How Things Really Work

 

By Gretchen Garrity

Don't think the RINO Establishment is only on the state or federal levels. It's firmly entrenched in your local Republican party, too. Local party leaders enjoy their status, part of which includes selecting candidates for the voters.

How does this work? The Missouri GOP is a private organization. While its members include Republicans elected to public office, it nevertheless is not held to transparency standards like our elected representatives in their official capacity. For instance, citizens have no intrinsic right to expect Sunshine requests to the state or local GOP because they are private organizations.

What you see on their websites and in their communications is what they want you to see. If you want an idea of what goes on, you need to attend their meetings, get to know the individuals involved, and watch how the sausage is made. And even then you won't know everything simply because you are dealing with groups of people who have friendships, alliances, etc.

Image: Wayfair

 

Grassroots individuals and groups across the nation have been running into the comfortably-rooted apparatus on local levels that resent the upsetting of their apple cart. The Establishment has their ways, their people, and their views. And they aren't going to share power if they have anything to say about it. They know better than you. Because.

Additionally, the Jefferson City gang includes various state level elected officials as well as their ball-and-chains--the lobbyist cabal. These work the local organizations and people quite smoothly.

Sure they agree with some things the grassroots activists are firm about. They've given up on opposing President Trump (at least openly). They pay lip service to conservative causes like Initiative Petition Reform, Abortion, Tax Reform, local school control and so on. Some of them even care about those things.

However, when push comes to shove, like a secret society, they protect their own, and often fail to live up to their expressed convictions. 

Case in point: some in the Christian County Republican Central Committee had been involved in efforts to thwart wins that grassroots workers across the state fought for, namely the duly-elected delegates and other officers to the RNC. Not to rehash the events leading up to the attempted coup of the State GOP Convention by establishment individuals, but it was several members of the CCRCC who were involved.

These individuals were instrumental in Towgate (info HERE and HERE and HERE), the quashing of the 2024 platform, and later challenging the slate of delegates that Missourians across the state had voted for. Yes, some in our Christian County political apparatus were hard at work to overturn the will of the people in order to reward their friends.

And what has happened since they were exposed? Were they rebuked? Did they resign? Did they apologize? Is there no explanation on the CCRCC website for what happened? Nothing.

This is how the local machine works. And if you go against them, they do all they can to squash you. Instead of reflecting on their behavior, on the larger goal of saving our state and helping Missourians live better lives, they circle the wagons in order to keep their control grid functioning.

Not everyone in the CCRCC has this issue. Many are honest folks who are also frustrated. But, if the leadership of the CCRCC does not hold members accountable for their actions they sure as heck aren't going to go to bat for citizens in any meaningful way--unless it's no skin off their noses.

There has been particular intra-party fighting about the governor candidates--Bill Eigel and John Ashcroft. Few people in Christian County are Mike Kehoe fans so the race down here is Eigel versus Ashcroft.

The establishment Republicans are firmly in Sec. Ashcroft's corner, and they resent any positive news about state Sen. Bill Eigel, or any negative information about Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft. In fact, an app called Team Reach, which is for active citizens to share information and post events, has as an administrator Mrs. Sandy Karnes, one of the people involved in Towgate. And her husband, Jack, attached his name to the Derrick Good challenge against the grassroots slate. That challenge was defeated because the evidence proved the challenge had no merit.

Last evening, Mrs. Karnes saw fit to delete my Team Reach post of the article regarding alleged lawfare on the part of the SOS's Office. It was posted below a pro-Ashcroft flyer Karnes had posted. Is the cardinal rule in the primary season that candidates supported by the Establishment shall have no open opposition? Are the issues addressed in the article not to be given an airing because we have to be respectful of others' choices? Karnes has apparently posted on Facebook about the situation, although she is careful not to name names. Why? Name names. Let us dialog and see who is lying and who is telling the truth.

That our Secretary of State's Office has had troubling interactions with dedicated grassroots patriots over election integrity, is a real issue that should be grappled with in order to determine the best candidate for Missouri Governor.

And Karnes is not alone in her "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil" attitude. The local Establishment has circled the wagons. Incidentally, both Sandy and her husband Jack are again candidates for committee man and woman. See all the candidates here.

