{"id":5305,"date":"2022-02-06T07:56:47","date_gmt":"2022-02-06T12:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=5305"},"modified":"2022-02-06T07:56:51","modified_gmt":"2022-02-06T12:56:51","slug":"believe-them-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/06\/believe-them-the-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Believe Them the First Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cWhen someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time\u201d \u2013 Maya Angelou<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talking Point<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a recent \u201ctalking point\u201d in the mainstream media.  Pundits point out that Donald Trump is losing his influence over the remaining Republicans, often citing the Virginia Governor race.  In that contest the victorious Republican, Glenn Youngkins, espoused Trump-like (lite?) ideas without actually being a \u201cTrumper\u201d.  He accepted Trump\u2019s support, but didn\u2019t let him campaign in Virginia.  The \u201ctalking point\u201d is that \u201cnew\u201d Republican candidates can appeal to the Trump ideology, but not be \u201cTrumps\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This doesn\u2019t seem to be the case here in Ohio. In the Republican Senate primary campaign Josh Mandel, a former State Treasurer and \u201cnormal\u201d Republican, has adhered as closely to Trumpism as he can get.\u00a0 His opponents are trying to be even “Trumpier” than he is. Mandel seems to be holding his own: the latest polling shows Mandel up by 6% on his nearest competitor in an eight \u201chorse\u201d race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legitimate Political Discourse<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Every time a Republican seems to stray from the Trump-line, they get smacked back into place.  Senator Lindsey Graham is the latest, and perhaps, most frequent victim.  Graham had the audacity to say that January 6th insurrectionists shouldn\u2019t be pardoned as the former President suggested.  In response, Trump called Graham a \u201cRINO\u201d, and said \u201c\u2026he doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s talking about\u201d.  Graham didn\u2019t mention the former President in his response to that,  but held his position against pardons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But to really see where the Republican Party is today, simply look at the actions of the Republican National Committee this week.  The Party censured Congressmen Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for participating on the January 6th Committee.  The Party went even further, saying that the events of January 6th, the Insurrection at the Capitol, was simply \u201c\u2026legitimate political discourse\u201d.  They also gave their approval to Cheney\u2019s Republican primary opponent, and promised funds against Cheney in the primary election (Kinzinger is not running for re-election).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maya Angelou said, \u201cWhen someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time\u201d.  The Republican Party has shown the nation, over and over again, who they are.  They are the Party of ex-President Donald Trump.  Not only do they fall in line with whatever the current Trump talking point is, but they are completely beholden to Trump financially.   Much of the Committee financing is done over Trump\u2019s name, and Trump is getting his \u201cpound of flesh\u201d back.  In just October and November of 2021, the RNC paid over $720,000 in Trump\u2019s legal bills (ABC<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outliers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are still Republican \u201coutliers\u201d; those who don\u2019t genuflect to the former President.\u00a0\u00a0Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, and even Ohio\u2019s current Governor Mike DeWine all fit in that mold.\u00a0\u00a0But all of them are in unique positions to get some independence from the \u201cparty-line\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Collins has just won a new six year term.\u00a0\u00a0Murkowski ran as an independent Republican in Alaska, against a \u201cParty\u201d candidate.\u00a0\u00a0Romney is from a state where his religion dominates, and they don\u2019t approve of Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And with DeWine here in Ohio, we\u2019ve yet to see how his independence will do.\u00a0\u00a0The seventy-five year old Governor has a long political history in the state, but faces a well-financed primary challenge from Jim Renacci of suburban Wadsworth.\u00a0\u00a0Renacci is following the \u201cVirginia model\u201d, checking all the boxes from banning \u201ccritical race theory\u201d in schools to cutting taxes and de-centralizing the state government.\u00a0\u00a0He doesn\u2019t mention Trump in his campaign (and has not received a Trump endorsement), but even his slogan, \u201cPutting Ohio first means putting America first\u201d echoes Trumpian faux-patriotism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who Are You<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Republican Party told us \u201cwho they were\u201d this week, for the umpteenth time.  They even went so far as to rewrite history, and told us not to \u201cbelieve our lying eyes\u201d about the January 6th Insurrection \u2013 simply \u201clegitimate political discourse\u201d.   They have made a choice, to castigate Cheney, Kinzinger, and any others who stand for something that looks like what used to be the Republican Party of twenty years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s not.  And for my Never-Trumper friends who voted for Biden and now feel betrayed that Biden turned out to be a \u201cDemocrat\u201d, I am sorry.  We told you what we were, and you determined that it was better than Trump.  By the way, that is still true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhere out there there\u2019s a core of a National Union Party, a center-right\u00a0\u00a0Kinzinger and Cheney meet Joe Manchin alliance.\u00a0\u00a0But the current Republican Party isn\u2019t it.\u00a0\u00a0This week they told us who they are \u2013 a Party that is willing to throw out the US Constitution in order to gain power:\u00a0\u00a0legitimate political discourse at the end of a flag pole with bear spray.\u00a0\u00a0Like it or not, if you call yourself a Party Republican, that\u2019s your Party.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time\u201d \u2013 Maya Angelou Talking Point It\u2019s a recent \u201ctalking point\u201d in the mainstream media.  Pundits point out that Donald Trump is losing his influence over the remaining Republicans, often citing the Virginia Governor race.  