moolenaar.
They and Meijer, along with 193 others who voted "nay" Thursday night, are roasted Saturday by Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank for coming "to the defense of a vile, unapologetic anti-Semite in their ranks who calls for assassination of her opponents."
On the House floor this week, she offered no apology. ... Using Christ-on-the-cross imagery, she condemned those who would "crucify me in the public square for words that I said, and I regret, a few years ago."
But she didn't regret them. She had tweeted the night before: "We owe them no apologies. We will never back down." ...
On Friday, she held a celebratory news conference, again refusing to recant or apologize.
In the opinion page writer's view, "the rallying around this unrepentant anti-Semite by Republicans is an ominous new frontier."
Six Michigan Republicans, including three who voted to reject electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania, stand on that side of the line drawn Thursday night.
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