The congresswoman seemed to send a signal to her MAGA fans ahead of a New York Times profile that was oddly — or not so oddly — glowing.

“I am not suicidal and one of the happiest healthiest people you will meet,” tweeted Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on Saturday morning, answering a question nobody had asked. She continued: “With that said, if something happens to me, I ask you all to find out which foreign government or powerful people would take heinous actions to stop the information from coming out. Not only about this issue, but because of the truth that I have been speaking. The People understand what I’m saying.”

We do? Because that post seemed like it was intentionally left open to multiple interpretations. My first inclination is to react to yet another bleat from Georgia’s most unavoidable elected politician with a “Whatever you say, Marge.” But let’s pause to note what Greene is rather unsubtly implying here: What “foreign government” or “powerful people” might possibly want to harm her to stop “the information?” (Whatever the heck that even means; I assume her odd phrasing is a mere solecism.) Has MTG gotten crosswise with those sinister Baltic states once again? Is a shadowy worldwide network of Estonian financiers plotting to take her out? (No, it’s not the Estonians, that’s too obvious — it would probably be a false-flag operation by Orbán and the Hungarians.)

That Greene believes in thinly veiled antisemitic conspiracy theories is — sad as it is to say — not really news. (Keep in mind, Greene – who once pondered the existence of “Jewish space lasers” in another era – spoke at a Nick Fuentes event back in 2022 and remains in friendly contact with him, a conduit hidden in plain sight between the world of elected MAGA politics and the far reaches of the “groyper” right.) No, the simultaneously depressing and oddly poignant twist to this story is that I suspect MTG was sounding the alarm in advance of a surprisingly glowing profile in the New York Times, published the next day. She wants to signal to her MAGA fans not to worry: She’s not “going legit” or throwing in with the liberal Establishment; she’s still crazy after all these years.

But for now, let’s enjoy Resistance Queen MTG! Yes, the gods of irony are once again chuckling triumphantly, as the Times has gleefully designated Marjorie Taylor Greene the new face of the real opposition to Donald Trump: fighting him on the scotched release of the Epstein files, the military strike on Iran, and — of most interest to the Times, naturally — her burning opposition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war in Gaza. The Times’ typically hostile pages are instead greased to overflowing with Strange New Respect: quotes from leftists and pro-Palestinian activists praising Greene alongside text emphasizing her flinty independent-mindedness and willingness to cross the all-powerful president.

This surprisingly kid-glove treatment from America’s tribunes of truth may impress those looking for a reason to boost Greene’s profile and prospects. But since I wasn’t born into the media game ten minutes ago, I well understand the New York Times’ play here, and why Greene herself is getting a mild case of the yips.

To be blunt: The editorial hive-mind of the Times operates with surprising consistency, typically elevating national politicians on the right for one of two reasons: (1) because they are malleable enough to serve the purposes of the left; (2) because they divide the right and alienate the center. Greene, with her promise to carry anti-Israeli politics into the mainstream of the GOP — over Trump’s obvious objections — handily presents them with the opportunity to do both.

You may believe that Greene is a valuable dissenting voice within the GOP congressional caucus, and that is your right. I believe her to be a crank with disordered foreign p0licy priorities and alarming proclivities for conspiracy theories, and that is my right. But neither of us should be deluded about the reason why she is suddenly coming to the attention of the Gray Lady, the pillar of the establishment liberal media. She represents the Republican brand at its most nationally unappealing, and they are eager to broadcast it for all to see.

The thing about Strange New Respect is that its origins aren’t very strange at all.