With all the turmoil coming from Washington, D.C. — the ruling overturning Roe v. Wade; striking down New York’s requirement to show “proper cause” to openly carry a handgun; and the Jan. 6 insurrection hearings — we seem to have overlooked a major problem we have right here in Missouri: the words and actions of our disgraced former governor, Eric Greitens.
We know through court proceedings and news reports that Greitens has been accused of spousal abuse, adultery, extortion and campaign finance law violations. Yet he appears to be carrying the support of super-conservative, right-wing Trump supporters in the Show-Me State.
Some of you may have caught the advertisement from the Greitens for U.S. Senate campaign. It opens with Greitens holding an assault shotgun declaring himself a Navy SEAL (not a former Navy SEAL) who is going “RINO hunting.”
For those unfamiliar with the term, a RINO is a “Republican in name only,” which has origins as far back as 1865.
Even President Theodor Roosevelt was called a RINO in a 1906 article published by the North American Review, “noting that between progressive and conservative Republicans, ‘either one must be Republican in name only.’”
Our former president Donald Trump still uses the term regularly when referring to those in the Republican Party who disagreed with or challenged him or his policies on any number of topics.
Let’s start at the beginning. In Greitens’ ad he unequivocally states that he is a Navy SEAL. This could not be further from the truth.
On June 24, the Kansas City Star reported that “Greitens resigned his commission in the Navy Reserve on May 1, 2021, just two months after he launched his campaign for U.S. Senate.”
Greitens’ advertisement continues to show him in his khaki shirt and blue jeans, holding his shotgun with a pistol strapped to his leg.
He is followed by a number of men in faux military uniforms while declaring that he is going RINO hunting.
The “military” then uses a ram to break down the front door of an unoccupied building, throwing in a flash-bang hand grenade and entering the building, followed closely by the former governor.
Greitens then exclaims: “Join the MAGA crew and get a RINO hunting permit. There is no bagging limit, no tagging limit, and it doesn’t expire until we save our country.”
It ends with a rendition of the “hunting permit,” with the message on how to get yours by going to Greitens’ campaign site.
This ad was released a few days after the Uvalde school massacre and the mass shootings in Tulsa, Chattanooga, Philadelphia, Clarendon County, South Carolina, Manhattan, Staten Island and Chicago.
Greitens lied and advocated the shooting of fellow Republicans who disagree with him and his hero, Donald Trump. He has stepped way over the line of decency, honor and common sense.
So why is this man leading the pack of candidates running in the August Republican primary for the soon to be vacant U.S. Senate seat of Roy Blunt? I really don’t know.
Why hasn’t the hierarchy of the Republican Party denounced Greitens and this advertisement advocating violence against fellow members of the GOP? Are they so afraid of Trump and his minions? Again, I don’t know.
We have heard nothing to condemn the advertisement by Missouri’s governor, our two U.S. Senators, any of our U.S. GOP Representatives, leaders of the Missouri Republican Party, the GOP state Senate or the state House or anyone else representing the GOP in Missouri.
They all seem to condone Greitens and his call to hunt and kill fellow Republicans. The single exception is Missouri Sen. Calen Rowden.
This is wrong on so many levels.
Facebook took down the video shortly after its release June 19. Twitter is keeping the ad up with a warning label, “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about abusive behavior. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.”
I cannot believe the GOP has stooped this low to advocate the murder of fellow Republicans because they disagree with the MAGA crowd.
How much further must the Republican Party fall before the GOP leaders, Libertarians, Democrats and progressives not only openly denounce Greitens but get out the vote to replace those who seek to destroy our more perfect Union through violent and criminal actions?
David Rosman is an award-winning editor, writer and professional speaker. David is the Missouri State Director of American Atheists and a biweekly columnist for the Columbia Missourian at ColumbiaMissourian.com.
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