Republicans all around the Big Empty met recently to elect officers for their county organizations. Except in Park County, where the Park County Republican Men’s Full Gospel Gun & Glee Club couldn’t get their act together enough to conduct an election, but more on that later.
Opinion
Elsewhere in the Cowboy State, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus encountered significant push-back from the grassroots folks that they thought were firmly in their camp. The Freedom Caucus, which self-identified as a political juggernaut fueled by grassroots support, seems to have high-centered on a speedbump composed of those same grassroots.
Let’s take a quick peek at the Freedom Caucus phenomenon. Beginning 10 or so years ago, and emulating the D.C. House Freedom Caucus, newcomers began emigrating to Wyoming to change the political culture of our state, sorta like crisis actors busing in for a big demonstration. In their carpetbags, they brought a brittle brand of populism, along with a political playbook written inside the Beltway.
Styling themselves as “true conservatives,” and donning ill-fitting cowboy hats that look like they were bought under the stands at Frontier Days, they wormed their way into local GOP politics. They sold enough snake oil, and created enough division to win control of the Wyoming House last year.
It must be mentioned that, to call oneself an official Freedom Caucus member, and to learn the secret handshake and get the decoder ring, one must be an elected member of the House. But the Freedom Caucus has camp followers in every corner of the state, and there are Freedom Caucus “sleeper cells” of like-minded acolytes just waiting for a text from D.C. to activate themselves.
It was one of these sleeper cell slates of Freedom Caucus candidates who lost the election for county party leadership in Laramie County. And they had their asses handed to them by a slate of “traditional” Republican candidates that included former legislator Lorraine Quarberg and Bob Budd, scion of an old-school Wyoming Republican family.
Immediately after this embarrassing Freedom Caucus loss, the Laramie County GOP Facebook page was taken down and replaced with an “unofficial” page wherein the losers whined, and called the winners a bunch of RINOs and redcoats.
Over in Sublette County, former Speaker of the House Albert Sommers was elected county chairman. Sommers has been a Freedom Caucus target for quite some time because he represents the traditional, non-hair-on-fire wing of the GOP, and his election must be particularly galling to state GOP chair and Freedom Caucus intimacy coordinator, Frank “Oral” Eathorne.
Similar trouncings of Freedom Caucus slates occurred in Uinta, Natrona and Washakie counties. It appears that the grassroots in Wyoming, the folks that the Freedom Caucus claims as their base, have finally had a bellyful. They’ve watched enough Freedom Caucus goofiness practiced in the Wyoming Legislature this past session, and their bullshit detectors are on high alert.
Wyoming’s grassroots, the folks that live in our small communities and on ranches at the end of gravel roads, likely believe as I do that Wyoming faces much more serious problems than ballot drop boxes and who uses which bathroom. They have no interest in the Freedom Caucus culture war, but have genuine concerns about our state and their neighbors.
And I think the grassroots is coming to the realization that the Freedom Caucus is the wrong outfit to get any real work done. So they are pushing back against the interlopers by voting in county party elections.
I told you we’d get back to Park County, and I’ll use it as a case in point. Park County is the home base of the current Freedom Caucus chairperson and can be viewed as a bellwether of the group’s performance. The Park County GOP had to postpone their election because, contrary to state law, it didn’t provide sufficient notice for its meeting. Leadership didn’t handle a simple paperwork task, so no election took place.
And these are the folks who are trying to tell the rest of us how Wyoming should conduct our elections. The irony of that should be lost on nobody.
Perhaps that’s why the grassroots folks in Wyoming are having second thoughts about the Freedom Caucus and its brand of imported divisiveness. Perhaps they are thinking that, while dramatic and noisy, the Freedom Caucus is just an experiment that failed, and that it’s time to get back to something tried and true that works when there is real work to be done.
Well put, Rod. I’m sure glad to see you are writing for WyoFile. I hope this piece gets shared over and over so the momentum will continue.
Hi Rod, good column and I’m glad to see you on wyofile.
Now I don’t have to go to CSD to read your column. It’s the main reason I’d go there . To see your no nonsense view on things.
68 years ago, I was born in Casper, Wyoming native and proud of it. These wackos in the freedom caucus do not represent Wyoming values. The people in Wyoming drank the Kool-Aid and were fooled by these people. Now the Kool-Aid’s wearing off and we are seeing what they really are like.
Thanks again for keeping us informed in a humorous way
A reply to one of the Jack ginter points.
