Reprehensible
People talk sometimes about our Congressman, Steve Stivers, being moderate because when he was in the Ohio statehouse, he did not turn hard right on every issue and seemed to be reachable by his constituents.
To those folks, I am deeply sorry to say you are completely, irrevocably wrong.
Congressman Stivers just worked with a neo-nazi, Steve Bannon, to make sure his own and other House RepubliCons’ jobs were secure. In a quid pro quo arrangement, Stivers traded off his colleagues. And American democracy.
From the conservative newspaper Washington Examiner: “Stivers, the Ohio congressman who is leading the House GOP’s 2018 campaign operation, forged a deal with Bannon that will cede certain open-seat nominating contests to Bannon in exchange for the Breitbart News chairman not fielding populist primary challengers against incumbent House Republicans.”
The Washington Examiner goes on to say that “a source close to Stivers confirmed that the NRCC chairman acted independently. ‘He did this on his own to establish a relationship.’” Even Paul Ryan is not happy about this (maybe because he didn’t think of it first?).
Steve Stivers is “establishing a relationship” with a neo-nazi.
That makes him a collaborator! This isn’t liberal hype. Forbes, a magazine far from left-wing, asserts that Bannon and his colleagues worked to “advance an agenda that embraced tactics, values, and assistance from neo-Nazi and white nationalist groups, among others.” (Buzzfeed has a more detailed article, too.)
As a military general, he should be doubly ashamed of himself. But if he is willingly collaborating with this pathological person, then he obviously no longer has the capacity for shame.
We know about Stivers’ refusal to listen to his constituents and his arrogant dismissal of our concerns about health care, immigration, and tax “reform” that hurts the middle class. But his sick deals with a neo-nazi might be his Waterloo. For this traitorous behavior, he needs to resign his commission as well as his job representing District 15.