Last week, eleven Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to oust Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee assignments (see Democrats Just Stripped Marjorie Taylor Greene of Her Committee Assignments, and Republicans Have a Choice to Make). This came in response to her spreading conspiracy theories prior to running for office, mostly on platforms like Facebook. Greene did apologize and renounce her belief in Qanon, for example, but it wasn’t enough, nor was it ever going to be enough.

One of the Republicans who voted to punish Greene in such an unprecedented way was Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida. And while I’m sure Gimenez is a perfectly nice guy who is influenced by the fact that he’s in a swing district, his reasoning behind his vote perfectly encapsulates what being a sucker looks like.

I voted to remove Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committees because of her deeply hurtful conspiratorial comments and anti-Semitic remarks.⁰

I'm calling on @SpeakerPelosi and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to hold their members to the same standard. pic.twitter.com/z9csmHqjCe

— Congressman Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) February 7, 2021

Going on CNN to chat up Wolf Blitzer on this issue is a perfect analogy for Republicans who just can’t seem to get out of their own way. Why are you going on a network that exists to destroy you to talk about doing something that played right into the hands of Democrats? Regardless, it was Gimenez’s pleas to Nancy Pelosi that really came across as pathetic.

Republicans love to be in the minority. They love to preen and make demands of the other side they know will never be met while relentlessly signaling their virtue as if it’s the only thing voters care about. Nancy Pelosi is not going to hold Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, Eric Swalwell, or any other member of her caucus to the same standard as Greene. It’s almost pathetic to see someone even feign belief that would happen. You see, Pelosi and her caucus aren’t like the GOP. They actually play for keeps. They don’t purposely choose to walk into the trap their opposition has set up for them.

If Gimenez really felt strongly about ousting Greene, so be it. He should stick with that as the sole reason and not go on CNN and beg the other side to reciprocate. That’s never going to happen, and admitting that is half the battle. When you recognize your opposition for what they are, you can better engage them in ways that are actually effective. Fretting on Wolf Blitzer’s show is not an effective means of doing anything. It’s simply a reminder of what so many GOP voters have come to despise about the party and its politicians. Meanwhile, the Democrats are laughing as they’ve won yet another PR battle between the two. Perhaps not playing into their hands and setting up an awful future precedent so you could get a hit on CNN would have been prudent here?

In short, stop being a sucker.