The Runback: Theater of the Absurd
The RNC shot itself in the foot last week, and Maryland National Committeeman David Bossie is solely to blame
Welcome to another week of The Runback. Have you been enjoying The Duckpin? Do you have comments or suggestions? Do you want to write for us? Let me know at theduckpin@gmail.com. And please be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Thanks in advance.
2022 Candidate Information
We have launched a one-stop-shop for candidate information for the 2022 Election. Bookmark this page, as it will be updated through the 2022 Election. This includes our first round of candidate surveys, which include Ashwani Jain for Governor, Timothy Neubauer for the House of Delegates, and more.
News and Politics
Michael Peroutka Running for Attorney General: As first reported on The Duckpin: Extremist former Presidential Candidate Michael Peroutka became the second Republican to file for AG this week.
February 2022 Presidential Power Rankings: The Slow Descent.
Cox Parrots Democratic Talking Points: Why is Dan Cox doing the Democrats work for them?
Seek First to Understand....Before Putting Your Foot in Your Mouth: Gordana Schifanelli Knows Not Of What She Speaks
The Far Right Republican Party: The Party of Conspiracy Theory: What has happened to certain Republican groups in Maryland where they search for all the conspiracy theories?
Another Self-Appointed Medical Specialist: Let's put our faith in the real Doctors and not the ones who pretend to be Doctors on Facebook.
Sports
The OCHO: Conference Championships: Be sure to look out for the latest edition of The OCHO later today!
NFL Mystery Box: The Unnecessary Bye Week: Pretty quiet we.... OH MY GOD
A Look At The Brian Flores Lawsuit: A blow to the Rooney Rule.
Is the Pro Bowl the Most Pointless Event in Sports? How can we make the day worth something more than it is?
The Monday Thought
Last week, I wrote about Maryland Republican National Committeeman David Bossie’s efforts to censure Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for their role in investigating the January 6th coup attempt. I wrote of it:
How does any of this help the Maryland Republican Party elect candidates in the 2022 election?
How does any of this help the Republican National Committee elect candidates in the 2022 election or prepare for the 2024 Presidential election?
The answer, of course, is absolutely nothing. But that’s not why Bossie is doing it.
Little did I know how right I was when I saw the absolutely insane language that Bossie put in his resolution.
Yes, David Bossie wrote that what happened on January 6th, 2021 was “legitimate political discourse” and that those who participated are being “persecuted.” And so did the Republican National Committee, which adopted the resolution by a voice vote. Naturally, nobody wanted to go on the record voting for or against the resolution, hence the voice vote so everybody could fade the heat to somebody else.
Of course, what actually happened is that 768 of those people who participated in what Bossie and now the Republican National Committee was “legitimate political discourse” were not being persecuted but instead are or have been prosecuted for their role in creating what included some of these scenes.
All of those images were declared “legitimate political discourse” by the Republican National Committee. Ironically……
Less than an hour after the RNC passed a resolution saying "ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse” were being persecuted, a court hearing is underway for a Jan. 6 defendant who pepper sprayed cops in the face while clad in MAGA gear.
Then, when the media started reporting what was included in the resolution, Bossie had the gall to say that the media was lying about reporting on the words that Bossie himself wrote.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel also tied herself in knots after the blowup of this. The official talking points weren’t much better.
This is all of course is madness. Fortunately, some people have been willing to speak up and say so. Asa Hutchinson, Doug Heye, Peter Meijer, and the National Review among them.
Look, David Bossie was the guy who was running point on all of this. David Bossie didn’t do this on his own accord. He either did it on behalf of Donald Trump or with Donald Trump’s blessing. Bossie doesn’t do anything these days without Trump’s blessing because David Bossie’s head is so far up Donald Trump’s keister that Trump could floss with Bossie’s hair.
And yet, Bossie and the RNC that he dragged kicking and screaming with him to pass this stupid resolution basically stepped on a series of rakes. This is, as Doug Heye noted, a self-inflicted wound. That the RNC voted to legitimize what happened on January 6th and give it its seal of approval is one of the stupidest things that has ever been done by a major political party in this or any other country. January 6th, 2021 was a low point in the history of the Republican Party and yet the RNC gave it its blessing and said “yup, this is legitimate.” It’s as if Trumpworld and the RNC are so tone-deaf as to what is happening in the mind of the average American that they think attaching themselves to January 6th is some sort of political advantage.
Based on what we have seen from the Biden Administration and from Congress, Republicans had the advantage heading into this November. Now, thanks to this knucklehead stunt, every candidate at every level in every state and every county in the country will be running ads linking Republicans to January 6th because the Republican National Committee practically gave them carte blanche to do so. All because Trump wanted it to happen.
On top of all of that, we get to what David Bossie is really after:
Longtime Trump adviser and Republican operative Dave Bossie is floating a run for chairman of the Republican National Committee, according to Republicans who spoke with Vanity Fair. But those same Republicans are split on whether the longtime Trump adviser and RNC committee member from Maryland is serious about trying to win the chairmanship next year or simply trying to raise his profile with former president Donald Trump.
When you look at the resolution from *that* perspective all the pieces become clear. This entire effort is less about Trump, Cheney, and Kinzinger and more about Bossie trying to become a bigger fish and seize the RNC Chair for himself. That’s the job Bossie wants and, probably, has always wanted. And Bossie has allowed himself to be Trump’s handmaiden these last six years to put himself in this position.
This is a catastrophe for the Republican National Committee, and it was completely avoidable had David Bossie just focused on doing his job instead of trying to placate an ex-President so he can feather his own nest. As I said last week:
Let’s hope one day that Bossie wakes up and remembers what his job as a National Committeeman is so that he can put his considerable skills to good use to serve the movement instead of a man.