Looking for signs of Leadership from The 20 Anti-Kevins is like seeking a needle in a hay barn
A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader; a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. ~ John Quincy Adams, considered to be one of the highest IQ presidents in US history.
A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office. ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
Chased by a posse, Butch Cassidy repeatedly looked back at their pursuers and asked the Sundance Kid: “who are those guys?” To spare you a lot of research, I want to acquaint you with the 20 who tried to block Kevin McCarthy’s ascension. Some, of course, are fairly well known.
Matthew Gaetz, 40, claimed to stand on principle in his opposition to Kevin McCarthy. He cosponsored legislation to have death row inmates executed faster in Florida, and to eliminate the federal rule mandating 10% ethanol in Florida gasoline. He voted against a Florida bill to outlaw revenge porn, twice.
He invited a fake news spreader and Holocaust denier - Charles Johnson - to the State of the Union speech 5 years ago. Johnson has previously raised money for the neo-Nazi website, The Daily Stormer. Gaetz claims Johnson is not a white supremacist nor a Holocaust denier. Gaetz also filed an ethics complaint against former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi because she tore up her copy of President Trump’s 2020 SOTU speech.
He announced 3 years ago he’d take no more campaign contributions from federal PACs. Via Wikipedia: On January 10, 2021, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy complained on a phone call that Gaetz was unnecessarily "putting people in jeopardy", noting that the rioters at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 "came prepared with rope".
Four months after the insurrection that sought to steal the 2020 presidential election from the majority of American voters, Gaetz began a speaking tour with Representative Greene, claiming the 2020 election was fraudulent. During the tour he said the Second Amendment was for "maintaining, within the citizenry, the ability to maintain an armed rebellion against the government, if that becomes necessary."
He subsequently was one of 21 House Republicans to vote against giving Congressional Gold Medals to Capitol Police officers who defended the Capitol against the insurrectionists.
After he had $476,000 of debt from his PPP loan forgiven during the covid pandemic he criticized President Biden for attempting to get $10,000 to $20,000 student loans forgiven. Before the 2022 election, he publicly stated that if the GOP won the House majority, impeachment inquiries against Democrats should occur "to investigate them and to hold them accountable" as their first priority. He did not state what they would be investigated for or who, specifically, he would target. These are just some of his ‘principles’. There’s a whole lot more misdeeds on his resume.
Matt Gaetz is smart enough to be a lawyer. He’s smart enough to lead two dozen but not more. His fight to block McCarthy for 5 days is certainly personal despite his refute of that. His are not the actions of a shark but of a remora. He cannot ascend a political ladder by any conventional means. He can’t be Governor or Senator. He got elected in Florida’s most conservative district, and one of the most conservative in the nation.
He held back McCarthy’s win longer than any other in the group of 20, relenting after repeated phone calls from Trump. And he sought Trump’s pardon for law violations before Biden’s inauguration.
Byron Donalds, 44, a conservative businessman, spent 4 years in the Florida House as a Tea Party candidate, then went all in for Donald Trump to get elected to Congress in 2020, campaigning as a "Trump supporting, gun owning, liberty loving, pro-life, politically incorrect Black man." As with all Tea Party members, that’s just a rebranding of Libertarianism so he wants economic freedom (no taxes and no regulations), no government involvement in social programs, and limited government in everything else, unless it’s an issue popular in his conservative district, like clean water is. He also is a remora. He understands what his Republican district wants but lacks any vision that’ll appeal outside of very Republican districts.
Andrew Biggs, 64, served 14 years in the Arizona legislature before taking a seat in Congress 6 years ago. He was a little known Mormon lawyer in New Mexico who won $10 million in the American Family Publisher Sweepstakes in 1993. He used that windfall to launch his political career. The district he represents has elected Republicans 34 out of 35 elections. When Mark Meadows became Trump’s Chief of Staff, Biggs succeeded Meadows as chair of the Freedom Caucus. He was one of two Representatives to vote against the first covid aid package when the pandemic began. He voted against the second one in March 2020, which provided free coronavirus testing, 14-day paid leave for American workers affected by the pandemic, and increased funding for food stamps, because it provided benefits for ‘domestic partners’ and old Andy is anti-gay.