The Establishment dictum is thus: We are a Team, as long as you think like us.

Instead of having the guts to face the opposition, Karnes took the easy way out and censored my post and then admonished me to be respectful. Here is Karnes being "respectful" to an Eigel campaign worker not too long ago at an Independence Day parade. Notice the campaign worker simply continued on his way. He didn't attempt to stop her. Why? I think it's because he believes in his candidate, Sen. Bill Eigel. 

When the tables were turned, and Mrs. Karnes was "handing out" an Ashcroft flyer on Team Reach, she didn't behave as the Eigel campaign worker when someone came along behind her. She didn't just move on. She actively censored important information pertaining to the race for governor. Truth was not as important as Team Establishment. If the document in question was erroneous, Karnes has the opportunity to refute it. She knows she can't refute it so she attempted to squash it.

This is why Christian County Republicans are struggling right now. Ashcroft supporter interfering with an Eigel campaign person just for handing out a flyer. Can she do this across the state to save Ashcroft’s smoldering campaign?@JayAshcroftMO @BillEigel pic.twitter.com/T96zrOpwxj

— HickChristian (@hickchristnews) July 1, 2024

Lawfare in Missouri Politics

 

 By Gretchen Garrity

A detailed document has just been released that exposes three instances of alleged lawfare against Missouri citizens (all women) by the Secretary of State's Office.

Quoting from the document, the three instances include:

"First Scenario: If the Missouri Secretary of State seeks the criminal prosecution of a citizen
activist who previously stated in writing to the SOS that she perceived a letter from them to
her contained a “thinly veiled threat,” and, if the grounds the SOS is using for criminal
charges is based on election complaints from two members of an opposing political party,
and, if the total ‘evidence’ collected by the SOS is deficient and/or false, could this be the
weaponization of the Secretary of State’s office? What if the charges sought against the
citizen activist are the same as a 2022 complaint against a different person,2 and the
Secretary of State determined these similar charges in 2022 were “not an election
offense”?3 (This scenario begins on page 3)

 Second Scenario: If the Missouri Secretary of State coordinated with county officials to file a
lawsuit against citizens who exercised their rights for open records requests, could this be
lawfare by the Secretary of State and other elected officials against citizens? (This scenario
synopsis is on page 16)

 Third Scenario: If a citizen activist has the courage to research and collect proof of election
violations, to carry the burden of taking the fight to the courts, to sacrifice time and treasure
for the sake of securing elections, only to learn that the primary gatekeeper blocking this
case from getting into court is the chief election officer for the state, could this be lawfare by
the Secretary of State? (This scenario synopsis is on page 17)"

The first instance involves Linda Rantz, a Missouri elections activist with Cause of America, who wrote the eManual for Hand Counting. Rantz has been at the forefront of election reform, seeking to share and teach hand counting, and authored the document referenced here: "Lawfare and the Weaponization of the Missouri Secretary of State's Office."  You can access the document HERE. UPDATE: If the link does not work, try this ONE. The links keep breaking for some reason.

In Rantz' case, after she made a complaint regarding improper handling of post-election hand-counted ballots in a local Osage County election, "The County Clerk and the Secretary of State wanted to “prove or disprove the accuracy of the hand count.” For this reason, after the election, hand counted ballots were unsealed by the County Clerk, Nicci Kammerich, and the Front Desk Clerk, Brooke Dudenhoeffer, and run through a Dominion tabulator.6 This was NOT done in the presence of a bipartisan team, as required by law. 

There was also a complete recount of every ballot to ensure that the hand count teams were
“accurate,” as stated by one of the election judges who recounted the ballots.7

According to Dudenhoeffer, everything done post-election was either under the “guidance” or
“instructions” of the “Secretary of State’s Office.”

Soon after her complaint was made, Rantz received a communication from the Secretary of State's Office finding no validity to her complaint, but accusing her of lying. "Likewise, though you swore or affirmed in your complaint that the allegations you alleged were true to the best of your knowledge, a review of your complaint demonstrates they were not. I recommend you be more careful next time you file an election complaint with this office."  