We can get ahead of our debt, barring another massive war (and still help Ukraine) or pandemic, the same way Clinton did (read about it I have tired fingers). Not by firing Smoky the Bear (my area we have half the Forest Service people than last year).
Good work m’friend. May I point out also: The so-called freedom of the freedom causcus is a non sequiter. Its true meaning is that they want to usurp our collective freedom in order to force their far right beliefs on everyone else. This is obviously consistent with their cult-like devotion to a convicted felon and twice impeached insurrectionist. We as “normal” citizens of Wyoming/America, can no longer depend on any legislative branch of government to hear or help us. In light of all the corruption and lies, I do not assume the judicial will be able to do so either. To resist their culture warfare, it may actually come down to pitchforks and torches to chase this monster back into the historic darkness of fascism from which it has sprung once again. Hopefully, before our great nation gets reduced to nothing more than an authoritarian kleptocracy run by gazillionaires continuing to spew the insidious corporate dogma that has inundated our political processes for some time.
This is the best news I’ve had for months! Thank you.
Finally. Thanks, Rod. Well done! And congratulations to WyoFile for providing the best reason yet to keep up my monthly financial support.
Pete Townsend (guitarist of the legendary band The Who…my personal favorite) wrote a little song in 1971 called “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. In it, there is a line stating “the hypnotized never lie”.
I’ve been thinking about that lyric a lot lately and how it relates to the current MAGA Republican party. These people, our neighbors, have all been unwittingly (or possibly intentionally) “hypnotized” by Rupert Murdoch and his Fox News creation to the point that they truly believe that the alternate reality that has been created for them exist. A reality where truth and decency doesn’t matter, Donald Trump is King, and if something doesn’t agree with the MAGA doctrine, it becomes “fake news” that’s being generated by the “radical left” to hinder their goal of world domination (OK that might be a tad strong….or maybe not). I’m sorry, but I think I’ll stick to getting my news from PBS, BBC,CBS,NBC,ABC, NY Times, and The Atlantic (thanks Jeffrey Goldberg!)
Rod, I hope you’re right in thinking that maybe, just maybe, people are starting to wake up. I’d love not to be a RINO anymore, even though that term has grown on me. I want to wake up in the mornings hoping, like Pete Townsend said; we Won’t Get Fooled Again.
Sorry about misspelling Mr. Townshend’s last name, I’ve been a fan forever…I should spell check myself
LOL, that song also included the lyrics…
“Meet the new boss, same as the old Boss”
The Kayfabe of Washington DC politics has entertained the masses for generations.
Now the left/Dems. “fight the Oligarchy” completely oblivious to the FACT that the Oligarchy has controlled this nation for +/-150 years.
Banks/Corporations OWN both Repubs and Dems in DC, the people just cant seem to be able to admit it. They would rather be divided and conquered in a Dog and Pony show, professional wrestling skit.
Glad that you appreciate The Who Jack.
I see your point regarding banks and corporations but this “boss” (meaning Trump) is unlike anything this country has seen before. The level of blatant, unmasked corruption is unheard of so comparing him to “the old boss” (Biden, Obama, the Bushs, Clinton, Reagan…on and on) is hardly fair. They all had their faults but none had a felony conviction and all of the baggage this guy’s got.
I’d be interested to hear how you’d recommend getting this country out of this mess. Until Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, the Tea Party, then MAGA came along, people were not divided to this extent. I’d prefer to talk about The Who rather than politics any day.
Thanks for your comment.
It’s Professional wrestling theatrics. He has done it before. Donald Trump is the greatest troll in human history. He can make people lose their minds and accept/support the worst candidates in Democrat history. It is a show and yes the comparison to Bush/Clinton/Obama/Biden is fair, they racked up a 2+ MILLION innocent life death toll in the Middle East over the span of 20 years, and it continues today.
Get the country out of this mess? You speak the impossible. 37 TRILLION dollars in debt, cannot be overcome. We are bankrupt, and the only thing keeping the charade alive is a Printing press and the worlds strongest military.
Washington DC has been wholly corrupted for over a century. “Oligarchs” did not just start with Musk, they have controlled the politicians for +/- 150 years. The Rockefeller family makes Musk look like a school yard bully.
You bring up the “Tea Party”. It was originally nearly identical to the occupy wall street movement in regard to the focus of its consternation (Bank/Corporate Bailouts). It got co-opted. Cant have two opposing groups having a common enemy now can we?
The Who and politicians….
Pedophilia issues, both.