As a leader of the effort to steal the 2020 presidential election from the majority of American voters, he contested the results in AZ, WI, MI, PA and GA. Ali Alexander, an organizer of the January 6 rally that turned into the insurrection effort, testified under oath that Biggs helped organize the rally and riot, which Biggs has denied. Biggs claimed antifa was responsible for the insurrection. He also has no demonstrated leadership skills as defined by Eleanor, John Q, or Martin, nor the essential integrity that Dwight defined.
Biggs and Gaetz were two of the remoras who sought a pardon from Trump for their actions in 2020 and early 2021. Both of Biggs’ brothers have demanded that Andy be removed from office, so he can’t even lead his family. He opposes money for any conflict outside the US and opposes expanding NATO, the same kneejerk isolationism that Libertarians have pushed unsuccessfully for decades. When he ran for House Speaker against McCarthy two months ago, he only got 31 votes. McCarthy got 6 times more.
Paul Gosar, 64, is a dentist. As another Teabagger guy, he opposes affordable health care, abortion, gun control and immigration (though both sets of his grandparents were immigrants), tried to overthrow the majority of US voters and put out a video so toxic that he became the 24th House member in 234 years to be censured and stripped of all committee assignments. In 2018, 6 of his 9 siblings ran ads opposed to his candidacy and opposed him again in 2020. He supported flouridation when he was a dentist but now opposes it because he thinks it reduces intelligence. By that, I presume he guzzles the stuff.
He showed up to support the 2014 Nevada Bundy standoff, and has since associated with the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, white nationalist Nick Fuentes, called American Indians “wards of the federal government”, and was the only member of Congress who refused to attend a 2015 address to that body by Pope Francis. He claimed the violent Charlottesville rally was organized by 'the Left’, funded by George Soros, who he also claimed had turned in family members to the Nazis. He also said that James Comey and Andrew McCabe of the FBI, Sally Yates and Rod Rosenstein of the DOJ had all committed treason due to the investigation of Russian efforts to get Trump elected.
The slur of Soros caused two more siblings to rebuke him as 8 of 9 denounced him for his anti-semitic slander. Zero leadership skills and zero ethics would be great understatements.
Dan Bishop, 58, is an attorney who’s only been in Congress for 3 years, with 8 years previous experience in the NC statehouse or a county commission. Other than his followership of the others in this group, he’s only been notable for his anti-transgender bill and anti-LGBTQ statements, (he called their activists ‘Taliban’) and he called the Raleigh press ‘jihadists’. Barely viable as a doer, he’s mostly a mouth.
Chip Roy, 50, was Ted Cruz’s Chief of Staff. Before that, he worked for John Cornyn, Rick Perry and Ken Paxton. He’s basically anti-everything the federal government does and often leaves the employ of these other politicians because they aren’t extreme enough. He does deserve credit for breaking with many other Republicans in their efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and sticking by his principle of fealty to the Constitution and not Donald Trump - even on January 6. He subsequently called Trump’s actions ‘impeachable conduct’ but voted not to impeach, citing semantics.
He ultimately drew opposition from Trump but still was re-elected. While displaying some of the traits of leaders, he also was one of three to oppose the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching bill. That might demonstrate independence but none can lead with just two followers out of 434 other House members.
