The Republican Cult versus Rep. Justin Sparks

 

By Gretchen Garrity

The Shield Maidens have aptly coined the term "Republican Cult." Let's just get to it: any state representative who votes for John Patterson for Speaker of the Missouri House is a RINO.

The Maidens lay out the obstruction that has characterized Jon Patterson's time in the Missouri House. He often votes contrary to the Republican platform, contrary to the protection of children, contrary to second amendment rights, and has vowed not to oppose Amendment 3.

Go HERE to read and compare/contrast Jon Patterson's record versus Justin Sparks' record. One is Republican. One is a Republican In Name Only. This is a no-brainer, unless you are a bought-and-paid-for politician or a member of the Republican Cult.

Here in Christian County we have a representative, Jamie Gragg of the 140th district, who is supporting Jon Patterson. If you are in Gragg's district, please share with him Patterson's record versus Rep. Sparks' record.

From: Shieldmaidens

Right to Win Ozarks has also obtained an email that was sent out to members of the Christian County Republican Central Committee by Ron Sanders, who is secretary of the Christian County chapter of the Missouri Republican Assembly, and is running for president of the Christian County MRA.

Titled, "The Justin Sparks Issue," Sanders starts out by saying, "I would like you to consider rejecting any attempt to support Justin Sparks for Speaker." He goes on to opine about the Pilgrims, and the Mayflower Compact and suggest that "comfortable people in Republican central committees across the great state of Missouri cannot grasp this idea and work through issues with a respectable process..."

Then Sanders goes on the attack in a very partisan way, accusing others of what he himself is doing. "I know that people will speak of sour grapes or however the derision between Eigel and non-Eigel supporters will be portrayed as the issue and should be dismissed. This is the exact reasons that Eigel, the Shores and the others, who were so divisive and destructive after the State Convention, should not be trusted or followed with any of their initiatives with the Republican party. Their toxicity is destructive to no end, and if you disagree with them at all, they pull out the democrat playbook and use it full force."

Oh the irony.

Then Sanders continues. "It did not take long before I saw these tactics being used by people supporting Sparks against anyone who disagreed or questioned the idea of Sparks running for speaker." He goes on to suggest that a recent meeting of the CCRCC saw attacks "without discussion or good will...we cannot end this constant in-fighting until we stand together and condemn any and all behavior like we have seen."

Now, he gets on his high horse. "The consent of the governed should never include coercion, bullying tactics, lawfare, personal destruction, name calling and all of that..." He finishes off by saying, "...[we] should always consider the consent of ALL governed, and not just the loudest, or most obnoxious, or the likes of those behaviors that we find so vile with the democrat party."

At the very end he calls for discussion, debate, and votes for "moving an issue forward." All of this is very interesting if you happen to disagree with Sanders' description of the recent meeting. It would be fun to see him square off--in a very respectful manner, of course--with Stacy or Sophie Shore or Sen. Eigel. In fact, what Sanders has done is to ensure that the party will remain split while he connives to cut the grassroots from any meaningful engagement with local political organizations. It's a club, doncha know.

What we are seeing in this email is an illustration of the wide split in the Republican Party in Missouri. There are people like Ron Sanders, who can dish it out, but when it gets hot in the kitchen he lashes out with accusations and name calling. The RINO power structure in our central committees is being exposed, just like the MOGOP RINOs were outed at the state convention in May.

And remember, it was Ron Sanders who made that announcement about cars being towed at the convention. It was Sandy Karnes who was behind that. It was Jack Karnes who signed on to one of the two challenges to the grassroots election of a slate.

For background go HERE AND HERE and HERE.

Many in Christian County political leadership are in the Republican Cult. They need to be challenged. Good and hard. It's tough and it's not pretty, but if Missourians are to have a truly Republican Party then they need to hold their leaders accountable. That starts on the local level.

Rep. Justin Sparks is the person to lead the Missouri House. He will support the Republican platform and Republican values. Jon Patterson has demonstrably failed as a Republican leader, indeed as a Republican at all.

