Papillon: the butterfly Friday effect of magnificent food February 5, 2021 T: 582-7800 www.arubatoday.com facebook.com/arubatoday instagram.com/arubatoday Page 9 Aruba’s ONLY English newspaper Congress debates rebuke of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene By ALAN FRAM, BRIAN SLO- licans complained bit- DYSKO and KEVIN FREKING terly about the precedent Associated Press that the Democratic effort WASHINGTON (AP) — would set by meddling in Congress was debating the affairs of a rival party. Thursday whether to strip "Never before in the history far-right Republican Rep. of this House has the ma- Marjorie Taylor Greene jority abused its power in of her committee assign- this way," lamented House ments over past comments Minority Leader Kevin Mc- Greene made that were Carthy, R-Calif., who also racist, embraced conspir- condemned Greene's acy theories or endorsed comments and said they violence directed at Dem- "do not represent the views ocratic officeholders. of my party." A Democratic measure re- “You’ll regret this, and you moving Greene from her may regret this sooner than posts was all but certain to you think,” he added. pass after it was brought Earlier, Greene said during to the House floor for a a floor speech that she re- vote, forcing Republicans grets some “words of the to go on the record either past,” but she did not ex- supporting or rebuking plicitly apologize for her Greene. racist and violent rhetoric. Rather than defending Continued on next page Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., goes back to her office after speaking on the floor of the Greene's remarks, Repub- House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. Associated Press A2 FRIDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2021 UP FRONT to control the people? You have to take away their guns." In 2018, she speculated in a Facebook post that a Jew- ish-owned financial firm may have been involved in a plot to spark California wildfires. She suggested the motive could have been to fast-track a high-speed rail project favored by then- Gov. Jerry Brown, using "la- sers or blue beams of light" fired from space. "There are too many co- incidences to ignore," she wrote. Greene once called Pelosi a "traitor" who was guilty of "treason," a "crime punish- able by death." She also "liked" a Facebook post An LED billboard calling for the resignation of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is seen on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, in Dalton, Ga. where a commenter called Associated Press for "a bullet to the head" of Pelosi. Continued from Front Chairman Jim McGovern foundly concerned" by were typical of McCarthy's The conspiracy theories Alternating between con- noted that while Greene Republicans' "acceptance preference to avoid ruffling Greene has embraced trition and defiance, the expressed regret over her of an extreme conspiracy feathers as he charts his came up during the closed newly elected Georgia Re- remarks and claimed to theorist." hoped-for path to becom- Republican caucus meet- publican asserted that she have had an epiphany "If any of our members ing House speaker some ing Wednesday. Some said was "a very regular Ameri- that QAnon was false in threatened the safety of day. Greene apologized to her can" who posted conspir- 2018, many of her com- other members, we'd be Greene has made a wide colleagues, though there acy theories from QAnon ments, including those en- the first ones to take them range of racist remarks, were conflicting, vague and other sources before dorsing violence against off a committee," Pelosi, D- while breathing life into versions of exactly what she began campaigning House Speaker Nancy Pe- Calif., said hours before the conspiracy theories. Many she'd said. for Congress, but said those losi, were more recent. planned vote. of them were online and That's at odds with recent views did not represent her "I did not hear an apology A few Republicans prob- recently deleted after the statements Greene has own. or denouncement for the ably will side with Demo- liberal group Media Mat- made on Twitter, where she She also looked to shift insinuation that political crats and many have de- ters unearthed them. has vowed to never back blame while falsely equat- opponents should be vio- nounced Greene's past re- Greene once said Black down or apologize and ing her own endorsement lently dealt with," said Mc- marks. But some warn that people "are held slaves to labeled her critics traitors, of violence against Demo- Govern, a Massachusetts the Democratic majority is the Democratic Party" and while using the Democratic crats with those in the par- Democrat. "It's not ancient setting a bad precedent suggested that the Park- push to punish her to raise ty who supported racial history. She continues to by meddling with Greene's land, Florida, school shoot- money for her campaign. justice