According to Rantz, "Although a more ‘toned-down’ version was subsequently sent to me,12 my 40+ years of experience working for lawyers gives me an understanding of threats written in legalese.
I have many contacts in the legal and law enforcement fields. Those with whom I shared the reply
letter from the Secretary of State agreed that it was an apparent threat." 

There is much more and I recommend readers take the time to read the document. The body of the three instances runs 17 pages, with a total of 67 pages of references, links, documents, etc., to back up the alleged lawfare on the part of the Secretary of State's Office.

The second instance of alleged lawfare is almost unbelievable. Greene County Clerk, Shane Schoeller, who is currently running for Secretary of State, sued a citizen for merely making a Sunshine request for the Cast Vote Records of the 2020 election. According to the document, "Because of Sunshine Law Requests, it was revealed that the Missouri Secretary of State was involved in not only the Greene County lawsuit against a citizen, but Camden County was apparently also planning to sue one of their citizens.

An email47 from the Greene County Attorney, Austin Fax, to the Secretary of State’s attorney, Jesus
Osete, states, “We have discovered that Camden County’s software is potentially different than
Greene County’s software. So, we are going to hold off on including Camden County as a Plaintiff for
now.”

Note: Green County Attorney, Austin Fax, is also the Christian County Attorney.

The third instance of alleged lawfare on the part of the Secretary of State's Office concerns Ali Graef who has worked to expose the lack of certification of voting machines in the state. Referenced in the document is an interview that David Rice conducted with Graef:

J@y Ashcr-ft is using the SOS office to Certify Illegal Elections and Block Legal Actions to Expose Him and Others by David Rice

Missouri's Election Fraud is so deep that almost none of our recent elected officials or laws are legal and need to be thrown out of office or statute.

Read on Substack

 

 The meticulous appendix of information lays out the evidence for the alleged lawfare on the part of the Secretary of State's Office.

 

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is running for governor against State Senator Bill Eigel, and Mike Kehoe.

In Case You Missed It

 

This is the GOP Establishment

You all might remember Republican Central Committee for Christian County committeewoman, Sandy Karnes. She's the gal who sent out a message to volunteers that cars were going to be towed at the GOP convention in Springfield, a message that helped end the convention without a 2024 platform. I wrote about it HERE, and David Rice also covered it HERE.

The very same Sandy Karnes was recently filmed running behind a Bill Eigel campaign worker who was handing out campaign literature at a parade in Willard. Karnes is an Ashcroft supporter. Her husband, Jack, also attached his name to a recent challenge to the grassroots' elected slate for the RNC convention, HERE.

Establishment. This is what they do. 

The Shield Maidens covered it. From the Maidens: "As Jay Ashcroft’s campaign is bleeding support, this volunteer for his campaign named Sandy Karnes chased around an Eigel staffer during a parade in Willard in an attempt to undermine his efforts. THIS is what the establishment does… bully and try to intimidate." There's video at the link:

IS THIS THE NEW NORM IN ELECTION ETIQUETTE? CAUGHT ON VIDEO--ASHCROFT VOLUNTEER UNHINGED DURING A PARADE. by Shield Maidens of MO

Staffer for Bill Eigel was bullied during a parade in Willard by an Ashcroft campaign volunteer..

Read on Substack

Disrupting Business as Usual

Eigel speaks with citizens

By Gretchen Garrity

Sen. Bill Eigel's grassroots supporters welcomed the candidate for Missouri governor at a round table luncheon in Springfield today. Eigel shared his thoughts about his run for governor, as well as answering questions from the audience.

Eigel is confident as the August 6 primary gets closer. He noted that two years ago a poll had Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft polling at 57%. "That's more than an incumbent would be polling at," he said. Further he stated, "There have been six polls since the beginning of June and each of those polls reflected a loss in support for Ashcroft. He's lost two-thirds of his support from where he started."

Eigel said the polls reflect that the other candidates are not talking about getting rid of the personal property tax, or defending Missouri farmland from being purchased by foreign countries, or deporting illegals, or stopping federal funds that put requirements like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or Critical Race Theory, or gender ideology in the schools.

