Dreams that go “poof” in the night
We live in the land of the free and home of the brave. But freedom does not mean the same to everyone. Without freedom of speech, we would not be free, and yet, the Wyoming GOP Central Chair, Frank Eathorne is making sure anyone who speaks out of turn is censored.
More than once I’ve asked professionals over the last several years how they would feel if people talked smack about them to the point where they lost their reputation, their career, and their livelihood – dreams gone “poof” into the air. I even asked Liz Cheney this question. Look what happened to her.
And now they have done it to Senator Cale Case. Highly respected in Wyoming politics for many years, told he cannot speak his political views, he was censured from the Republican Party.
Censorship is NOT freedom of speech.
Censorship: To suppress undesirable parts, unacceptable to social norms or security. As in censure a book – banning and burning books, something the Nazi’s did. And now we are censuring a Senator’s right to speak out in what he wants accomplished for the people of Wyoming.
“It is what the people of Wyoming want.” Just exactly who are these “people” they are talking about. They are not talking about me! I don’t believe the things they say. I am also born and raised Wyoming, and this isn’t the way us dyed-in-the-wool Wyomingites think. There are those of us who remember the days when you were encouraged to speak your mind; when politicians had debates over issues and not the mudslinging that goes on today. Where views were not forced down anyone’s throats. Where neighbors were nice to each other. Where common sense and doing the right thing ruled. That’s the Wyoming I grew up in. How about you?
The GOP Central Committee throws “what Wyoming wants” around quite frequently, like they can read our minds. Well, obviously, if you don’t agree with them, keep your mouth shut. And yet they say they believe in freedom of speech.
Their speech. Their laws. Their interpretation of the Constitution. And if you don’t agree, too bad, to the dungeons with you. People in Russia who are high up in government and disagree with Putin’s war on Ukraine are “dying” right and left. Is this the next step for those of us who choose to disagree with what the Wyoming GOP Central Committee wants us to?
A Worm in the Woodwork
There is a worm in the woodwork, and it isn’t Cale Case. It is the way the GOP is being run, and who it is being run by. In June of 2022, the Natrona GOP elected to oust Central Committee Chair Frank Eathorne because he is a member of the right-wing militia group that stormed the Capital, the Oath Keepers. He was in Washington that day.
Eathorne believes in party, politics and power over the people. That is why he is against Medicaid expansion. Why give Wyomingites better medical and mental health services? Considering Wyoming is #1 in the nation for suicides, we should be expanding these services, not cutting them down! But the people are not as important as power and politics.
He says the Republican party is a private “club,” and they have the right to censure its members if they do not endorse the “club’s” policies. Well, that’s crazy. The most powerful organization in Wyoming, that dictates the politics of this state, is a Club? Members must sign a pact to be accepted?
Why are we allowing a member of one of the most dangerous militia groups in America, according to the FBI, why is he “allowed” to be leader of the WY GOP? Why is he not censored, and thrown from his position?
The Brutal Reality
If you want to get to the cause of the Wyoming GOP party infighting, just look to the intentions of this man. He is so proud of himself that he has the temerity to ask a judge to withhold his appointment to the bench, so the GOP is not put out by nominating an interim Secretary of State to finish his term.
And now, with the censoring of Cale Case, and earlier Liz Cheney, he is getting rid of those who oppose his views so he can have a completely compliant Republican Party. He is described as a “charmer,” which should raise alarms. A lesson many women have learned the hard way. Never, ever trust “Mr. Nice Guy.”
This thinking has gone deep into the bowels of the Wyoming culture. Frank Eathorne is not the only Oath Keeper in Wyoming.
WyoFile reports there are 191 Wyoming residents on the Oath Keeper list, which doesn’t seem to be many. But look at it this way…
Five Oath Keepers are county sheriffs. Twenty percent of the 23 counties have law enforcement that is run by an Oath Keeper.
Deming’s Law and Ten Bad Things
There is a thing called Demings Law that says for every good thing that happens to them, a person will tell two people, but for every bad thing, they tell ten people.
As an aside, W. Edwards Deming was seven years old when his family moved to Powell, Wyoming in 1907 to homestead 40 acres. Deming attended the University of Wyoming at age 17. He became a quality guru, someone who examines organizations to find leaner and meaner ways to operate. He was on the quality team that was sent to Japan after WWII to set up the reconstruction. We would do well to heed this man’s advice in the coming days, as we reorganize the political mess this state is in.
If you apply Deming’s Law to the primary elections, for example, it is easy to explain.
One person says one bad thing about Liz Cheney. That person tells ten people those bad things, ten people tell ten people, and in the blink of an eye, you have 100 people repeating, and expounding on, the bad thing the first person said.
We know the Oath Keepers have an intricate communication network. Along with the 191 in Wyoming, there are an estimated 35,000 to 38,000 other Oath Keepers in America, comprised of military, ex-military, law enforcement, and political figures. The attack on the Capitol was planned for months, and they used this communication system to set it up.
Why wouldn’t they use the same network to control the elections? There’s nothing illegal about it. Just apply Deming’s law. Here’s the math:
- 191 people each tell 10 people “don’t vote for Liz” = 1,910 people
- 1910 people each tell 10 people “don’t vote for Liz” = 19,100 people
- 19,100 people each tell 10 people “don’t vote for Liz” = 191,000 people
Three tiers and you have more than enough of the 131,025 Hageman voters.
At that rate, in a state of 578,000 people, it does not take long for an idea to spread like wildfire. Now, I’m not saying all 131,025 of these voters are Oath Keepers. Some people voted for Hageman because they believed she was the best person for the job. But this example shows how word spreads, and how influential a handful of people can be.
That is what the dark-red Republicans think they like about Wyoming. A sparsely populated state, easy to gather numbers that agree with their thinking. What they “think” is that Wyomingites are so deeply conservative that none of the progressive ways fit.
What I think is these dark-red Republicans should take their negative waves back where they came from and stay there. And if you are boasting to be a third or fourth generation Wyomingite, and support this thinking, that’s too bad, because there is an anomaly about that.
Selling the Ranch
Historically, third and fourth generations sell the ranch and lose the family money. The settlers that came to Wyoming willed their land to their sons, who carried on the torch. One or two grandsons were willing to stay and continue the tradition, but the rest of the children went the way of the world (third generation). The fourth generation, not interested in the struggles to maintain what great-grandfather started, sold the land off in parcels and the family tradition along with it. This is what our third and fourth generation Wyoming politicians are doing. They have forgotten where they came from and are selling the farm.
Are You Worried Yet?
This practice of censorship should be concerning to all of us. If the Central Committee will censor politicians like Liz Cheney and Cale Case, they will soon be censoring the citizens, you can be sure of it. It doesn’t take much of a stretch to imagine what will happen if your freedom of speech is taken away. Censorship – afraid to open your mouth because of recrimination – or worse (think of Putin’s world).
This club that signs a pact that says power and politics over people may be how the dark-red Republicans think, but don’t assume that all Wyomingites feel that way.
Signing a pact to get into a political “club” is concerning in itself, but it is extra concerning when it is the largest and most powerful political organization in the state. Cale Case or Liz Cheney are not the ones who should be censored.
Demings Law cost Liz Cheney the election. Will it also cost the citizens of Wyoming their freedom?
Something to think about….
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