The Far Right Continues To Work To Defeat Mitch McConnell

Almost all the Koch-funded far right extremist groups have now joined the battle to nominate teabagger Matt Bevin over McConnell in the May 20th Kentucky primary. The latest, this weekend, was the Republican Liberty Caucus. The group, which has been around since 1991, has also endorsed Milton Wolf over Pat Roberts in Kansas, Lee Bright over Lindsey Graham in South Carolina, Pat McGeehan in West Virginia instead of the Establishment corporate shill (Shelley Moore Capito), and Owen Hill in Colorado (instead of Ken Buck, the other extremist lunatic in the race). They claim the endorsement of Matt Bevin over McConnell was "unanimous."

“It is time that the career professional politicians more interested in being  Washington insiders step aside for new voices who will represent their constituents' desire for lower taxes and less government interference in their family affairs and their personal lives,” said RLC National Chair Matt Nye.

Nye said it was a thorough process to compare the incumbent Sen. Mitch McConnell and Matt Bevin, and the RLC deliberates carefully when the incumbent is a Republican.

…“But in the end, it was clear that Matt Bevin, unlike the incumbent, will stand up for individual liberty, limited government and Constitutional principles.

He will hold Washington accountable for its actions that impact the lives of hard-working citizens who know better than government how to manage their lives,” Nye said… “We believe that Matt Bevin is the best hope for the citizens of Kentucky to be secure without government prying into their private lives,” Nye said.

The congressional Liberty Caucus, chaired by Justin Amash, must be asking for extra helpings of the cherry Coke they all drink. McConnell could help Boehner squash them like bugs if he got the idea any of them-- particularly Kentucky teabagger Tom Massey, who represents the northeastern part of the state across from Cincinnati. The GOP Establishment is already at war with these Members, who they see as troublemakers and rebels-- especially Amash, Raul Labrador (ID), Mick Mulvaney (SC), Thomas Massie (KY), Mark Meadows (NC), Tom Graves (GA), and Jim Jordan (OH). Friday, though, Charlie Spiering at the right-wing website, Washington Examiner, opined that the RNC is trying to make nice with the extremists.

Liberty Republicans. They are the young, more libertarian-minded, grassroots supporters that used to be identified chiefly by their favorite Republican presidential candidate, former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas.

Now, as the Republican National Committee tries to repair relationships and increase outreach to all political groups, they are doing their best to entice more libertarian Republicans into the fold.

Some of these supporters were turned off by what was described as the "railroading" of Ron Paul supporters by RNC Chairman Reince Priebus during the 2012 convention in Tampa.

But the RNC wants to appear welcoming to the libertarian element in their party, which more established members of the party once derided as "Paultards" after they disrupted events in favor of their candidate.

…During the party's winter meeting in Washington on Friday, the RNC passed a resolution renouncing the National Security Agency’s surveillance program for its abuses of private liberties… Spiker cited it as a key step going forward in making sure that libertarian issues were part of the Republican Party.

"There are things like wireless wiretaps, surveillance programs on people-- that's not going to earn the trust of young people, so our party has to be the party that defends civil liberties and it needs to be a big cornerstone of the party, protecting private property rights and individual rights," he told the Washington Examiner after the resolution passed.

I guess they missed Speaker Boehner on Jay Leno's show the night before.

Leno: Let me ask you about Snowden. I guess Mike Rogers…

Boehner: Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee

Leno: He seems to think that Snowden was working with Russia as a spy?

Boehner: Ahhh… That may or may not be true. All I can say is that I think Snowden is a traitor to the country...

Leno: I agree with you

Boehner: I think that the NSA may have made mistakes but, let's understand something: the NSA is there to keep Americans safe here and abroad. They've got a big job to do. We're gonna take a look at what needs to be tweaked.

Leno: Israel spies on us…

Boehner: And we spy on them. We spy on everyone else. Let's all just get over it. It's been going on for thousands of years…

Leno: Exactly, exactly…

I wonder if Amash watched that performance and how many "liberty Republicans" think Boehner was trying to earn the trust of young people.

Meanwhile, on Saturday the Arizona Republican Party formally censured Sen. John McCain, citing a voting record they say is insufficiently conservative. According to the resolution, McCain has campaigned as a conservative but has lent his support to issues "associated with liberal Democrats," such as immigration reform and campaign finance reform and for voting to fund the Affordable Care Act. The party, which is controlled by far right-wing extremists rebuked McCain and called his record “disastrous and harmful."

Saturday’s censure came two weeks after the Maricopa County Republican Party passed a resolution to censure the senator on a 1,150-to-351 vote.

The state GOP party’s censure passed by acclamation, meaning by a voice vote. It has no practical effect, but serves as an attempt to embarrass the senator.

McCain and his office have not commented on the county censure although his supporters point to the party’s reputation for ultra-right partisanship… The resolution condemns McCain “for his continued disservice to our state and nation,” and said state Republican leaders “will no longer support, campaign for or endorse John McCain as our U.S. Senator.”