Round Table Luncheon

"[People] are looking for something else," Eigel said. He mentioned that candidate Mike Kehoe has spent $6 million "trying to convince folks that he's not the same used car salesman that he's been for the past 30 years, that he's not the liberal that supported the gas tax increase, that supported adding exceptions for abortion to Missouri's heartbeat bill--that he's not that guy."

Kehoe has barely gone up in the polls at all, Eigel said. "He's gained two points from where he started in that first poll two years ago for the $6 million that he's spent."

Further, Eigel cited the latest poll (from a "Chamber of Commerce type" group he said) showing an extremely close three-way race, with about half of Republicans undecided at this point. Despite the name ID of Ashcroft and the special interest money from his other opponent "half of Republicans remain unconvinced that that's enough to secure their vote."

"You know what they're looking for? They're looking for a 'disrupter'. They're looking for a Donald J. Trump at the state level whose actually a little bit of a mixture--maybe a little bit of Donald J. Trump and a little bit of Ronald Reagan, right? Because not only are we are gonna disrupt the swamp but we're going to implement policies that I know you want and have been asking for the last two years on the first Tuesday in November."

Eigel said the difference this year is that voters know him from his eight years as a state senator. He noted his fight for a gold and silver bill, the fight to cut the personal property tax, cutting income taxes, defending the sovereignty of Missouri, and protecting children.

Finishing up, Eigel said the special interests "belong the hell outta Missouri." He received several rounds of applause. Supporters then asked a couple questions of Sen. Eigel, including about food freedom (he's for it and supported an informed consent bill for when genetic material is being introduced into beef. He supports direct to consumer farming, noting he and his wife order their food directly from a local supplier.

With Patrick Holland of Missouri Freedom Initiative

Another supporter asked the senator's view on any future medical/health coercion from government in Missouri. He said, "I don't believe we should be forced to be part of any medical experiment." He opposes forced vaccines and masking. Eigel noted he had been part of a group of legislators that approached Gov. Parson to hold a special session to make it illegal for workers to lose their job if they refused a shot. He also noted that Gov. Parson did nothing. He further stated that a few "well-placed" executive orders from the governor could have avoided the Covid disaster.

He also stated he recognizes no authority from organizations like the World Economic Forum and the World Health Organization. "I don't recognize any authority from the CDC to tell us how to live our lives, either," he said. Eigel went on to say that he will stop the flow of federal dollars to Missouri that has contributed to a loss of state soverignty. He said neither Kehoe or Ashcroft would say that. He said he's been attacked for eight years for speaking bluntly.
 

When asked about the problem of pornography in the schools, Eigel had a simple solution. Enforce the laws already on the books. "How does it happen that pornography is being allowed? It is a state crime for pornography to be in our libraries. It is a state crime for pornography to be in our schools...we're lacking action by elected officials."

With Val Swearingen of WTPCC

Jodi Grace, a podcaster who works with the campaign, spoke to the group. "The lobbyists literally hate this man. Every single one of them...The bureacrats in Jefferson City, the lobbyists in Jefferson City hate this man...They hate him because he's not putting up with their crap and he's not taking their money." Grace went on to say he had "stopped at least 29 pieces of legislation this session--lobbyist sludge...it's the crap that robs you of your freedoms. No one will ever tell you that. You won't see it in any article."

 

Sen. Eigel stayed after the luncheon to speak with supporters one-on-one.  On Tuesday, July 2, Sen. Eigel will be back in Springfield for a campaign event, the Family Freedom Fest. The public is invited and the event is free, but do register to attend.

The RINO in the Room

 

Diversity/Equity/Inclusion from the MLA

By Gretchen Garrity

 At last Saturday's Greene County GOP T.A.R.G.E.T. BBQ in Springfield, Secretary of State John R. "Jay" Ashcroft (candidate for Missouri governor) spoke about his efforts on behalf of taxpayers who are struggling with children having access to obscene and sexually explicit materials in the public libraries.

