U.S. Congressman Eric Swalwell, who, for the record, represents the Congressional district in which I live — thank you in advance for your sympathy — has via Twitter taken his fellow representative Majorie Taylor Greene to task for participating in a bit of LARPing at the CPAC Texas gathering taking place this weekend (August 4th through 7th) in Dallas. Swalwell, as unafraid to publicly criticize fellow politicians as he is to bang Chinese spies, is upset over this theatrical scene with The Notorious MTG and Brandon Straka.

If a Democrat kneeled before a depiction of a Guantanamo Bay inmate, Speaker Pelosi would never hear the end of it. RT if @GOPLeader McCarthy must denounce this or drop to his knees with @RepMTG to worship terrorists. pic.twitter.com/IPx3y6r1RF

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) August 6, 2022

At least she’s not having sex with him, Eric.

Some background on this admittedly odd display comes from the hyper liberal VICE, so consider the source.

As dozens of onlookers looked on, some with tears in their eyes, a barefoot man in an orange jumpsuit and red MAGA cap sobbed in a cage in a convention center in Dallas, Texas.

Attendees at CPAC, the massive annual conservative activist conference, were given bluetooth headphones, emblazoned with the word “silence,” where they were invited to listen to audio accounts from January 6 defendants who have been jailed due to the Capitol riot.

And how does Greene fit in?

The surreal scene around the cage in the CPAC exhibit hall was only made more bizarre when security guards began parting the crowds for extreme-right Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The “jail guards” unlocked the cage and allowed her in. She hugged Straka, before falling to her knees in front of the chair he was sitting on. They clasped hands and prayed together.

The crowd outside the cage began reciting the Lord’s Prayer, and then the prayer to Saint Michael.

“Saint Michael the archangel, defend us in battle,” one man in the crowd chanted. “Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.”

There’s a bunch more, but it’s not worth repeating here.

Now, let’s start with some sober analysis. The mistreatment of January 6th detainees is well-chronicled. The dead horse that is January 6th has been beaten through to the bone. We should spare no effort to expose the hypocritical, illegal overkill perpetrated against January 6th detainees. I’m not excusing a bunch of yabos for running rampant through the Capitol. There is no excuse for illegal behavior. But it wasn’t an insurrection. It was a hollow, unfunny joke seized upon by Democrats desperate for anything that could prevent Donald Trump and followers of his America First program from regaining power, thereby cutting off the military-industrial complex’s easy access to taxpayer dollars.

Given Swalwell’s demonstrated critical shortcomings, while throwing red meat to his worshipers via slagging on MTG after shagging Fang Fang doubtless scores brownie points, it serves no genuine purpose. To be fair, neither does silly theater, and the CPAC Texas escapade is quite silly. We need serious light shown on what has happened and continues to happen to the January 6th detainees, and acts such as this are anything but serious.

There are two amusing side notes. One, it must be somewhat galling to those who label MTG a homophobe to see her holding hands and praying, even in this odd setting, with the openly gay Straka. Second, it must also be somewhat galling to those who label MTG a religious bigot that she didn’t immediately go Scarlet Witch on those in attendance who invoked Saint Michael the Archangel’s name in prayer, what with that being such a Roman Catholic deal and all.

The adage that people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones has apparently never reached certain people living in the House of Representatives. One such Democrat denizen is Eric Swalwell. No, I’m not surprised.