protests over the fund-raise off this stuff." committee assignments, ing was staged to disguise McCarthy condemned summer, which sometimes The vote will force Greene's a process that the parties the perpetrators — a so- Greene's past endorse- turned violent. Republican colleagues to have long controlled. called false flag operation. ments of conspiracy theo- She pronounced the me- go on the record to defend McCarthy's decision to She was seen in an online ries — after weeks of saying dia "just as guilty as QAnon or rebuke her after she back Greene comes when video harassing Parkland little critical of her — and of presenting truth and lies." has drawn bipartisan con- the GOP has been ideo- survivor David Hogg at the said the first-term congress- QAnon's core theory em- demnation over her past logically adrift after Trump's U.S. Capitol, accusing him woman had recognized in braces the lie that Demo- remarks. The political di- loss, struggling over wheth- of "trying to take away a private conversation that crats are tied to a global lemma for Republicans un- er to embrace his norm- my Second Amendment she must meet "a higher sex trafficking ring that also derscores the tension that busting divisiveness or the rights." standard" as a lawmaker.q involves Satanism and can- has riven the party over its party's more traditional, "He has nothing to say be- It's unusual for party leaders nibalism. future since Donald Trump policy-oriented conserva- cause he's paid to do this," to strip lawmakers of com- Democrats were expect- lost the White House. tive values. Greene said after Hogg ig- mittee assignments, which ed to move forward later Democrats gave Repub- House Republicans nored her. "He's a coward. can help them address Thursday with the vote to licans an ultimatum this blocked an effort Wednes- He can't say one word." their districts' needs, raise remove her from her com- week: Strip Greene of her day by conservative hard- She made similar remarks campaign contributions mittee posts. committee assignments, or liners to oust their No. 3 after a gunman opened and shape legislation. House Rules Committee they would. Bipartisan pres- leader, Rep. Liz Cheney, fire from a Las Vegas ho- In 2019, House GOP lead- sure built after Senate Mi- R-Wyo. The daughter of tel room in 2017, killing 58 ers removed Rep. Steve nority Leader Mitch McCo- former Vice President Dick people at an outdoor mu- King, R-Iowa, who had a nnell, R-Ky., called Greene's Cheney had enraged sic festival, which she sug- history of racist comments, "loony lies" a "cancer" for Trump supporters by voting gested was a secret plot to from the Agriculture and the party. to impeach him over the build support for gun con- Judiciary panels after he But McCarthy ruled out riot at the U.S. Capitol. trol legislation. was quoted as wondering taking action. Instead, he In sticking by both women, "I don't believe (gunman when "white supremacist" accused Democrats of a McCarthy was attempt- Stephen Paddock) pulled became an offensive term. "partisan power grab" for ing to placate both tradi- this off all by himself, and He lost the Republican pri- targeting Greene. tional conservatives and I know most of you don't mary for his seat in 2020 Pelosi told reporters Thurs- populists, like Greene, who either," Greene said in a and is out of Congress after facebook.com/arubatoday/ day that she was "pro- emulate Trump. The moves video. "What's the best way serving nine terms.q A3 U.S. NEWS FRIDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2021 Voting company sues Fox, Giuliani over election fraud claims By JOSHUA GOODMAN have to boost spending by MIAMI (AP) — A voting $4.7 million to fend off what technology company is su- it called a "meteoric rise" in ing Fox News, three of its cyberattacks. hosts and two former law- "For us, this is an existential yers for former President crisis," Mugica said in an Donald Trump — Rudy interview. He said the false Giuliani and Sidney Powell statements against Smart- — for $2.7 billion, charg- matic have already led ing that the defendants one foreign bank to close conspired to spread false its accounts and deterred claims that the company Taiwan, a prospective cli- helped "steal" the U.S. presi- ent, from adopting e-vot- dential election. ing technology. The 285-page complaint Like many conspiracy theo- filed Thursday in New York ries, the alleged campaign state court by Florida- against Smartmatic was based Smartmatic USA is built on a grain of truth. one of the largest libel suits Mugica is Venezuelan and ever undertaken. On Jan. Smartmatic's initial success 25, a rival election-technol- is partly attributable to ma- ogy company — Dominion jor contracts from Hugo Voting Systems, which was Rudy Giuliani, a personal attorney for President Donald Trump, talks with reporters outside the Chávez's government, an also ensnared in Trump's White House, Wednesday, July 1, 2020, in Washington.