He shared that although a bill protecting children from such materials did not make it through the legislature, he was "...making sure your taxpayer dollars weren't being used for pornographic and obscene material in our libraries for kids. It didn't get through the legislature so I said, 'Okay, I had the authority, I put forth a rule. I said, 'If you're a public library and you want taxpayer funds from the state or the federal government you've got to put parents in charge, you've gotta rate books and you've gotta keep inappropriate material out of kids hands, because parents are given those kids by God to raise, not petty bureaucrats that think they're in charge."

While Sec. Ashcroft received applause for his statement, here in Christian County taxpayers are still fighting to get obscene materials out of the children's and teen sections of the library. A ratings system was voted down by Christian County Library Board of Trustees in June, and obscene books are still accessible by children. 

The taxpayer funding was never really withheld either, (see here). This is how the political machine in Jefferson City works. Politicians say one thing in public, but the status quo almost always prevails.

From the link:

"Noticeably missing from Sec. Ashcroft's letter was any mention of the Missouri Library Association (a chapter of the ALA), and the Missouri State Librarian's ties with it. Robin Westphal is the state librarian, and here she is quoted in a January 2023 article from American Libraries Magazine: "As a state librarian, Westphal connects the 160 libraries that are part of the Missouri Library Association (MLA) with needed resources."

The MLA protesting on the ALA website

 

According to the April 28, 2023 meeting notes of the  Secretary's Council on Library Development, "Vincent states that the state aid budget the House cut has been restored by the Senate. Vincent believes this money should stay. Vincent also reinstates [sic] that the new rule is at a local level and that it is up to the community and board to determine what goes in the libraries [sic] policies. She also wanted to mention that if the library has a room that is open to the public for event rental that there needs to be a sign posted with a rating. If the event is adult only, for children, members only, etc. it just needs to state that on the advertisement."

Trish Vincent is the Executive Deputy Secretary of State/Chief of Staff for Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft. Again, according to the meeting notes, the new rule is "at a local level, and that it is up to the community and board to decide what goes in the libraries[sic] policies."

The rule, apparently, has no teeth. But it did give Sec. Ashcroft an opportunity to score points with unsuspecting Republicans who trust without verifying.

Additionally, while Sec. Ashcroft has withdrawn funding from the American Library Association over its attempts to discriminate against Christian story hours at public libraries, there is the question of the Missouri Library Association, which is a chapter of the ALA. Do any state funds flow to the MLA? Does taxpayer money pay for memberships in the MLA? Is the secretary aware that the same kind of ALA socialist agenda is present in the MLA?

According to MLA President Otter Bowman, in her March 2023 newsletter column, "President Elect Kimberly Moeller and I attended the Secretary of State’s budget hearing that morning [Feb. 7], and we were relieved that Secretary Ashcroft continued to advocate for funding our libraries, even as he engaged in some heated discussion with committee members regarding his proposed rule. As of this writing, an updated version of his proposal is headed to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules for their consideration."

Here is part of an email to members of the MLA (received through Missouri's Sunshine Law for the Christian County Library) from Amigos Library Services, one of a myriad of "charitable" groups that push socialist agendas into our public libraries. Amigos works closely with the MLA. This is the type of "training" that our library staff is exposed to on a frequent basis. This is why our libraries have become vectors for socialist indoctrination.

Click for clearer image

It is well documented that sexualizing children is part of the ALA/MLA socialist agenda. If Sec. Ashcroft is serious about stopping such indoctrination in Missouri's public libraries, surely he will also withdraw any state taxpayer money from being spent on membership with the MLA and our State Librarian Robin Westphal from supporting membership in the MLA.

From the March 2023 MLA newsletter

 

And it must be noted again that the MLA is having ALA President Emily Drabinski as its keynote speaker at their annual conference in early October. It has been publicly known since at least March 2023 that Drabinski would be the keynote speaker at the October conference. Here is the latest from Madam Drabinski courtesy of journalist Karlyn Borysenko:

Additionally, there is ample evidence of the socialist agenda in the MLA's bi-monthly newsletters. Classes and seminars with titles like "Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in cataloging & Technical Services," or "Developing Collections on Gender Relations and Feminism in the Twenty-First Century," and "Sustainability 101," are common themes being funneled to public library staff at taxpayer expense.