Josh Brecheen, 43, headed Future Farmers of America then spent 8 years in the Oklahoma Senate. In his first term there, he tried to repeal a pet breeders act that charged inspection fees to make certain that pet breeders provided minimum standards of food, water and veterinary care. He also filed a bill to compel Oklahoma schools to teach the debate between creationists and evolution scientists. Unlike most of the 20 who were blocking McCarthy’s selection, Brecheen doesn’t display outward racism. Newly seated in Congress, he is primarily motivated to rein in government spending and to reduce the public debt. He ran a motivational speaking biz, an excavation biz and raises horses. It’s too early to assess his leadership skills, but as an aide to former Senator Tom Coburn, he’s casting himself in the same mold.
Coburn was effective using procedural moves to block spending and debt bills. Though he said he opposed 95% of what President Obama proposed, they remained good friends. I’d anticipate Brecheen to be a fiscal conservative who’ll draw criticism for his conservative Christian opposition to abortion and gay marriage. That may play well in his district. I’ve seen no signs of racism nor election denial, but those religious views will bring up critiques of misogyny and homophobia.
Michael Cloud, 47, has not distinguished himself in his 4-1/2 years in Congress. His district contain parts of the Texas district Ron Paul represented. He promotes himself as a Constitutional Conservative who’s pro-military veteran. His issues seem to be anti-immigrant, pro-defense and anti-abortion. He joined 125 other GOP members in the failed effort to overturn the 2020 presidential vote in PA. Previously, he ran a video production business and did promotional work for his church and the state GOP. His last campaign site touted as his top six endorsements: Trump, Ted Cruz, Chip Roy, Jim Jordan, the libertarian Freedomworks for America (SuperPAC representing Koch Bros/Scaife family/Phillip Morris/oil industry/election suppression/anti-climate change) and Gun Owners Of America. Cloud is a complete remora, wholly dependent on Libertarian/Tea Party billionaire support instead of notable achievements.
Keith Self, 69, was an Army Ranger/Special Forces lifer, then a county judge. He just got sworn into Congress on January 7th. He campaigned on border security, election integrity and opposition to abortion but his effectiveness in elective office remains to be seen.
Matt Rosendale, 62, built a successful career in real estate. He spent 6 years in the Montana Legislature before becoming State Auditor. Fitting the standard resume of most elected Republicans, he’s anti-spending, anti-abortion, anti-regulation, anti-gun control and pro-property rights. In his 2014 race for Congress, he didn’t win the primary. Endorsed by Trump and Pence in 2017 for the US Senate, he lost to incumbent Jon Tester. Finally elected to the House in 2020, he first was endorsed by Trump, Cruz, McCarthy, Scalise, Jordan, Rand Paul and the Crow Tribe of Montana.
He’s just starting his third year in Congress. So far he’s established himself in opposition to Ukraine aid and NATO expansion and is otherwise an isolationist, including a vote against birthright citizenship. He voted against the Congressional Medals to the Capitol police and was one of fourteen voting against Juneteeth as a federal holiday.
Andrew Clyde, 59, served 28 years in naval aviation and the SeaBees. He then became a highly successful gun seller. Elected from Georgia in 2020 from one of the most conservative districts in the US, he’s clearly left a mark in his 2 years. He voted against certifying the majority vote in AZ and PA, claims the Jan 6 attack was not an insurrection and likened it to a normal tourist visit, voted against the Congressional medals and refused to shake hands with an officer beaten unconscious during the attack. He voted against the Juneteenth and Anti-Lynching acts and other bills that suggests he’s a thinly concealed racist. Maybe he had some leadership skills in the Navy, where superior oversight reigns, but in Congress he’s been one of the most toxic unethical newbies.
Eli Crane, 42, spent 13 years as a Navy Seal, appeared on Shark Tank and won support for a bottle opener made from 50-caliber shell casings. After a Trump endorsement, he was just seated in Congress and never voted for McCarthy, voting ‘present’ on the final vote. His campaign site highlights election integrity, border security, anti-lockdown, anti-mask, anti-vax bullshit, free speech, defeating cancel culture, anti-critical race theory, anti-abortion, pro-gun, anti-spending, anti-tax… pretty much every GOP talking point there is. Only Matt Gaetz is younger.