The shear nuttiness of the current Freedom Caucus’s political action and agenda if allowed to continue as such can only help a resurgence for my Democratic party. Basic common sense approach to issues facing Wyoming and it’s citizens has been placed on some old forgotten back burner located in a dilapidated broken sheep wagon abandoned out in the wilderness. Personally I would prefer an influx of new members based upon shared ideology, not by default alone. There are choices.
Nice essay, Rod.
Great piece (as usual) Rod. Perhaps the most important statement in it is “newcomers began emigrating to Wyoming to change the political culture of our state, sorta like crisis actors busing in for a big demonstration. In their carpetbags, they brought a brittle brand of populism, along with a political playbook written inside the Beltway.” How can Wyoming citizens consistently ignore the fact that the majority of the Freedom Caucus legislators haven’t been here as long as the tires on their horse trailers.
Regardless of the Freedom Caucus, I would like to know who is pushing back on the ever-encroaching leviathan of government regulation. So many measures seem “reasonable” to those who do not understand the implications–or the costs. For example, the imposition of zoning ordinances. Or, the imposition of bureaucratic “requirements” on the people–though those “requirements” are not supported by statutory authority. Or, sales taxes being used for “economic development” by granting money to some business owners but not others.
One of the primary reasons I relocated to Wyoming years ago was because of the self-reliance and personal responsibility aspects of Wyoming culture. Whenever the government (legislative or bureaucratic) seeks to govern the choices of the people, it is akin to the neighborhood busybody who gets into everyone’s business–all while remaining blissfully unaware of the resentment that is the true result of the meddling.
As a former mayor of Greybull once told me years ago, “Forget the Rs and the Ds; real Wyoming is libertarian: stay off my land, keep your hands off my money, and if you need help, call me and I’ll be right there.”
The government needs to stay in its very narrow lane of responsibility. If the Freedom Caucus works towards that goal, then we should laud them. If they do not, then we should vote them out of office.
Thank you on e again Rod. I believe that you hit on what we, as “normal” people want and it’s refreshing to see it in print!!
Now THAT is the Wyoming that attracted me to this great state 30 years ago! Let’s put people first, not politics.
Hooray for frank miller, and all the members of the normal majority who have seen the light. If frank doesn’t have any other plans in two years there is an election for governor that I hope he will be involved in. I am fourth generation wy law enforcement.
Right on as usual. I’ll never forget the comment a transplant to Jackson once said to me “once you’ve lived in Wyoming for two years you’re considered a native”….. excuse me? It applies to Park County and Laramie County as well…. moving to our
amazing state (not that I blame them) and then presuming to know our culture and what’s best for our children and environment “thou doth protest too much methinks”:) whether leftist liberal or “freedom caucus” leaning it applies.
We can change the extreme politics that happened in an apathetic vacuum. I think perhaps folks are waking up and seeing what happens when citizens neglect their democratic duties.
It starts at the grassroots. Run for precinct positions and help design party platforms. Organize your neighborhoods. Our process is designed to give and everyone of us a voice.
I’m a Wyoming native and I’m ashamed of how the people of Wyoming have bent over for these out-of-state fake christians. It’s high time to vote them out of office. I don’t care if it’s a Democrat or Republican, just vote for some common sense and for people that will stay out of our personal lives.
I think I just became a Rod Miller fan! Thanks for the clean 2 point “takedown” for the win.
Actually, it is now 3 points for a takedown, and it was definitely a clean takedown. Thanks, for your common sense, Rod!
Spot on Rod, as usual.
The fight against those who seek to impose restrictions on our rights and how we should solve real problems is not just about policy—it’s about preserving the essence of what it means to be free. They planted their seeds alright, but they are coming up as weeds. Republican Ingenuity Not Obstructionists
Pleased to see Rod back in print, albeit a different venue. WyoFile reporting and Rod Miller’s commentary make a great combination.
Wyoming needs this piece to go viral to all citizens and those who have the best interest of Wyoming
Looks to me like you’re spot on again, Rod!
Gospel Gun and Glee club–that’s funny and cuts right to the nuttiness of the Freedom Caucus. Speaking of freedom, these people shouldn’t be using the word freedom in anything. These people can only think in terms of we’ll fix that by not spending any money on it.
Amen!
Born & raised in Wyoming, I’ve been appalled at Wyoming politics these past few years.
Extremes are rarely healthy.
Keep up the good work.
Witty, as always, and on point. Their nonsense did not originate in Wyoming. So true, that Wyoming people care about real issues that affect them and not so much about drop boxes and bathrooms.
Thanks Rod.