Perhaps, if the stars align, the Good Lord’s willing, the creek don’t rise and Matt Gaetz keeps his yap shut, by the time you read this we will be electing a new and improved Speaker of the House. Meet Mike Johnson (R-LA), who is the latest Speaker Designee. Somehow, in all this shite, the cabbages in Congress have found a gem. Solidly Pro-Life, a Constitutional Conservative and an “election denier”, let’s talk about Mike Johnson.

After that heinous flirtation with Tom Emmer as Speaker who is not a fan of the Electoral College, I had begun to despair with good reason. When they first mentioned Mike Johnson, I said, “Who?”. Who, no more.

As I turned on the television, I noticed they are up to “Kim of New Jersey” in this Speaker vote and it is looking promising. Now, you need his bio. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Johnson is 54 years old and married with four children. He has his undergrad and JD from Louisiana State University. Oh well. Nobody’s perfect. From Wikipedia:

Before his election to Congress, Johnson was a partner in the Kitchens Law Firm and a senior attorney and national media spokesman for the Alliance Defense Fund, now known as Alliance Defending Freedom.[17] Johnson was also formerly chief counsel of the nonprofit law firm Freedom Guard.[18]

In September 2016, Johnson characterized his legal career as “defending religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and biblical values, including the defense of traditional marriage, and other ideals like these when they’ve been under assault.”[19]

Johnson served as a trustee of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission within the Southern Baptist Convention from 2004 to 2012.

Johnson came to some prominence in the late 1990s when he and his wife appeared on national television to represent Louisiana’s newly passed marriage covenant laws, which made divorce more difficult legally

In April 2015, Johnson proposed the Marriage and Conscience Act, a bill similar in content to Indiana’s controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act passed a few days earlier, though Johnson denied that his legislation was based on the Indiana law.[21]

Johnson’s Marriage and Conscience Act would have prevented adverse treatment by the State of any person or entity on the basis of the views they may hold with regard to marriage. [22] Critics denounced the bill as an attempt to protect people who discriminate against same-sex married couples.[23][20]

Then-Governor Bobby Jindal pledged to sign Johnson’s bill into law if it passed both houses of the legislature.[24] IBM and other employers in the region expressed their opposition to the bill, including concerns about the hiring difficulties it would likely produce.[25] Other politicians also objected, including Baton Rouge Metro Councilman John Delgado, a fellow Republican, who called Johnson a “despicable bigot of the highest order” for proposing the bill.[25]

On May 19, 2015, the House Civil Law and Procedure Committee voted 10–2 to table the bill, effectively ending its chances to become law.[26] Both Republicans and Democrats voted against the bill; other than Johnson, only Republican Ray Garofalo voted for it.[26] After the bill was tabled, Jindal said that he would issue an executive order to enforce its intent.[27] Johnson planned to reintroduce his own bill in 2016

You have to tilt at the windmills.

Then came his time in the U.S. House. From The Hill:

Johnson was elected to Congress in December 2016 and represents Louisiana’s 4th District.

In 2018, he was involved in GOP efforts to overhaul the Endangered Species Act, introducing legislation to do so.

“We cannot allow the fear of challenging the status quo to prevent us from taking a hard look at the ineffective policies put in place decades ago that have failed to meet the goals of the underlying statute,” Johnson said at the time.

Johnson is a member of the House Judiciary and Armed Services committees. He also serves as chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution and Limited Government.

In 2020, Johnson signed an amicus brief alongside more than 100 House Republicans supporting a Texas lawsuit that aimed to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

“President Trump called me this morning to let me know how much he appreciates the amicus brief we are filing on behalf of Members of Congress,” Johnson on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after the brief was introduced. “Indeed, ‘this is the big one!’”

Oh Noes! Johnson is an {{Election Denier}}! President Donald Trump, King of the Election Deniers, came out of his faux trial in New York City to embrace the idea of Johnson as Speaker Designee.

How did we not notice Mike Johnson when he wanted to have Nancy Pelosi arrested after she make a big show out of tearing up President Trump’s State of the Union Address:

Mike Johnson calls for Pelosi arrest… I like this dude! pic.twitter.com/bmYY1K6Ish

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) October 25, 2023

And, maybe we didn’t hear about him because he is not thirsty for the camera:

Barring some calamity that I am not aware of, Mike Johnson will be the next Speaker of the House and it should be done by about 3:00pm ET.

This guy is apparently loved by everyone in the conference, we’ve just never really heard of him because he doesn’t run to cameras – he… pic.twitter.com/GzT4YtNA86

— Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) October 25, 2023

The voting is over. The vote was 220 for Mike Johnson and 209 for Hakeem Jeffries, who is a super election denier. Election denier needs to be shelved along with “racist”.

Now, we have the Speaker that perhaps we wanted all along. Let’s give him a chance.

It is the honor of a lifetime to have been elected the 56th Speaker of the House.

Thank you to my colleagues, friends, staff, and family for the unmatched support throughout this process.

It has been an arduous few weeks, and a reminder that the House is as complicated and…

— Rep. Mike Johnson (@RepMikeJohnson) October 25, 2023

Congratulations, Republicans. Make it work. Release the January 6 tapes.

Featured Image: Ike Hayman/Wikimedia Commons.org/cropped/Public Domain