The Story:
On Wednesday, Nov. 17, The U.S. House of Representatives censured one of its members, Rep. Paul Gosar, who has represented the 4th Congressional district in Arizona since 2013. The House also deprived Gosar of his committee assignments.
Background:
Early this month Gosar posted on social media an anime clip edited to put his face on the body of one of the characters and the face of Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the body of another. As a consequence, the clip portrays Gosar killing Ocasio-Cortex, and then attacking President Joe Biden.
Outrage over this clip led to the censure.
The Thing to Know:
Until the vote, Gosar was the top Republican on the oversight subcommittee of the Natural Resources Committee. This committee looks into a range of issues concerning, for example, national parks, oil and gas drilling, and the relations between the U.S. government and various sovereign tribes. These are issues important in Arizona and it will be a significant blow to Gosar’s support back home that he will no longer be an especially important figure in their discussion. The censure and its attendant discipline, then, is not among those things that he is likely to feel thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day.
