Representative Gatch, thanks for sharing this. I do agree that signing is unnecessary. One person made a terrible transgression and the party believes everyone must suffer because of it. Makes perfect sense if you don’t think about it. Not too many legislators are willing to admit a wrong and move forward differently. Although I’m not in your district, I’ve always admired what I see in you.
A challenge is that many legislators are also attorneys. The job requires an adversarial nature. The ask of a roomful of attorneys to agree is a lot.
You beat the drum of conservatism while relating that to Republicans. Republicans have a long road ahead to become conservatives. Republicans are conservative only when compared to Democrats. I am an independent conservative so I can point and laugh at both parties. I defended our Constitution for over 21 years and I won’t be shackled or have my freedom of speech right curtailed in the name of party. One only needs to look at the myriad of Constitutional Conservative scorecards to understand where SC Republicans stand.
While you focused on trust as it relates to Columbia and the Republican party, I want to pull on that thread some more. If some watered down version of conservatism is going to succeed through the Republican party, trust needs to occur from the voter through the county apparatus to the legislators.
Our county leader quickly bans, suspends, and otherwise punishes those with whom he disagrees at the slightest perception of offense. He has pledged, and I believe the position should require, candidate neutrality during the primary process. Yet, he posts on social media crying that one candidate is a liar. He also readily mocks those he disagrees with on social media. At the same time he brags about what a unifier and communicator he is. When he runs out of words he resorts to schoolyard bullying and name calling. He apparently has some self awareness problems. Those who try and point him in a different direction are instantly the enemy rather than quasi mentors.
If we look at Republican legislators, it would be really great if they could stay out of handcuffs and keep their pants zipped. Even staying out of the way of ethics investigations would be a great start. Voters can’t trust those who are running afoul of ethics, morality, and the law. When that happens, Republican leadership needs to hold those members swiftly accountable so the voters can have trust in the institution. The institution, Constitution, must come before the individual or party.
2 comments
LOL – Republicans being bit by the very dogs they set loose
Representative Gatch, thanks for sharing this. I do agree that signing is unnecessary. One person made a terrible transgression and the party believes everyone must suffer because of it. Makes perfect sense if you don’t think about it. Not too many legislators are willing to admit a wrong and move forward differently. Although I’m not in your district, I’ve always admired what I see in you.
A challenge is that many legislators are also attorneys. The job requires an adversarial nature. The ask of a roomful of attorneys to agree is a lot.
You beat the drum of conservatism while relating that to Republicans. Republicans have a long road ahead to become conservatives. Republicans are conservative only when compared to Democrats. I am an independent conservative so I can point and laugh at both parties. I defended our Constitution for over 21 years and I won’t be shackled or have my freedom of speech right curtailed in the name of party. One only needs to look at the myriad of Constitutional Conservative scorecards to understand where SC Republicans stand.
While you focused on trust as it relates to Columbia and the Republican party, I want to pull on that thread some more. If some watered down version of conservatism is going to succeed through the Republican party, trust needs to occur from the voter through the county apparatus to the legislators.
Our county leader quickly bans, suspends, and otherwise punishes those with whom he disagrees at the slightest perception of offense. He has pledged, and I believe the position should require, candidate neutrality during the primary process. Yet, he posts on social media crying that one candidate is a liar. He also readily mocks those he disagrees with on social media. At the same time he brags about what a unifier and communicator he is. When he runs out of words he resorts to schoolyard bullying and name calling. He apparently has some self awareness problems. Those who try and point him in a different direction are instantly the enemy rather than quasi mentors.
If we look at Republican legislators, it would be really great if they could stay out of handcuffs and keep their pants zipped. Even staying out of the way of ethics investigations would be a great start. Voters can’t trust those who are running afoul of ethics, morality, and the law. When that happens, Republican leadership needs to hold those members swiftly accountable so the voters can have trust in the institution. The institution, Constitution, must come before the individual or party.