About 2 months ago, on February 1, I had written on the reformation of the Butte County Republican party organization, with the officially elected central committee members selecting county leadership with the assistance of the South Dakota GOP, and members of the Custer and Lawrence county GOP organizations were also on hand for technical advice:
After correct elections were held with the people who were legally permitted under the bylaws to make the choice for county officials, under Republican party bylaws, things had settled down for a couple of months in peace and harmony among the Republican faithful.
Or maybe not.
Yesterday, Gordon Howie follower Bob Ellis posted a missive on his web site from one of the people in attendance:
I attended the “closed” meeting of the Butte County GOP Central Committee Meeting, as an elected Precinct Captain.
The meeting was restricted to Committee members as listed in the South Dakota GOP charter, Section III, County Central Committee rules.
From a read of Mr. Klipp’s letter, amidst questions dangled out there by him to try to stir something up, even he had to concede the party has bylaws which govern the selection process.
If only others had followed them earlier, I suspect there would have been much less confusion on Mr. Klipp’s part. And behind the scenes, it goes downhill from there. I’m told that this letter had been circulated in early February, and responded to by the current GOP organization, who offered Mr. Klipp the opportunity to sit down, and play a part on the County Republican board.
And as it was related to me, the olive branch was swatted away, at the same time the old group started claiming they’ve been shut out. Despite not being elected, or validly serving as central committee members.
Apparently, it’s getting worse than downhill for the group of people who were never elected. I had a note from the duly elected chairman, and apparently, they have no interest in letting “bylaws be bylaws,” and those who disagree with them want to set up their own system of getting around them:
This morning [redacted] called and said I have two weeks to surrender the party to the old group or face some kind of citizens grand jury or some such nonsense.
And I’m told this group has been calling the Secretary of State, as well as the Butte County Auditor in order to be re-declared “in charge,” despite the lack of any legitimacy for the offices. That’s just what we need. Crazy sovereign citizen types harassing public officials, and declaring themselves “the real” Republican party, and if people don’t comply, they’ll be subjected to a “Citizens Grand Jury.”
I know it’s a pain, and will probably continue to be such, but it’s good that the state and area county GOP organizations went in to make sure that proper elections were held. In a civil society, there is such a thing as the rule of law.
And the people who ignore it; when threaten and make stuff up if they don’t get their way – they need to learn a better way.
It’s well worth following the link in the above post and reading the comments.
It is worth following the above link to read comments in the article. It was more fun to write them though. .One would think nobody has the right to defend oneself when a stranger insults character without even knowing the person the assault is being levied against or all the issues at hand. I won’t criticize Bob though. He obviously digs in his heals and definitely made it more fun to spar. . Someone called and said as a chair I shouldn’t be so “engaging” but the other side called down the thunders, not us and I go by my own playbook. . .Maybe two months ago I would not have gone on so long but after having family members threatened with rape, names hurled at me from passing cars, lies and deceptions constantly tossed around-to only name but a few things and I do mean few-and all because 7 or maybe 8 people were angered and had their egos bruised when their own mistakes of being an illegitimate party caught up with them. Is it worth it though? . To engage in a battle like I have done? . .I start to wonder but then I have to think about the young woman that recently moved here, wanting to get involved in the GOP and was told by members of the former group that her “moderate” views would have no place in the party and that maybe she should join the Dems. . .I think about it too that when we met she was crying. Her family had been active Republicans and the actions of a few here in Butte County actually hurt her feelings. At that moment I controlled myself because we almost had an earlier election per broom handle. How dare a few think they can subvert the American system of democratic rule and still look in the mirror after declaring what patriots they are. . .These folks always invoke images of the Founders but I have a hard time seeing Jefferson threatening rape to a political opponent or Adams calling a stranger a liar based solely upon a pledge swearing allegiance to a private organization. I just want to see a group come together and support the party and benefit our voters here. .One way to avoid being upset when utopia comes crashing down is to never try to set it up in the first place. Whatever plans existed to have an exclusive party here were shattered when people right here in the county asked for a vote and simply called upon the SDGOP to witness because most of the rabble we know and we knew this would happen.
WTF is going on with people being stupid and crazy? I noticed this Facebook page with stranahan finger prints all over.
https://www.facebook.com/DakotaReporter/posts/800270486734280?fref=nf&pnref=story
Disappointing to see that little Dennert kid is clicking like on Stranahan’s lies.
He has to make a choice to be honest and support good people or to support liars like Stranahan. So far he’s making a bad choice.
Heaven forbid that young Drew actually reads and thinks foir himself ! He should be following the “IN” crowd like the rest of the geniuses out there. The heck with facts, just listen to your leader !
What is Drew Dennert thinking? This is just embarrassing how he is ruining his reputation. Is he this easily misled?
No, are you ?
