House Speaker Mike Johnson has been enduring a public scourging from his fellow Republicans these past weeks.

Let’s take a closer look at his offenses.

Johnson has been ridiculed for comparing his stint thus far as Speaker to the era of the Civil War:

Speaker Johnson: I'm Doing The Hardest Job Arguably Since The Civil War | Video | RealClearPolitics

Despite the faux ridicule,  Johnson — a literate man who knows his history -- is actually pretty correct, on several levels, in his assessment of the current times.

The main point about the Congress now is that it is not, in practice and almost in fact, a bi-partisan situation. The Democrats hold the Senate and almost have the House. Accordingly, Speaker Johnson has not, much to his credit, respected calls for his own ouster.

He's also been criticized for using Democrats to pass a $60 billion package of wartime aid for Ukraine.

Yes, there are those who support no more dollars for Ukraine, however they are spent. Others would demur that Johnson’s so-called capitulation on the recent House funding package is not too bad, as being just another predictable reload for a fantastically manipulated foreign defense budget. Is this really news?

Yet, realistically, Johnson’s correct priority for foreign aid at this moment is Israel, and he got that in only by allowing the Ukraine lobby.

There also is a case for Ukraine winning its war against invading Russia, despite the corruption that has rendered its cause unpopular.

Then there’s the FISA debacle, which is still a mess but surely not a new or unanticipated  mess. Wresting TikTok away from Chinese control is still on the table, which is, again, not a win but not a lose, yet. Think: no real majority.

Yes, the border funding fail is just that -- a big fat failure. It is not, however, Johnson’s failure. We have had three years of Biden's open border and no one in D.C. has even begun to fix it. It reeks of Biden’s corruption. It is not just the ‘border’ anymore, and we will be torched by this until we have strong presidential leadership on our domestic crises, and a clear majority in at least one congressional body. (Biden may make a close-the-border move pre-election, but that’ll just be theater and way too late to effect the many changes that we need.) Again, on the border, there is no bipartisanship from the Swamp, outside of the ‘cover my a**’ variety.

Moving on to what is truly critical: Johnson has finally got legislation for significant support to Israel through — even as pro-Hamas protests attempt to stop any such action from the Hill -- and he still has his Speaker hat on. Support for Taiwan, as now also achieved by Johnson, was also a win for the U.S. It would not be possible if he loses the gavel — the Chinese lobby would see to that.

Again, why is the Johnson speakership now so important? Because of the 2024 election. Although the House majority is almost nil to the Republicans (the slew of defections appears orchestrated and Kevin McCarthy -- almost a RINO himself if you’ve watched his career -- may be the man behind the mirror). If Democrat Hakeem Jeffries gets the gavel, we are lost.

If Mike Johnson loses the gavel, between now and November 2024, the critical committee investigations of Biden, his cabinet, and his cronies will come to a full stop.

If Johnson loses the gavel this year, the Trump persecution/prosecution at present will look like child’s play.

Well, yeah, Johnson is being played and jollied by his Democrat ‘colleagues’ in the House, when they smile at him now. But we know what Shakespeare says about smiling:

“That one may smile and smile and be a villain.”
(Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 5)

Of course, Hakeem and company may kick Johnson in the teeth and try to throw him to the curb at their first opportunity, and Johnson is aware of that, but more seriously, he is aware of the crises, all of them, that wait in the wings if he loses the tiny margin of rational control of the House which he now has.

Speaker Johnson, despite his boyishly youthful mien, is a seasoned politician from Louisiana, a state known for its political frankness and ‘amiable’ rough and tumble. He has done serious, much admired, and real work in the House, for years. He is not a fool. He does not court the press at fifty percent of his paid time, as did Kevin McCarthy. Johnson is getting his hands dirty, which is hardly a wonder! What in heaven’s name can he do otherwise? Think of where he is.

There is another matter too, critical to Jews and Christians alike, and very relevant to Johnson’s moves. Remember back, not long ago, in the run-up to the vote for Johnson as Speaker, when everyone in the House, almost to a person, conceded and/or acknowledged Johnson to be a man of integrity, honesty, and competence?

Well, that remains to be the truth. Speaker Johnson is not, like many of his confreres, a RINO, nor is he a closet Muslim or Muslim radical sympathizer. You lose Johnson, that’s all you’ll get of what remotely resembles the ‘what’ you can live with. Israel can still fall: keep that in mind.

The naivete of assuming that Mike Johnson is a turncoat is brought to us by his enemies, to include the MSM, who want Hakeem Jeffries in, and by the false, reactionary notion that Johnson must make perfect choices in a perfect storm when most of the hands on deck want him to take a leap into the cold, cold sea.

Taking him out will be a disaster for our party.

Image: Gage Skidmore, via Flickr // CC BY-SA 2.0