They Eat Their Young

            Did anyone else take time to read the front page of the Knoxville News Sentinel the other day? The top story detailed how some GOP groups were criticizing Governor Haslam for what they believe were a multitude of sins. The whole story left me irritated and flabbergasted.

            The brouhaha began when Stewart County Republican Party Chairman and seventh grade teacher Kyle Mallory put together a list of the governor’s transgressions. Mallory describes himself as one of 10-12 Republican “activist” (usually meaning extremist),  and he’s on a crusade to have other county Republican organizations, as well as the State Executive Committee, condemn the state’s leader for those so-called “sins.”

            One complaint is that the governor hasn’t cleaned house after his election. To the contrary, he’s kept 85% of former Bredesen’s appointees to executive services. Mallory wants them ousted; he wants a purging of anything or anyone who might have Democratic ties. Forget about the fact that these folks performed well in the jobs over the eight years that preceded this Republican administration. No, Mallory’s marauders want to return to a patronage system while the good of the state and its citizens be damned.

            He also berates the Governor’s hiring of Samar Ali as an Executive Service employee. Even though she is an expert in Sharia Compliant Finance, a growing interest to businesses investing in the Middle East, Mallory declares the area is something used to finance terrorists. He just as strongly objects to her place in Tennessee government because she served in Obama’s White House fellowship program and her family has long history of supporting the Democratic Party. Never mind that the woman grew up in Waverly, TN and was a 4-H Club member. To Mallory, all Muslims are terrorists, or at least his rhetoric seems to indicate such a belief.

            He next comes unhinged because Haslam has “allowed and retained openly homosexual persons to make policy decisions in the Department of Children’s Services.” I suppose the Chairman didn’t get the memo that departments and their employees must act in accordance with existing laws. Any person will find going against them difficult.  This man sounds suspiciously like an infamous local state senator and homophobe with his fear and unfounded attacks of homosexuals. Of course, when he is pushed, Mallory declines to further comment.

Another complaint is that the governor failed to sign a resolution criticizing the United Nations Agenda 21 that passed the Republican-controlled General Assembly. He also chides the Governor for his hiring an Education Commissioner from out of state and one who is, according to his ranting, “an embarrassment to the Republican Party.”

            The hope is that folks can see how whacky Kyle Mallory and others of his ilk are. They claim to be Republicans, but that’s just not true.  One who is loyal to a party will question actions of its leaders, but he will still support the overall agenda and decisions that come down. Mallory is most likely a member of the Tea Party. That means he’s an extremist in Republican clothing. His goal is to move GOP to the dangerous, rocky cliffs of the extreme right. Any individuals who fail to bow in fear or curry favor from these out-of-touch folks are ostracized until they are stripped of office or power.

            It would appear that Mallory’s mob is hell-bent on radicalizing the Republican Party and annihilating the Democratic Party. Nothing would suit them better than to take power from both political groups and to centralize it with a small group of ideologues who are paranoid about the motives anyone who doesn’t fit their mold.

            I’ve voted for some Republican candidates throughout my lifetime, an act that led my mother-in-law to call me a mugwump. However, with the radicalizing of the GOP, I don’t much think I can cast a ballot for a member of a party that is constantly on the attack. I long for the Republican Party of years gone by. That group didn’t agree with ideas of the opposing party, but for the good of the country and its citizens, collaboration was more important than ideology. That old party supported its candidates and office holders, even if it disagreed with some of the votes they made and beliefs they held.

            The new Republican Party is much different and dangerous. No one is safe. In fact, sometimes they eat their young who don’t drink their Kool-aid. I hope their reign is short-lived. As for Kyle Mallory and his malevolent members of the Stewart County Republican Party, let’s hope more intelligent and educated minds prevail. I know for sure that I wouldn’t want this man teaching my child.