Can he lead in his new gig while basically repeating multiple talking points? Flip a coin.
Bob Good, 57, was a longtime banker then worked in the athletics department at his alma mater, the conservative Liberty University. He served on a county board of supervisors where he opposed same sex marriage, was anti-transgender and pro-gun. His campaign was anti public health to covid, anti immigrant, anti gay marriage and pro-Trump. In his 2 years in Congress, he voted not to certify the votes of the American majority, voted against the gold medals, has been vehemently anti-mask, refused to attend Biden’s last SOTU speech due to covid mandates and calls himself a Biblical conservative. He can only lead with his ass-holiness. Thanks, Virginia.
Andy Harris, 65, is tied with Gosar as the longest serving in the group, having spent 12 years in Congress. He served in the MD Senate for 12 years before that, and another dozen years before that he was in medicine, with some time spent in the Navy during Desert Storm. He maintained his medical practice while in the MD Senate and appears to be doing so part time while in Congress. He has prescribed ivermectin for covid without FDA approval. Anti affordable healthcare, anti marijuana in DC, election denier, insurrection denier, anti gold medal, anti same sex marriage, but he’s been able to sell himself to voters pretty well throughout. If he’s a leader, though, let me ask: if you’re not from MD, have you ever heard of him before?
Ralph Norman, 69, is a SC real estate developer. He served 2 years in the SC House then ran for Congress, losing in 2006. He went back to the SC house in 2009 for a little more than 7 years. He’s then served in the US House for 5-1/2 years. After getting $306,520 of debt from his PPP loan forgiven, he opposed Biden’s student loan forgiveness program. He’s in the top 30 wealthiest members of Congress, worth more than $18 million.
He was one of the three House members who tried to get the racist Steve King reinstated to the House. An election denier, he was the guy encouraging Trump to declare ‘Marshall’ law. No on gold medals, Juneteenth. His campaign website seems like boilerplate moderate Republican stuff with no mention of abortion or LGBTQ issues, perhaps because he’s a Presbyterian. But he’s pro-Trump, anti Liz Cheney and his martial law call is alarming.
Andy Ogles, 51, is another guy brand new to Congress. He was a restaurant operator and real estate invester before becoming COO of Abolition International which fights human trafficking. He became director of the Libertarian Koch Bros group Americans for Prosperity and then got involved with the Laffer Center which also advocates conservative tax policies. Two attempts at elective office failed before he got elected as Mayor of Maury County TN in 2018 where he served for 4 years. He opposes abortion without exceptions and same sex marriage. He wants the Dept of Education defunded.
He thinks the current Director of Homeland Security should be charged with treason and is calling for the impeachment of Biden and Harris. Libertarian money selfishness coupled with non-Libertarian religious interference in the personal lives of many sure sounds like a worst case scenario for enlightened leadership. OTOH, I’ve been to Tennessee several times and it sure did seem like two out of three residents didn’t get a fair share in their smarts baskets, so he might be able to lead a fools parade.
Scott Perry, 60, is a true rags to riches story. At 13, he began picking fruit and has since been a mechanic, dock worker, draftsman, insurance agent and a host of other jobs. He joined the Army National Guard at 18, has piloted numerous aircraft, flown combat missions and retired as a Brigadier General 4 years ago. That’s 38 years of service, though much National Guard experience is part time. Additionally, he worked his way through college. He served 6 years in the PA House then ran for Congress where he’s completed 10 years. He became Chair of the Freedom Caucus a year ago.
He was a leader, sure, as Brigadier General. He also led the effort to throw out the votes of the majority of Pennsylvanians in 2020. He advanced a theory that the Brits were conspiring to mess with voting machines which the CIA director was covering up. He then sent Mark Meadows a YouTube video asserting the Italians were manipulating voting machines via satellites. That originated from Q-Anon and the acting attorney general described it as ‘pure insanity’.
