The blame game is getting old
It’s funny how in a state that is as Republican — on paper, at least — as Wyoming, it’s the Democrats who get the blame when things go wrong.
You’re telling me that in a state that voted 71% for Trump in the 2024 election — a higher percentage than in 2020 and 2016, mind you — and in a state that has a legislature where 56 of 62 representatives (90%) and 29 of 31 senators (93%) are Republican, it’s the liberals who are ruining everything.
The White House did the same thing when the government shut down, even though Republicans controlled the House and the Senate. But in that case, they didn’t have a super-majority, so I can see why they were complaining about the radical left.
But in Wyoming, where the state legislature that is more than 90% Republican? That argument doesn’t hold any water.
I almost feel sorry for people who fall for this storyline. It’s the same playbook that is used across the country: Those in power tell voters that it’s the minorities who are responsible for everything that’s going wrong. In this case, the big bad minorities are the Democrats.
What conservatives in Wyoming like to do is claim that there are RINOs, Democrats dressed up in Republicans’ clothing, who have infiltrated the legislature. In their minds, the voters are so dumb that they’ll vote for anyone who has an “R” next to their name.
That’s not a very nice way to think of the people who vote you into office.
I started writing on this topic a few hours before I heard Rebecca Bextel, who’s at the center of the “Checkgate” scandal, blaming Democrats and “counterfeit Republicans” for blowing things out of proportion. It’s just so predictable at this point.
She was asked to define “counterfeit Republicans.”
“Looks like a Republican, says they’re a Republican, but they’re not a Republican,” she told a legislative committee Thursday.
She took 13 words to say absolutely nothing. Instead of actually supporting her claim with facts and logic, she resorted to a tired cliche.
What is a counterfeit Republican? What is a RINO? Please point me to a Republican in Wyoming who is anti-gun, anti-God, pro-abortion and careless with taxpayer dollars. To me, that would be a Democrat cosplaying as a Republican.
It would be nice for Republicans to take some accountability for their actions. They’ve had a supermajority for years, yet every legislative session they fall into the same old trap of arguing with other Republicans.
Maybe don’t hand out checks on the House floor? That’s just a thought.
But maybe if I were in the position to “donate” hundreds of thousands of dollars to candidates to shape Wyoming to my ideals, I might do the same.
My first priority? Converting all four-way stops to roundabouts. But that’s an editorial for another day.