Three Cheers for Governor Brian Kemp and Those Georgia Republicans.
Yes, there are still many honorable Republicans. Georgia is a good place to find them.
If the Republican Party survives the turmoil it has inflicted upon itself, which is far from certain, it will be because of honest and principled Republicans who simply put honor above rank partisanship. The nation is deeply indebted to those Georgia Republicans such as Governor Brian Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, Attorney General Chris Carr, and Jon Burns, Georgia's House Speaker, who squelched efforts by the real RINO's (Republicans In Name Only) of Georgia to throw the 2020 election, and, subsequently, to defund the Fulton County District Attorney’s office, and fire Fani Willis.
Brad Raffensperger, who is an alumnus of Georgia State University, must have heard the university's motto over and over again in his head— Veritas valet et vincet (truth shall overcome), as former President Trump berated him with veiled threats of prosecution and intense pressure "to find 11,780 votes" to steal the election. Raffensperger stood firm and would not bow to the incredible pressure Trump tried to assert. Raffensperger's resolve to face down the threats of a desperate Donald Trump, who had lost the election in Georgia and who implored and threatened him to throw the election anyway, ultimately paid off. When Trump primaried him in the 2022 midterm elections, he beat back a challenge by his Trump-endorsed opponent, U.S. Representative Jody Hice.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is one of many politicians, among both Republicans and Democrats, who, over the years, have faced the hard reality that sometimes party loyalty demands too much. In 1974, conservative Republican Larry Hogan, the father of the immediate past Governor of Maryland, became the first Republican (and presumed Nixon loyalist) serving on the House Judiciary Committee to announce that he was voting for all three articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon. The senior Hogan, a dear friend, and my former business partner, called me the night before he announced his decision to tell me what he believed he had to do. He understood that the Republicans in Maryland's 5th congressional district would turn him out in the next primary (which they did). Still, he prioritized honor and truth far above political expediency, as has Georgia Governor Kemp and an impressive cohort of other honest and principled Republicans in Georgia.
Governor Kemp, as solid a Republican as there is, was incensed that former President Donald Trump, the absolute RINO par excellence of American politics, implored (indeed demanded) that Kemp throw the election by canceling the votes of thousands of Georgians who had voted for President Biden. Even after three recounts that confirmed that Biden had won the election, Trump continued to pressure Governor Kemp and Secretary of State Raffensperger to throw the election. In Trump's head, Trump never loses, and if inventing votes that weren't there is what it takes to win, then in Trump's world, you go and create the votes. But Brian Kemp wasn't having it, and neither were the other top Republicans in Georgia, the State with the proud motto, "Wisdom, Justice and Moderation."
Governor Kemp was not about to prostitute himself nor his State for Donald Trump, who lost the presidential contest in Georgia by over 11,000 votes. So, Trump did what Trump always does when things do not go his way: He had a tantrum. That is, he went to war. Trump demanded that Kemp call a special session of the legislature to overturn the 2020 election results, which Kemp rightly refused to do. The election had been fair and honest, which repeated recounts had confirmed. Trump's tantrum was to endorse former Senator David Perdue for Governor in the 2022 midterm Republican primaries. Now, it was rank-and-file Georgia Republicans who would weigh in. And, indeed, they did by handing Governor Kemp a staggering victory, with nearly 74% of the vote over Trump's hand-selected opponent, Perdue.
To Donald Trump, Kemp's refusal to throw the election was incongruous. To Republican Governor Brian Kemp, however, the former President is the poster child for incongruity.
Meanwhile, former President Trump and 18 other codefendants have been charged in a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) indictment to steal the election. Subsequently, some Georgia Republicans in the state legislature tried to call a special session of the legislature to defund Fulton Country District Attorney Fani Willis' office in order to rescue Trump and his 18 codefendants from prosecution. But Governor Kemp is having none of it, announcing that he will not call a special session to investigate and impeach Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. "The bottom line is that in the state of Georgia, as long as I'm governor, we're going to follow the law and the Constitution regardless of who it helps or harms politically," Kemp said. Kemp added that he doesn't have the legal authority to call a special session in this case, and besides, he said, he hasn't seen that Willis has done anything illegal.
Then there is Former Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, who refused to bow to Trump's threats and pressure to call a special session of the legislature to invalidate the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Duncan had supported Trump until the former President pressured and threatened him in his effort to overturn the election. On his social media site, the former President advised Duncan not to testify before the Fulton County Grand Jury as District Attorney Fani Willis prepared to bring charges against Trump and 18 codefendants. Duncan has since called Trump the worst candidate ever in GOP history.
Georgia Republican Attorney General Chris Carr is another elected public official who dared to “just say no” when Trump pressured him to join an outrageous Texas lawsuit to throw out the election results in several states, including Georgia. Carr just said “No!” and pushed back against Trump and refused to rally other AGs to join the failed Texas stunt.
Georgia Republican House Speaker Jon Burns also turned thumbs down on efforts by some fellow Republicans to weaponize the General Assembly to do Trump's bidding. Burns stated in an open letter that "we continue to have a few members of the General Assembly making misleading or false claims about the General Assembly's lawful powers regarding an ongoing criminal case before our Judiciary." Burns called the ill-conceived theatrics by some of his fellow Republicans in the legislature an unfortunate part of modern politics, complaining that their efforts to defund Willis' office would interfere with the criminal justice system in Georgia at large and negatively impact the state.
Of course, there are other Georgia Republicans who are not happy. U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene insisted, "Fani Willis should be ashamed of herself, and she's going to lose her job… We'll make sure of that."
No doubt, they will try.
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An excellent even-handed review of the behavior of the political leaders in Georgia. Depending on where citizens get their news it could be a surprise to read and learn that all Republicans are not for party over government. It is a shame that more news outlets do not acknowledge the real state of both parties.
The irony of being charged with RICO violations by the beneficiary of (and participant in?) an actual RICO election fraud and money-laundering enterprise.
https://www.georgiarecord.com/election-integrity/2023/08/31/explosive-revelation-fani-willis-linked-to-massive-election-fraud-and-money-laundering-rico-enterprise/