Politicians are fungible – in almost every instance, one candidate is essentially replaceable by another – and this is why we must be utterly unsentimental about them. They owe us loyalty, and they have a fiduciary duty to us to win or to get out of the way in favor of someone who can. And this is why Eric Greitens, aka Kinky Todd Akin, needs to drop out of the race for the Missouri Senate seat.
Greitens is the ex-Democrat who changed into a Republican to become Missouri governor, a post he quit in disgrace one step ahead of impeachment by a GOP supermajority. There are plenty of accusations against him, including domestic abuse and tying his girlfriend up in the basement and snapping photos of her. Because Missouri is "50 shades of Red," his "50 shades of Grey" antics and his myriad other issues make him the only Republican capable of losing this race. And if we lose this seat, we likely lose the Senate. And if we lose the Senate, we may lose America.
I'm not willing to give my country over to the left because of Eric Greitens' ego.
This guy was a SEAL officer, but it's irrelevant that a bunch of his SEAL comrades detest him. We don't need to reach or decide that issue, or even his many others. His myriad issues exist, and they will make him lose. He's been wounded by them, mortally, in large part due to his own indiscipline, and an officer should put the mission ahead of himself. But Greitens is not doing that. He knows he's risking the seat when other candidates – like Missouri's outstanding AG Eric Schmitt (who I have interviewed on-air) – are just as conservative as Greitens is in his current, post-Democrat pose. Remember that Greitens used to oppose constitutional carry, but he "evolved" when he switched from being a Democrat a few years ago.
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There is no reason for Missouri voters to risk the seat because this guy wants vindication. Maybe some or even all of the accusations – go Google "Eric Greitens scandals" and set aside a couple of hours to read up on them – are exaggerated or outright lies. So? It does not matter because he's damaged goods, fair or not. He owes us, not vice versa, and he's risking the seat. This is not about vindicating him. It's about saving our country. He puts that at risk, so he must move aside.
We're not here to deliver some sort of justice to Eric Greitens – in fact, as Senator Josh Hawley, no squish, pointed out, justice here might be handcuffs. We are here to win and rescue America. His ego is in the way. If he gets nominated, he's Todd Akin 2.0, except that Todd Akin was a nice guy who said dumb things (I recommended he quit too as he was likely to lose), and Greitens is, well, Greitens.
Yes, he was accused of vile conduct in a family law case. I defend a lot of people accused of bad things in civil suits, and sometimes people make stuff up – especially in family law cases. But then, I didn't choose to either 1) abuse my wife and kids or 2) marry someone who would lie about me abusing my wife and kids. Greitens did one or the other, and he's got to sort this out. Frankly, he needs to fix it with his family now. He's selfish to stay in – it's unbecoming of an officer to put his own desires first.
Yeah, I played the officer card. And I have held other officers to that standard even where it hurts. Sean Parnell was running for Senate in Pennsylvania when his ex-wife made allegations against him in a custody case. I know him, and I did not believe a word of it, but it was there, and it made him a liability. Sean, an Army officer and combat vet, did not need to be told to do the right thing. He just did it. He put the mission and his kids first. He pulled out and chose to focus on his family. I hope he is able to heal his family and that he comes back in the future – I'll be his Number One supporter because he showed character and selflessness in putting the mission and his family first even in the face of charges he vehemently denied.
Neither the mission nor his family is first with Greitens, and that's disqualifying.
Now, there is a good argument that we can't just buckle at every accusation because that gives the Democrats a veto. But these are not just ridiculous lies like those against Brett Kavanaugh, and you need to ask yourself why Schmitt and the others running are not getting hit with domestic violence and bondage claims, too, if it's so effective. Greitens quit for a reason. If he wanted to clear his name, he should have told the Republicans looking to impeach him to "Bring it on."
This is not the result of some establishment conspiracy – I and a lot of others who aren't allowed in the same ZIP code as the establishment want this spoiler gone. Senator Mitch McConnell did not do this – Greitens did. It was Greitens who was utterly embarrassing when being interviewed by Hugh Hewitt (I sometimes guest host for Hewitt). And the other candidates are all solid conservatives – Greitens does not hold a monopoly on his newly-embraced hardcore positions. There are other options for hardcore conservatism without the bondage baggage.
We don't need Greitens, but the Democrats do. They made sure to vote for Todd Akin in the primary because he was weak, and we endured six years of Senator Claire McCaskill because of it. They want Greitens as the nominee so bad they can taste it, because he's their only chance at winning. Want proof? Go on Twitter and look at all the faux-MAGA accounts fulminating when actual conservatives point out that this guy is poison. Forty-three followers, 52 followers, 23 followers – all Democrat bots. All working to get this anchor nominated so they can hang him around the Missouri GOP's neck right down the ballot.
The Democrats have made their choice, and soon Donald Trump will too. Let's hope he doesn't choose poorly. His endorsement matters, but if Trump endorses Greitens, he endorses a loser. Several of his prior endorsements have disappointed him so far, and Greitens certainly will. After all, Greitens has disappointed everyone else.
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