One thing I want to add to my comments above because the hard cases will simply say (in reference to the story of the young Minnesota woman) “a RINO simply soothed a RINO.” Incidentally I am a dues paying member of the GOP Liberty Caucus. My camp is more of the libertarian faction however I aspire to that uniquely American trait we seem to be losing called ‘compromise.” Last time it was this bad South Carolina thought they could start a three month war rather than find common ground. .As history tells us Billy Sherman brought home a different reality four years later. . .The uniqueness of our party lies in our factions and differing schools of thought however just like a family with unique individuals our party has unique ideological camps however just as no family would kick out “Susie” because she doesn’t agree with “Bobby” so should we look to those things that unite rather than divide us. .An example would be that I am a Christian and in particular a Methodist with no designs to be anything other however I still consider a Baptist or Catholic or a Lutheran a Christian as well. History cannot be ignored and people fool themselves when they say that our party never had ideological branches upon the tree. . .We did in days of yore and we do now however being Republican is onto itself that body that serves as the trunk. . .I think I am going to start being bombastic and insulting. .Maybe I think some of the people calling me RINO are in fact RINOs themselves and I cannot locate a deed anywhere saying any one person or small group or any self-proclaimed GOP guru has the right to the name anymore than the rest of us. . There is a reality and there is pragmatism required when dealing with others and usually with that flows those attributes of respect and understanding.
don’t beat yourself up for using the term ‘compromise,’ because the hard right seethingly hates compromise, it’s seen as cowardly and corrupt and they don’t mind pointing it out to you at their first opportunity. too bad they usually don’t have any ideas after that, other than a reverse form of the one-party rule they already hate from the other guys. politicians who win elections and take office have a responsibility to come up with ways to govern that the whole people can live with. candidates who find out what voters want know that, candidates who preach ideology to a mostly empty room don’t know that.
I stopped reading at “Billy” Sherman.
Why? He was a good Republican. . . Can’t see 19th Century with 21st Century eyes so “Uncle Billy” hardly applies to anything we balance ourselves with today. . .I am actually no fan of Sherman myself. My point is that what happened “down there” was an ugly mess indeed however it was an unfortunate result of the wheels of compromise having been locked up at an earlier time. The South is not alone here to blame however again when history is weighed it was various factions North and South that refused the ability to find common ground. People seem to think our Founders at an earlier time were all on the same page however if one subscribes to this belief it is most likely the result of the working end of a hookah. The truth is they were hardly a team and they found compromise as a way to bridge their differences. Some four-score years later the beneficiaries of this cornerstone of our republic failed miserably in utilizing the example. . .My comment on Sherman was not praise but rather citing an example of what ugliness fate can deliver when we fail to do that very human thing and seek a way to share the ground upon which we all strand.
a direct ancestor of mine marched in sherman’s army. the seemingly small causes of the war you would indirectly cite could have been worked out, sure. that just means the war to free enslaved people would have happened a little later for a different reason. if not that impasse, then the next one. as dire as the hard right makes things sound, we don’t quite have an issue today to match the enslavement of blacks by whites, and our pique hardly matches the anger between south and north over sanctions and policies based on slavery that didn’t end slavery. sherman’s army was the embodiment of destiny.
Well said. . .History tells us though that compromise failed many times concerning the issue of slavery however those most adamantly against ending it failed the most and so they paid for the lack of faith in the democratic process with bullets and the bayonet. Wonderful phrase about Sherman’s army!. . .My not being “a fan” is more logistical in that I as a student of history lean to Grant’s relentless hammering and attrition. . .Sherman was most definitely one of the military geniuses to come out of the war.
as granny clampett said, warn’t nothin civil about it.
Interesting twist here. . .Just visited with Larry Klipp. . Now Larry did write this in early February and did send it to Republican folks here in Butte County and at that time it was addressed by me as well as others however Larry just told me that he had no hand in “rehashing” this letter yesterday. .I believe him too because Larry Klipp is a straight-shooter and doesn’t often mince words. Larry has had some concerns but along with a handful from the “old group” has never quite been aggressive as some. As well, he doesn’t deny he wrote the letter back in February and still believes some of what he wrote however he’s at a loss how it got into Bob Ellis’ hands? Again, Larry is not one to say something and not mean it. One of the reasons I have reached out to him specifically in the past is he has a good understanding of procedure and though he’s very firm in his beliefs he’s one to definitely offer a perspective without fluff that any county chair I am sure could definitely appreciate. Seems odd then that this appears in a well known conservative source right when there is another issue here relating indirectly to the party that is being perpetuated by a former “gubernatorial candidate.” . .But that one is for the researcher. I won’t get into it. I am pretty sure though Larry Klipp did not rehash his letter. So in addition to checking his facts first maybe Bob should have bothered asking the author for permission as well.
fascinating to read ellis’ reprint of the letter, and the comments exchanged between you two. what a pompous blowhard. it’s too much for one body, there must be two of him in there to handle the load. he’s that full of himself. good lord.
Elis an Howie have one motivation… wreck the Republican Party as it has completely rejected their brand of craziness.
agreed with anonymous 7:19. when you can’t win office by attracting voters, what other options do you have but to wreck the party?