Two Wings, Same Bird, Part 1
Opinion: The Right Wing, the Intentionally Incompetent GOP
There are thousands hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.
This is a high level view of Minnesota politics a few weeks prior to the Feb 27, 2024 precinct caucuses.
From the outset, it should be noted that my view of the two main parties which loosely represent the Left Wing and Right Wing—Democrat (DFL) and Republican (GOP)—is that they are basically two wings of the same bird. I credit a mentor for illuminating this to me. Neither party represents the people, and their interests have been separate from the common man and woman for some decades.
The wings have slightly different colored feathers, but their function is to keep the bird balanced atop the seat of power in this country and our state here in Minnesota. This decorated roost has been achieved magnificently of late in Minnesota, with the DFL pushing outlandish policy and legislation, and the GOP mumbling a few words but inevitably going along with... wait for it... EVERYTHING.
This does not surprise me at all: There are by my count only TWO out of 201 legislators in Minnesota that are actually Minnesota First, Minnesota's variant of America First... if your name is not Ben Davis or Nathan Wesenberg, you don't have this writer's support as a legislator, having already missed numerous opportunities. That equates to only ONE representative in the MN House, and ONE in the MN Senate. From this perspective, it is no wonder the Minnesota Statutes look the way they do...
The DFL (which stands for Democratic Farmer-Labor, was a merger in 1944 between the rather weak Democratic Party and the Farmer-Labor Party, FLP) is today politically distant from its roots, and as such has alienated voters.
The Republican Party, which prior to 1995 was known as the Independent-Republicans Party, is in an equally (if different) pitiful state. Its last properly filed constitution is from 1988, to name just one of its many foibles.
Lately, the MNGOP's modus operandi has been to narrowly snatch defeat in the jaws of victory but then to put forth the narrative that if only grassroots republicans had worked harder, things might have been different, meanwhile neglecting to take any accountability for its own part in the outcomes.
However, if the MNGOP were to actually admit what it is up to, as the Almost-Win Party, then its leadership would be sent packing even quicker than they are likely to be this year.
The Incompetence of the GOP
Lately, with the DFL making its case known overtly for socialist and even communistic policies (policies which have ruined many countries in recent decades), it was to the GOP that many people with ethics and a desire to participate in local politics turned in 2022.
As I did. But boy, was I disappointed.
Foremost, in myself. Why hadn't I participated for the first 34 years of my life?
I became a delegate at the precinct level, then for the BPOU, as well as the state convention level. When the party operatives in public view (and those behind the scenes) would not have me as a candidate, and even called the police when I asked questions about this, I had no choice but to run against the GOP, as a republican, for MN Secretary of State, focusing on election reform. Later, Kim Crockett's partner, Marty, would tell me that, You just don't do that. As they say in Australia not far from where I spent most of my childhood: Sorry, mate!
In short, the MNGOP blocked me from participation because they couldn't stand people like me, and many others, talking about election reform. Perhaps because they might have been called hypocrites, seeing as they were actively participating in the opposite: election interference. Election interference is a phrase which has been popularized after President Trump signed Executive Order 13848, an EO which is still active today because of renewals, including from Biden.
Throughout 2022, there were flagrant violations of the MNGOP Constitution in the MNGOP's treatment of Clay, Kittson, Morrison, Otter Tail, and the list goes on. I covered a few of these in my first book, [S]elections in Minnesota: How Machines Controlled 2020 and Why We Must Return to Hand Counted Paper Ballots.
If one reads founding documents such as the U.S. Constitution, the Minnesota Constitution, the MNGOP Constitution, the constitutions of the various Congressional and Senate Districts, those of the Basic Political Organizing Units (BPOUs), and their bylaws, one will soon learn that the political power in our country and state rests with the people. And it is with the people at the lowest level of organization, that being in the precinct caucuses and the BPOUs.
Higher levels do not have the authority to reach down to interrupt, intervene, intercept, or otherwise make any ruling. So many of the MNGOP's actions in the last two years (since I've come into awareness), have simply been out of line with those founding documents.
One does not get to decide when to abide by these, and when not to follow them, as recently occurred in a sham SD50 meeting where all these documents were ignored. This meeting's participants included Barb Sutter, RNC Committee Woman, Randy Sutter, the Chair of CD3, both who I'm confident were aware of what they were doing. Unfortunately, there are those who are either being used by them or don't know better that went along with their plans, including those like Alec Beck, the Chair of CD5, who also should know about the founding documents and procedures, but said nothing during the meeting.
As a guest, I stood up near the end and said, The problem y'all are going to have is that I'm not sure this meeting was legitimate.
