Heaven knows Trumpkins have lately sorely tested my patience. (Incidentally, I didn't coin the term 'Trumpkin' for Trump's cultish minions; I don't know how popular the term was a few years back when I picked it up, but I borrowed it from CATO Institute executive/immigration scholar Alex Nowrasteh.) Initially it was Congresswoman MTG who decided to target Speaker Johnson over his tactics on the floor which she thinks have been exploited to the benefit of the Dems. Trumpkins have become increasingly hostile to extending Ukraine aid, with or without a border deal. The last thing we need is yet a third round of Speaker succession selection given a razor-thin, shrinking GOP House majority.
But familiar readers pf my blog and/or Twitter feed may be aware of my"connection" with Congresswoman Nancy Mace {R, SC-1). In 2015-6 I had moved to North Charleston, SC to work on an expiring government contract. Tim Scott, the 2013 Congressman was appointed by Gov. Haley to serve out retiring Sen. DeMint's term. I think the seat had been conservative Dem until the Reagan Revolution during which you saw a realignment when you saw a general poliyical realignment where white Democrats trended Republican and blacks realigned themselves with leftist Dems. Former Gov. Sanford, a pro-liberty politician, succeeded Scott in SC-1 and was my Congressman during my residence there. [Note that I had relocated to AZ the summer of 2016
Trump had disdain for the few principled pro-liberty fellow GOP conservatives and explicitlt targeted Amash, Sanford, and Massie to primart, succeeding in the former 2 cases. The Trumpkin who defeated Sanford (Arrington) lost in the 2018 general election to the Dem. Cunningham, for the first time flip in nearly 4 decades. Nancy Mace, a former state representative and a first Citadel Corp female graduate, successfully challenged Cunningham in the next election.
Nancy is sort of pro-liberty, having supported Ron Paul in 2012, but somehow transitioned to Trump in 2016. (This is something I've criticized in other libertarians reading something in Trump, a statist who claims absolute authority, who threatens trade and all but disregards international agreements; I think they read too much into his America First rhetoric) Another relevant point for the current essay is that Mace claims to have been raped at 16, and in fact as a state legislator she pushed for related exceptions in SC's abortion law.
Nancy criticized Trump's J6 behavior, enough to draw a Trumpkin challenger in 2022. But she has reinvented herself this past session, enough to draw me into publicly criticize her on Twitter/X, notably for her pushing the rubbish Trump claim that former lead Ukraine key prosecutor Shokin was a victim of Biden who had allegedly been bribed to prevent investigation of Burisma which had recruited Hunter Biden onto its board. There have been rumors that Nancy has been auditioning for the Veep slot on the ticket.
Where do I come into play? Only on a minor point: her staff had somehow procured my cellphone number, and the Android spam filter didn't catch it. It was a solicitation for campaign volunteer work, and I thought a tactful response was I'm a libertarian, and you don't want me. The staffer then did his/her best to cast her as my sleeper dream candidate. At this point, I soon discovered the text was not from MD but SC; I left SC in 2016
So the key kerfuffle motivating this essay involves a March 10 exchange between ABC New This Week moderator George Stephanopoulos and Nancy Mace where Mace took offense at rhe moderator allegedly trying to shame her as a rape victim for criticizing E. Jean Carroll, who noably won a lawsuit against Trump for sexual misconduct. [The joke involved what Ms. Carroll would do with her $83M judgment from Trump during an MSNBC primetime interview.]
First of all,I loathe right-wingers (including Trump and Mace) playing the victim card. Second, Carroll was not "joking" about Trump's misconduct; she was trying to provoke Trump by getting under his skin. I can't speak for the victims of sexual nisconduct, but I can understand where a victim of Trump wants to hit back where it hurts him most--his reputation of wealth and power. I also think it's highly hypocritical for Mace herself to put herself in judgment of Carroll the same way she stands in judgment of Stephanopoulos. I think Trump's own self-admission of imappropriate activity around women makes Trump's character a legitimate issue. Why does Mace's experience give her a wildcard excuse to avoid the issue? Doesn't she have a moral responsibility to speak out in solidarity with fellow victims? Finally, Mace's distinction between a criminal vs. civil verdict is frivolous and inconsistent. I don't think Mace's alleged rapist got convicted in a criminal or civil court. In fact, Trump was found guilty of penetrating Ms. Carroll's vagina; there's only a difference of which body part Trump used to penetrate. Mace's dissing a civil conviction in favor of the world's most powerful man abusing his authority to violate his victim a different way is unconscionable and inexcusable
I don't recall Stephanopoulos challenging Mace's rape victim claims or trying to embarrass her with a legitimate question for any Republican female politician If anything, Mace was using political correctness to intimidate Stephanopoulos from doing his job.
