Guam Is Not a Foreign Country!

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Marjorie Taylor Greene is a former internet conspiracy theorist who somehow managed to get herself elected to Congress from Georgia - as a Republican, of course.  Once she was sworn into office, Representative Greene continued behaving and speaking in such a manner that members of the House soon felt compelled the hold a vote that wound up stripping the freshman congresswoman of her committee assignments, a move which some feared would leave her with too much time on her hands.  Now she achieves a bit of running notoriety when she interrupts the business of the House each day that it is in session with a motion to adjourn, a parliamentary maneuver that temporarily halts activity in the House and is so annoying that  more than forty of her Republican colleagues voted against one of her recent motions to adjourn.

Representative Greene is neither legislating nor leading, but she is having a lot of fun playing the press with her bizarre statements and stunts.

Congress, for the most part, seems to be learning to ignore Congresswoman Greene, and the press is also not giving her as much ink as it once did.  But that does not mean that she has given up trying to be the center of attention.  Last week at the CPAC (Crackpots and Cranks) convention in Orlando, somebody handed her a microphone and the flamboyant verbal flamethrower began haranguing the audience about American foreign aid.  As she tried to incite the rubes, Ms. Greene bellowed:  "We believe our hard-earned tax dollars should just go for America, not for what?  China, Russia, Middle East, Guam, whatever, wherever!"

Social media immediately gave Ms. Greene a geography lesson and educated her on the fact that not only is Guam a "territory" of the United States, it has been for more than one hundred and twenty years when it was taken by our government as part of the spoils of the Spanish-American War.  Residents of Guam, including the native Chamoru population, are citizens of the United States by birth. 

Guam, which I have had the privilege of visiting on two occasions, may be four thousand miles the other side of Hawaii, but the small island still has the look and feel of America.  True, it is blessed with beautiful beaches and panoramic vistas at every turn in the road, and a drive around the entire perimeter of the island can be easily accomplished in two hours, but it also has many American hallmarks like large oceanfront hotels, a smorgasbord of dining options, movie theaters, a K-Mart, a Macy's, a Ross's. a US Naval base, and a US Air Force base.   All of that, in fact, and fresh mangoes that you can pick straight from the trees!

I would love to have the opportunity to visit Guam one more time, hike a tropical trail or two, walk along a few of its pristine beaches, and end the day by enjoying a beer and a burger while listening to the band at Jeff's Pirate Cove and watching the sun set majestically out in the Pacific Ocean.

It would be nice if more members of Congress could get out and see how big and diverse our country really is.  Maybe that would inspire them to roll up their sleeves and really go to work.for the people of the United States of America - and its territories - instead of just trying to adjourn and leave work early.