Golly, it seems belonging to the Freedom Caucus is more embarrassing in Pierre than belonging to the Democratic Party.
KSFY’s intrepid Pierre reporter Austin Goss scooped this membership list of the right-wing Freedom Caucus from the Senate lobby:
Within 12 minutes of Goss’s tweeting of this list, Representative Marty Overweg (R-21/New Holland) scratched his denial of membership onto the list:
Goss says at least half of the Representatives listed as Freedom Caucusers have denied their membership, and Freedom Caucus Chair Representative Aaron Aylward (R-6/Harrisburg) has denied knowledge of the list’s origin.
Here’s what’s curious about this mysterious and apparently unwelcome naming of Freedom Caucus members:
- It’s marked “Confidential”. Why would a group consisting entirely of public officials working to influence public policy want to keep its full membership secret? Wouldn’t a lobbying group want to signal its strength by bragging about its widespread and growing support?
- If the roster is “Confidential”, why would anyone print a copy that could get loose in the Capitol?
- The list consists entirely of Representatives, yet it was posted in the Senate lobby. Who posts a list of House members over in the Senate lobby? My favorite hypothesis: Senate King Lee Schoenbeck (R-5/Lake Kampeska) has a mole among the House interns who easily obtained the list from the ineffective and and incautious Freedom Caucus leaders and handed it Schoenbeck, who mirthfully directed its posting in the Senate lobby to count coup on Aylward and anyone else thinking they can challenge Schoenbeck’s absolute rule.
- Listed members are running scared from the list. Most of the listed members signed a public letter denying the validity of the 2020 election last summer, so it’s not like their membership would be a surprise. If the folks denying membership are telling the truth, then the list must be false. But who would have fabricated such a list, complete with contact information and the group’s logo? Schoenbeck wouldn’t bother with such a fabrication; anyone who is on Schoenbeck’s schit list already knows it. It seems more plausible that the list is legit, in which case either the folks on the list are lying about their membership (and hey, they lie when they deny elections, so lying to deny membership in an election-denying group is consistent) or the Freedom Caucus leaders have created a list that should be labeled not just “Confidential” but “Faulty” or “Wishful Thinking”.
The posting of a list that apparently no one wants to be on is one more sign that the “Freedom Caucus”, if it even exists, is not really a powerful or popular group acting in the public interest. It appears to be a fringe club association with which causes alleged Republican members immense embarrassment.
Cory ponders, “ Why would a group consisting entirely of public officials working to influence public policy want to keep its full membership secret?”
A – Because these Connie’s actually believe there’s a “shadow government” with secret operatives that will cause them harm.
In short it’s a paranoid reaction from MAGA victim hood believers. Trump covers his crimes by claiming to be the victim instead of the bully and these lemmings follow suit.
Or some wisecracking lobbyist rounded up the usual suspects, made a list, posted it on the public bulletin board in the sunlight filled lobby on the south side of the Senate chamber where the lobbyists hang out on the overstuffed leather couches like a pack of lazy barn cats and sat back to watch what would happen.
Good one, Nick. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Nick,
I liked those overstuffed couches!
Ms. P.h, the Shadow Government wants you to believe there are no secret operatives.
In South Dakota the shadow government is the Sioux Falls Diocese and Lee Schoenbeck is their tool.
Meanwhile, the grudz hides its true identity in the shadows.
Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.
Hahaha!!!! Trolling was successful!!!
Hear Me Now and Believe Me Later!
There is no “shadow government” in South Dakota because one party has hired every state employee working in Pierre and anywhere in the state.
i.e. The “shadow government”, which is a real thing, is in Washington D.C. It’s the government employees hired when Democrats are in power.
e.g. The workers at the National Weather Service hid documents about global warming they were ordered to destroy by the Trump Administration.
Cory writes:
Senator Schoenbeck is my prime suspect, as bearing false witness seems to be his fetish, but “CONFIDENTIAL” is spelled correctly, so he apparently had help.
Scott Odenbach wouldn’t do that.
Chairman Aylward wouldn’t do that, much less lie about it.
Nick Nemec writes:
My apologies for messing up the formatting at the end of my comment above. Here’s another try.
Nick Nemec writes:
This seems too elaborate to be a wise crack.
Larry Kurtz writes:
It would be fallacious to condemn the entire diocese just because the core of the shadow government is nominally affiliated with it.
Follow the money. The Vatican has cash stashed in South Dakota so it’s outside the jurisdiction of those who would tap assets to settle the myriad sex abuse and fraud lawsuits being heard by numerous courts all over the globe.
Mr. Evans, do you control the Shadow Government, or do you have sway over those who do?
The Freedom Caucus of the GOP
https://i.redd.it/5b8nzgymafia1.jpg