He was the principal in the debacle trying to get Trump to put Jeffrey Clark in to head the DOJ. He’s been advancing other conspiracy theories since 2017
He opposed counting PA’s electoral votes. He was one of serveral who sought a pre-emptive pardon from Trump. And he lied to the January 6th committee about his Jeffrey Clark efforts, which has been proven. It’s tempting to suggest he went wacko along the way but his competence elsewhere indicates he was deliberately aiding and abetting the effort to overthrow our government. He’s one of several House members who should be prosecuted and his quest for a pardon makes it clear he knew he was breaking the law. Perry, Biggs and Gates, at least, asked for pardons.
Anna Paulina Luna, 33, is the youngest member. After 6 years in the Air Force, she completed college less than 6 years ago. Of Mexican American descent she recruited Hispanics to the conservative Turning Point USA, has done some reporting and has also been a model.
She’s claimed to be a Messianic Jew and also describes herself as Christian. Her position on US oil exports sounds equally naive. She’s overtly anti-abortion and anti-gay. And her campaign website issues page ends with her concern about two non-threats: ”Anna Paulina Luna opposes critical race theory being taught in grade school and stands against radical left-wing gender theory being pushed on our kids.”
Even Big Oil has no desire to end oil exports. And intolerance coupled with assertion and ignorance doesn’t suggest leadership to anything involving principle. She’s been heavily marketed by Steve Bannon, Mike Lindell and the Gateway Pundit. Even facing friendly questioning from Fox News, she just doesn’t seem to grasp how anything works. She’s also brand new to Congress.
Lauren Boebert, 36, is one of the best known in the group. With ties to the Proud Boys and Three Percenters, her record of failure operating 3 restaurants, her overt opposition to gun control, the court convictions she and her husband have garnered, that she finally earned a GED degree a month before her first primary at age 33, are all pretty well known, along with her loud mean girl behavior.
After introducing 17 bills and 7 resolutions that never made it out of committee, she narrowly won reelection by 554 votes. But as I read through her Wikipedia entry, I felt some sadness at her lack of education and critical thinking skills. Unlike Gaetz and Perry who are well-educated but terrible people, the woman cannot do better till she educates herself further, which is unlikely as long as she’s in office. Had they not gerrymandered her district to make it slightly more Republican, she would have lost.
"The church is supposed to direct the government, the government is not supposed to direct the church. I'm tired of this separation of church and state junk. This is not in the Constitution, it was in a stinking letter and it means nothing like what they say it does."
I’ll leave it to you if you want more detail. It amazes me to see such ignorance at any level above city council. And worse, it now seems she’s falling under the tutelage of the manipulative criminality of Matt Gaetz, so we can only expect her to get worse.
Mary Miller, 63, is the last of the 20 McCarthy obstructionists. A cattle rancher from the most conservative district in Illinois, she’s accused President Biden of planning to "flood our country with terrorists, fentanyl, child traffickers, and MS-13 gang members,” so you can probably guess the rest. Anti-transgender, anti-gay marriage, anti-Ukraine aid, anti NATO expansion, anti-abortion, wants to end birthright citizenship, says she supports Christian nationalism. Two days into her term, she quoted Hitler in a speech about children that provoked rebukes from the head of the Illinois Republican party, the Illinois legislature’s Jewish caucus, the governor, US Senator Duckworth, fellow Illinois representatives, the ADL, the US Holocaust Museum, the World Jewish Congress and numerous other lawmakers.
Miller and Boebert have served 2 years and Luna is brand new. So out of the 20, 5 are new, 6 have served two years and 14 of the 20 have served less than five years.
The Freedom Caucus is now at least 46 strong, but only has 7 women in the group, and just 3 joined 17 men in the fight to block McCarthy. There’s a bit more worth noting about the group and what they gained by this effort. That’ll be in the next newsletter.
This bluegrass cover of a Doors tune fits the bill nicely to close this newsletter.
A sad group. A pack of losers