In that contest the victorious Republican, Glenn Youngkins, espoused Trump-like (lite?) … Continue reading “Believe Them the First Time”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBelieve Them the First Time : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Republican National Committee rewrote history. The Insurrection of January 6 - why that was just "legitimate political discourse".\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/06\/believe-them-the-first-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Believe Them the First Time : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Republican National Committee rewrote history. The Insurrection of January 6 - why that was just "legitimate political discourse".\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/06\/believe-them-the-first-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-06T12:56:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-06T12:56:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marty Dahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@martydahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@martydahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marty Dahlman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/06\\\/believe-them-the-first-time\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/06\\\/believe-them-the-first-time\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Marty Dahlman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"headline\":\"Believe Them the First Time\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-06T12:56:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-06T12:56:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/06\\\/believe-them-the-first-time\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":876,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/06\\\/believe-them-the-first-time\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/06\\\/believe-them-the-first-time\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/06\\\/believe-them-the-first-time\\\/\",\"name\":\"Believe Them the First Time : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-06T12:56:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-06T12:56:51+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Republican National Committee rewrote history. The Insurrection of January 6 - why that was just \\\"legitimate political discourse\\\".\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/06\\\/believe-them-the-first-time\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/06\\\/believe-them-the-first-time\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/06\\\/believe-them-the-first-time\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Believe Them the First Time\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/\",\"name\":\"Trump World - Essays on Politics and the Trump Administration\",\"description\":\"Essays on Politics and Life in Our America\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\",\"name\":\"Marty Dahlman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"width\":480,\"height\":640,\"caption\":\"Marty Dahlman\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\"},\"description\":\"I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dahlman.online\",\"https:\\\/\\\/m.facebook.com\\\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/martydahlman\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Believe Them the First Time : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","description":"The Republican National Committee rewrote history. The Insurrection of January 6 - why that was just \"legitimate political discourse\".","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/06\/believe-them-the-first-time\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Believe Them the First Time : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","og_description":"The Republican National Committee rewrote history. The Insurrection of January 6 - why that was just \"legitimate political discourse\".","og_url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/06\/believe-them-the-first-time\/","og_site_name":"Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","article_publisher":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","article_author":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","article_published_time":"2022-02-06T12:56:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-02-06T12:56:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Marty Dahlman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@martydahlman","twitter_site":"@martydahlman","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marty Dahlman","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/06\/believe-them-the-first-time\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/06\/believe-them-the-first-time\/"},"author":{"name":"Marty Dahlman","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"headline":"Believe Them the First Time","datePublished":"2022-02-06T12:56:47+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-06T12:56:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/06\/believe-them-the-first-time\/"},"wordCount":876,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/06\/believe-them-the-first-time\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/06\/believe-them-the-first-time\/","url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/06\/believe-them-the-first-time\/","name":"Believe Them the First Time : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-02-06T12:56:47+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-06T12:56:51+00:00","description":"The Republican National Committee rewrote history. The Insurrection of January 6 - why that was just \"legitimate political discourse\".","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/06\/believe-them-the-first-time\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/06\/believe-them-the-first-time\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/06\/believe-them-the-first-time\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Believe Them the First Time"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/","name":"Trump World - Essays on Politics and the Trump Administration","description":"Essays on Politics and Life in Our America","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c","name":"Marty Dahlman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","width":480,"height":640,"caption":"Marty Dahlman"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1"},"description":"I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.dahlman.online","https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","https:\/\/x.com\/martydahlman"]}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5305"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5307,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5305\/revisions\/5307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}