Come out to meet Rep. Sparks on Dec. 19th at the Stone County MRA meeting in Reeds Springs. Hopefully local leaders like Sanders and others will attend. They might learn that a Republican is one who follows the Republican Platform, and not a power player in the Jefferson City Uniparty.

It Ain't Over by a Longstretch

  

Thanks to Travis for the meme.

This is How They R&Rd the Grassroots-Elected Delegates

 

The Truth is Marching On: Exposing Missouri Politics

 By Gretchen Garrity

"It is not enough to simply beat Trump. He must be destroyed thoroughly. His kind must not rise again."

— Tweet by Obama adviser David Plouffe (@davidplouffe), June 13, 2016

— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) February 13, 2021

 A major scandal has been brewing in the Missouri Republican Party that may have repercussions on the national level. After the Missouri GOP establishment's preferred platform and slate was overturned at the May 4, 2024 MOGOP convention, the dirty tricks began almost immediately to defeat the will of the people.

Desperate people do desperate things.

Background HERE and HERE and HERE. 

And information HERE on the challenges to the duly-elected slate of delegates.

Not only did the MOGOP establishment--through gross incompetence and/or machinations--cause the convention to close without a 2024 platform, but establishment challenges to the grassroots slate were mounted quickly and submitted to the RNC Committee on Contests. The RNC obliged by recommending the slate of grassroots-elected delegates be vacated.

RNC Committee on Contests Chairwoman, Jeanne Luckey, released a report and recommendation on June 28, 2024. According to the Committee on Contests, "As a result of the improper credentialing process at the State Convention, the Committee recommends vacating the at-large delegates and alternate delegates from Missouri. The Committee recommends that pursuant to RNC Rule No. 18, the vacant delegate and alternate delegate positions be filled by the MOGOP by 5:00 p.m. EDT on July 5. The Committee urges the MOGOP to meet as soon as possible to resolve this issue and to work towards unity."

This recommendation has caused the very division it supposedly recommends against. In fact, the deceit and bad faith with which the state GOP committee has acted, is causing an avalanche of information to be shared among the Missouri Grassroots.

As a result of the recommendation, the MOGOP has removed the slate of delegates and alternates that were elected at the state convention and are attempting to cobble together a new slate of delegates to attend the 2024 national convention. Another challenge was mounted against the other elected positions, including the electors, and they have also been vacated. In effect, this move by the state organization has disenfranchised the citizens who elected their delegates at district conventions around the state.

Click on the tweet to see video of the grassroots slate being unanimously approved by convention delegates:

🚨🚨🚨
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐰𝐚𝐦𝐩 𝐏𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚 𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐀 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢

The DC & Missouri Swamp are trying to remove the grassroots MAGA delegates & newly elected RNC Committeemen & Committeewoman in Missouri

The grassroots slate elected at the @MissouriGOP… pic.twitter.com/gLMrP8LgC8

— Amy Kremer (@AmyKremer) July 3, 2024

Below is a link to a short video of state GOP Chairman, Nick Myers, admitting the state committee was at fault in the credentialing process, a process that was used by the RNC and the MOGOP to invalidate the grassroots slate:

MOGOP Chair Admits Credentialing Errors

Additionally, the RNC report asserts that "there exists no accurate roll of the credentialed delegates and alternate delegates at the state convention." Indeed, Leann Green, chair of the credentials committee for the state convention even signed a sworn affidavit that the committee cannot show an accurate roll of credentialed members of the May 4 convention.

However, in its Response Statement of Position, the Missouri Delegation states, "The Missouri State Committee created a problem with a credentials debacle, locking some delegates out and submitting contradictory rules for the selection of Delegates and Alternates to the National Convention...The credentials debacle was ultimately settled to the satisfaction of the state convention delegates who were physically present at the state convention...There are NO delegates who claim to have remained outside after the lunch break. ALL were ultimately allowed back into the building."

That the very committee who caused the issues would benefit from their own mistakes is unconscionable.

