Marjorie Taylor Greene

On the list of random topics that take up mindshare, I did not think Marjorie Taylor Greene (MJT) would be making the list.  For the uninitiated, the Republican Congresswoman from Georgia's 14th District is a rising star and a source of constant fodder for left leaning news outlets.

Her conservative business woman official bio reads pretty well.  Small business owner in construction and a CrossFit gym.  College graduate from University of Georgia with a business degree.  Strong Christian faith.

Critics point out her claims of fraud in the 2020 election (she is certainly not alone there), claiming Democrats are pedophiles (backed up with her logic that Democrats support transgender care for individuals below 18 years of age and therefore support sexualizing children, her definition of pedophilia) and finally that the claim that the Parkland shooting was staged (harder to parse, she wants safe schools, but thinks arming good guys is the way to get there).

My own curiosity stems from a recent 60 Minutes interview.  It is a left leaning news outlet to be sure, but closer to center than most news outlets whether they lean left or right.  She had a chance to speak her truth, confirm or deny criticisms and came across very polished compared to the crazy rantings I had previously been exposed to in clips.  My political views do not align with hers.

However, she is a CrossFitter and a pretty good one.  She entered the Open from 2012-2017 and was an affiliate owner.  In 2016 she did all of the workouts Rx.  I did all of the workouts scaled that year.

16.1 - 208 reps (heavy overhead walking lunges)

16.2 - 259 reps (heavy squat cleans)

16.3 - 63 reps (including a bar muscle up)

16.4 - 188 reps (23 handstand push-ups)

16.5 - 13:37 (thrusters and burpees)

Her listed Back Squat (285#), Clean and Jerk (175#) and Snatch (137#) all exceed my best numbers (235, 155 and 95# respectively).  My 325# deadlift is not that impressive relative to her 300#.

I am certainly impressed by her fitness and I believe that is a good core value for everybody.  I do not agree with intolerance, racism and hate.  CrossFit HQ spoke out against Greene in February 2021 mentioning her history of calling for violence against political enemies, support for QAnon, attempts to undermine the 2020 presidential election, and amplification of other dangerous and deceptive nonsense per BuzzFeed News.  The official statement was “CrossFit supports respectful fact-based political dialogue to address our common challenges, and we strongly oppose the loathsome and dangerous lies attributed to Ms. Greene."

CrossFit certainly needs to work at rebuilding the brand and is not shy about entering the fray.  The egregious comments of the founder Greg Glassman forced him to sell the company.  CrossFit has shown there is a middle ground where a company can support military, first responders, law enforcement, teacher, the LGBTQ+ community, minorities and women.

Another politician I respect as an athlete, but do not agree with is Herschel Walker.  Must be something in the water down in Georgia.  Georgia was 36th on the list of healthiest states, but in the South, it is beating its peers except for Florida (South Carolina 41st, Florida 27th, Alabama 46th, Mississippi 49th, Tennessee 44th and Louisiana 50th)