Before the meeting, I asked Shawn Holster, Chair of the Minneapolis BPOU, who was serving along with Mitch, as the parliamentarians, why he was doing so. He said he couldn't comment. As someone who previously called me a thespian, I am unable to write kindly about his performance as a parliamentarian and would not recommend him in future MNGOP one-acts.
After this same artificial gathering, I asked the Carver County GOP Chair Patricia Williamson, who was participating in the charade, about an email she'd sent me some months back, where she enthusiastically said I shouldn't tell people elections are and can be rigged, because then they won't vote. My question is, Why is there such a strong desire from those like her to cover up the truth? (And if what I was saying was so unpopular, how then did I get 36.9% of the vote in the MN Secretary of State primary, almost 111,000 votes, if I was doing what she accused me of?)
People like Jennifer DeJournett (proponents of a non-sensical ballot in, ballot out strategy) and Dale Witherington (bipartisan friend of legislators, and also Restore MN, who has tried to take credit for other people's election reform work on multiple occasions, including on a phone call I have recorded) fall under a similar umbrella—those who present themselves as working with and for the people, but meanwhile taking actions that support the establishment elites.
There are a few more people like this who local patriots would recognize because they have been at odds with them, in some cases for years. Philip Parrish has listed some of them on his Twitter/X page, while there are others which operate in various locales, instead of statewide.
Unfortunately for them, no amount of financial backing will prevent the deterioration of their reputations, as the people who followed them slowly realize they have been led astray. Some of these people simply do not deserve any respect.
Should they change course, then perhaps there can be a different conversation. The problem is, many of them simply double down, again and again, on the deceptions and lies when confronted. This I too witnessed and recorded at the recent SD50 event, for instance when asking about the cheating I prevented during a 2023 SD50 election, recordings which have been distributed to ensure they can be used if I'm done away with. They may say that recordings were not permitted. And thus is the cry of those who are against transparency and who wish to operate in the shadows. As James O'Keefe has taught me, sometimes the public's right to know supersedes rules in a fake meeting.
To put it simply, their time is up but they do not know it yet.
Maybe, though, they actually do sense the writing on the wall.
Maybe this is why, in SD50, at the close of the "meeting", when I announced that it was illegitimate, there was little pushback.
There's a saying, You get away with things... until you don't.
Precinct Caucus
I've heard of a number of people around the state organizing to overwhelm the current failed leadership of the Republican Party. It's a reasonable strategy. Take back the party and put some Minnesota First candidates on the ballot. Take a few bites out of the 199/2 deficit of establishment/We-the-People legislator imbalance.
Accountability is a choice and I'm in favor of those who want to be part of that change.
The first step is finding out where to go...
It has come to my attention that Dan Wolbert recently wanted to find his precent caucus location for the GOP. After searching online on the Secretary of State's website and coming up empty, he proceeded to call the MNGOP. He did so at least four times. He still does not know where to go on Feb 27, caucus night; and today the MNGOP's mailbox was full.
Meanwhile, Rick Weible was able to share this screenshot from the Secretary of State's website, which shows that for his old address, the DFL caucus location is listed, but the GOP's is not.
Now, at first glance, this issue with the caucus finder could be the fault of the OSS. I recall when a week prior to the August 9, 2022 midterm elections, that the Secretary of State's website had a broken link on the main page for my website. (About 100,000 people visited my website in that final week from Aug 2-9, but who can say how many were turned away in prior weeks?)
But, given that Legal Marijuana Now Party also doesn't have their caucus info listed, that is evidence that this is not an OSS issue but rather a GOP issue.
How can one go to caucus if they don't know where to go? If the GOP really did care about putting republicans in roles as public servants, wouldn't they be eager to increase attendance at precinct caucus? Wouldn't part of that strategy be to have determined these locations well in advance? (One can surmise that they actually do not want high attendance, because their cronies will be sorely outnumbered in that case.)
Action 4 Liberty, which I have had my complaints about in the past, because I was not sure whether their leadership understood the basics about election fraud and the potential for reform, is holding precinct caucus training in Roseville the next three Wednesdays. They have a nice caucus training video on their website as well if you are completely new to this.
I have heard others around Minnesota also holding training for their areas. Find them and attend if it is your desire to hold the MNGOP accountable for its past harms and participation in developing the current state of affairs in Minnesota.