THE CLEAN HANDS DOCTRINE

Missouri delegates mounted a cogent defense of the validity of the election of delegates to the national convention, partly using the Doctrine of Clean Hands: "The doctrine requires that a party act fairly in the matter for which they seek a remedy. A party who has violated an equitable principle, such as good faith, is described as having "unclean hands.” The clean-hands doctrine is invoked when a party seeking equitable relief or claiming a defense based in equity has themselves violated a duty of good faith or has acted unconscionably in connection with the same subject matter out of which they claim a right to relief."

That the credentialing process was delayed and problematic was the fault of the MOGOP, not Chairwoman Sophia Shore or the convention delegates. The state committee has tried to hide their culpability by having delegates, Derrick Good and Daniel O'Sullivan (who both ran unsuccessfully), mount challenges to the grassroots slate of delegates, and indeed the convention in total.

In a June 24 affidavit, Chairwoman Shore relates, "I was elected by a vote of 465 to 365...After the election of a permanent secretary, the next order of business was the adoption of the rules package."

The rules package was adopted by the convention delegates after striking two sections that conflicted with the Standing Rules, "which stated that a full slate had to be 27 delegates, and these delegates would be selected by election of a majority."

Further she states, "The second part of this rule change occurred in order to ensure that everyone who wanted to submit a delegate slate that day could do so. Regarding the election of delegates, GOP Chairman Nick Myers had ample time to combine his two slates--his slate of 16 and his slate of 11."

The Nominating Committee Chair, Chris Howard "ultimately was the one who had the power to decide which slates were valid." No slates were turned in to the convention chair, and Miles Ross, the Executive Director of the MOGOP, approached Shore and pulled Nick Myers' slate.

Shore states "Nick wasn't disenfranchised, he just knew he didn't have the majority and wanted to spare himself the embarrassment." She closes with the assertion that she did not make any unilateral decisions. "I did not have the authority to make unilateral decisions as the permanent chair of the convention. The majority of the delegation body made the decisions, as it should be...Attempts to disenfranchise the will of the delegation should not be entertained."

How ironic that the MOGOP, in collusion with the RNC, have now disenfranchised Missouri citizens who sent their delegate representatives to the convention in good faith.

THE GRASSROOTS REVOLUTION

On its face, it is clear the MOGOP was blindsided by the tidal wave of grassroots delegates who voted to overturn the proposed platform and slate the state committee had tried to impose. The dirty tricks since the convention have ranged from closed meetings that do not promote transparency or unity, threats to have delegates removed from meetings if they speak out, outright lies, and more.

The MAGA movement, headed by President Donald Trump, has been a thorn in the side of the GOP establishment. By any means necessary they seem willing to destroy their credibility to accomplish the goal of excising MAGA from the party.

In an article published in The Miami Independent, titled "The RNC's Apparent Plot Against Trump Thickens," the question is asked, "Yesterday - TWO MONTHS AFTER THE MISSOURI DELEGATES WERE CHOSEN - the Republican National Convention Committee ruled that there had been “alarming irregularities” in the process of their election. Why weren’t these “alarming irregularities” discovered months ago?? Why not, when the state had a chance to fix whatever was deemed wrong?

The article notes, "The list of rejected delegates includes two of the major GOP candidates for governor, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Sen. Bill Eigel."

The article further states, "In general, the stench of undercover acts to throw the nomination away from Donald Trump, is becoming undeniable. This stinks because Donald Trump is the people’s choice, nationwide. That’s how it used to work.

This is horrifying because these state party maneuvers are being done in support of the brain dead old man and his Junta leader, Obama, who have demonstrated their contempt for us and our freedom, for years.

Mao is rearing his ugly head for all to see."

The corruption and cronyism in Missouri politics is being exposed, and it often includes actors on the national level who work with convenient state-level tools to make things happen. The members of the state GOP who embarked on this usurpation of duly-elected delegates will go down in the history of our state as scurrilous scoundrels who betrayed everything the Republic has stood for since our first Independence Day. May they be roundly condemned and quickly forgotten.