Day: March 13, 2024

Give Us That Old-Time Purge

Just like the days of old when the USSR purged people by Stalin or Kim in North Korea purging opponents or China purging dissent to policies….the RNC seems to be solidifying Trump’s control….

It’s been just a few days since the Republican National Committee welcomed its new leadership—including Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of former President Trump—but big moves are already afoot. Politico reports on a “bloodbath” at the RNC, with sources telling the outlet that more than five dozen staffers in the communications, data, and political departments are being fired—including five of the committee’s more senior members, though they haven’t yet been named. Cuts were also made to vendor contracts, as well as to staffers that managed the RNC’s community centers, which did outreach to minority groups in blue states, per the AP.

“During this process, certain staff are being asked to resign and reapply for a position on the team,” Sean Cairncross, the RNC’s new COO, said in a letter to employees, adding that the shake-up was meant to “ensure the building is aligned” with the committee’s new vision. In addition to these other developments, the Trump campaign is prepping to merge its operations with that of the RNC, which would mark “an unprecedented level of integration between the former president’s campaign and the GOP’s formal political and fundraising apparatus,” per the AP. In addition to Lara Trump, North Carolina Republican chief Michael Whatley will co-chair the RNC, with political consultant Chris LaCivita named as the group’s new chief of staff.

LaCivita and others celebrated the news of the RNC shift, proclaiming it to be necessary in the name of streamlining an overly bureaucratic organization. Other prominent Republicans also weighed in. “MAGA is now in control of the Republican Party!!” Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene posted late Tuesday on X. Not everyone was happy about the change. “Gutting a committee just before the election seems insane,” one ex-RNC worker tells the Washington Post. Staffers who don’t intend to reapply for their jobs will be asked to leave at the end of March, though some were asked to vacate RNC offices on Monday, per the AP.

Any excuse to rid the RNC of any disloyal followers.

But this is not the first time Trumpers have gone on a witch hunt….think back to 2016 (don’t bother I wrote about it and you can read for yourselves)

Is This A Purge?

Let’s see…sign a loyalty pledge and purges….does that sound like democracy at work?

Not for me.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

We Have Our Candidates!

Why am I not surprised?

It’s official after yesterday’s primaries the positions for presidential candidates has been filled.

There has not a lot of drama in the recent primaries….not a surprise at all….

First as expected Trump won big yesterday.

Donald Trump on Tuesday won enough delegates to clinch the Republican nomination for president for the third straight time, winning Republican primaries in Georgia, Mississippi, and Washington state, the AP reports. Before Tuesday’s votes, the president was 126 delegates short of the 1,215 needed. Hawaii’s Republican caucuses are also Tuesday and will finish at 2am Eastern. President Biden secured the Democratic nomination with a win in Georgia but the math was a little more complicated for Trump. From the AP:

  • In Georgia and Washington, a candidate can win all of a district’s delegates by winning a vote majority in that district. In Mississippi, a candidate can win all 12 district delegates by winning a statewide vote majority. In all three states, if a candidate doesn’t meet the required vote-majority threshold, the district delegates are allocated in proportion to the vote in that district. Hawaii allocates its six district delegates proportionally according to caucus results, regardless of whether a candidate receives a vote majority.
  • Georgia, Mississippi, and Washington account for 142 delegates. Trump needed to, and did, win all but five of them in order to clinch the nomination before Hawaii finished caucusing.
  • Nikki Haley, meanwhile, had as of this writing won 22% of the vote in Washington state and 13% in Georgia, despite having ended her presidential campaign.

Then there are those pesky Dem primaries with very little drama there as well….

President Biden, facing no serious opposition, clinched the Democratic nomination Tuesday with a victory in Georgia’s primary. The AP called the race for Biden soon after polls closed at 7pm Eastern. CBS News projects that the state’s delegates will give the president the 1,968 delegates needed to make him the presumptive nominee. Biden also won the primaries in Mississippi and Washington state later Tuesday. In a statement, Biden celebrated clinching the nomination and described Donald Trump, who secured the GOP nomination later Tuesday, as a threat to democracy.

Trump is “running a campaign of resentment, revenge, and retribution that threatens the very idea of America,” Biden said, per the AP. “I am honored that the broad coalition of voters representing the rich diversity of the Democratic Party across the country have put their faith in me once again to lead our party—and our country—in a moment when the threat Trump poses is greater than ever.” As of this writing, “uncommitted” had 7.5% of the Democratic vote in Washington state.

If these are the nominees then blow off the rest of the primary BS and go straight into the conventions and get this silliness done with as soon as possible.

One bit of good news….one of the Freedom Caucus will not be around in the next session of Congress.

Republican Rep. Ken Buck announced Tuesday that he’s leaving Congress at the end of next week, further narrowing the GOP’s slender House majority. Buck, a member of the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus, said in November that he wouldn’t seek re-election in Colorado’s 4th District but the Tuesday announcement surprised colleagues including House Speaker Mike Johnson, the Washington Post reports. In recent months, Buck bucked his party on issues including efforts to impeach President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

  • Narrowed majority. After Buck’s departure next week, there will be 218 Republicans and 213 Democrats in the House, with four vacancies, meaning that Johnson can only afford to lose two GOP votes in party-line votes if all members are present, the Hill reports.
  • Why he’s leaving early. “It is the worst year of the nine years and three months that I’ve been in Congress and having talked to former members, it’s the worst year in 40, 50 years to be in Congress,” he told CNN. “This place has just devolved into this bickering and nonsense and not really doing the job for the American people.”
  • Next steps. Buck, who has repeatedly criticized his party’s handling of Donald Trump, said the system of choosing candidates is “broken” and he hears from a lot of people who aren’t happy with Trump or President Biden. “I am going to find the right organization to join and I’m going to start working on that issue. We have to have better candidates up and down the ballot.”
  • Special election. A special election will be held to replace Buck for the rest of his term, but it’s not clear whether it will happen before the June 25 Republican primary, the AP reports. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who currently represents Colorado’s 3rd District, is among several candidates in the 4th District GOP primary.

I find it humorous his reason for leaving….the Freedom Caucus is one of the major thorns in democracy’s side….but somehow he cannot take the heat.

I will say good-bye to him with a smile.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”