My basic recommendations for precinct caucus success are simple:
- prepare by reading about the precinct caucus in Minnesota Statutes (and conversing with those at prior meetings to get the lay of the land), then show up
- become a delegate if you're interested in having a say in who Republican-endorsed candidates will be
- observe all election counting/tallying and ensure careful documentation of delegate lists
Do this and maybe you can avoid the tricks that might be up the sleeves of those named to convene each precinct caucus (hint: you can make a motion to change the convener if you don't trust them).
Note that Mandy Heffron, known to some as the Chief Removal Officer, for her direct hand in affecting delegate lists from precinct caucus while she was a Paul Gazelka staffer, has been given the reins by the inept MNGOP Chair, David Hann, to ensure caucus is run properly.
On what merits was this choice made? Given the delegate fraud which the party refuses to come to terms with—Mandy herself sidestepped the issue at the state central meeting on Dec 9, 2024—only an aloof Chair could have made such a move. But maybe the reader can imagine another explanation.
After becoming a delegate, the key is to watch out for tricks which could change those lists—this happened in multiple counties last time, a complete violation of the law which actually puts the party out of compliance with statutes passed in the 93rd Legislature providing requirements for major party status. The caucus convener holds considerable power with regard to those lists.
Then, find candidates that you like, who I hope would be Minnesota First, and try to get them endorsed and eventually onto the ballot for the primary and general elections. If your candidate doesn't get endorsed, they can still file in the primary, as I did, during the filing period. One does not need money, status, or the backing of the party to be successful. Indeed, it could well come to pass this year that the DFL and GOP brand take further reputation hits which make any association with them suspect. As with all things, we shall see! Already there are alternatives, such as The Constitutional Republic Party, and the concept of Minnesota First, rising as options. For those continuing to work to wrestle power away from those in control in either the DFL or GOP, I do commend you, as that work was necessary in my own learning experience.
It's important that every sitting office is challenged, in the DFL and GOP, and those at county, city, and township levels, because almost all are not represented by someone who cares about the people as demonstrated by their past action and inaction, on myriad issues, not least on election reform.
Even if someone sounds good, the question is, what have they truly accomplished, and what are they working on now which is to the people's benefit? It is important to parse this because politicians are often quite slippery with their words.
Again, to emphasize, only TWO of the 201 legislators, by my assessment, are Minnesota First (America First). That means that even if, as some have said, the MN House can be retaken by Republican legislators, there's still the problem of who those Republicans are actually loyal to, and what interests they may wish to serve.
A friend of mine has said, Erik, if you were shown a bag of $10 million dollars, I do not think you would accept it. He is right, I would not, and that is a basic filter through which one must evaluate every candidate.
The Power Has Always Been With the People
It will take another post to lay this out properly, but keep in mind the premise at the top, which is that the Democrats and Republicans are two wings of the same bird. (Note the capital D and capital R, because I don't generally have a problem with regular folks putting a democrat label or republican label next to their voting identity.)
This two-wing phenomena has been the case for some decades. It is useful for the elites to maintain control while the people remain divided.
There are thousands hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.
This two-wing illusion is being shown to all of us, starting from 2015 when someone came down the escalator. Maybe it is why that same man didn't even bother debating the other Republican presidential candidates this time around.
The 45th President has the backing of the people, very similar to a statesman over 105 years ago in Minnesota, hailing from Sweden and then from Little Falls, in Morrison County, who was the Congressional Representative for the 6th District from 1907 to 1917. After speaking against, writing against, and most importantly—voting against—The Money Trust, aka The Federal Reserve Act (previously the Aldridge Plan), Charles A. Lindbergh Sr., with the backing of the people, ran against the Republican Governor in the 1918 Republican primary and nearly ousted him, about 200,000 to 150,000 votes despite having rocks thrown at him during campaign speeches, his book censored, and being arrested for sedition one week before the primary vote. (Charles A. Lindbergh Sr.'s books can be found on Archive.org as well as in print.)
Astute readers will note that the 1918 primary turnout was similar to the 2022 primary turnout, in raw numbers, but as a percentage of total voting population, many more were politically active in 1918 Minnesota than today. As a friend has stated, an educated and engaged citizenry is key to a path forward. Americans have gotten lazy, but in recent years, a sleeping giant has awoken. There's a great lyric from a country singer I follow who has written a book called, The Midnight Rider Rides Again, in his song You've Got One which goes, You're gonna find out 'We the People', those are more than words.
As each of us gradually becomes all we can be, learn and use the trivium—grammar, logic, and rhetoric—and combine it with critical thinking, reception, and analysis, to read carefully, speak clearly, and ask questions. There is more going on in the world than mere politics.
Part 2 of Two Wings, Same Bird will come along when it's ready...