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Shawn Wroblewski| Your Turn

I entered into the Republican primary for Erie County Executive wanting to make a difference. I was tired of the old party politics and political games. I learned a lot not only about Erie County and its political system and parties. I learned about the people running and holding offices too. So, when I was being asked to run a write-in campaign, I was humbled, especially after receiving 45% of the Republican votes in the primary. Being my first time running and coming from a humble background, I could not have been happier and more thankful for the people who trusted and believed in me.

But I believe in our political system and that every voice needs to be heard. I was not the one chosen for my party. Most everyone expected me to support my fellow Republicans. However, I cannot do that in this case. I do not follow party politics. I have my own mind, values, and beliefs, as we all do in America.

More: The race for Erie County executive: Republican Wroblewski is political newcomer

So, I started to reach out to the other top candidates. I received no answer from some. Others, I had already had the opportunity to know. I reached out to Tyler Titus, who won the Democratic nomination in the Erie County Executive race. I, like most people, had a preconceived notion about meeting Tyler from the media coverage and word of mouth. I was completely wrong.

I was very surprised how similar our visions for Erie County are. While we may not agree on every issue, I believe that Tyler Titus is the best candidate in the race for Erie County Executive. Tyler has a bold vision that matches the scale of the problems Erie County faces and has the knowledge and experience with county government to manage it effectively.

I ran my campaign on a platform of enhancing public safety, supporting small businesses, and ensuring a strong recovery from the pandemic. When I spoke to Tyler, I talked about my belief that we need to invest heavily in the small businesses we have and in attracting new ones to get us through the pandemic in a better spot than we started. I talked about the need to support our local fire departments and to make sure we have a tourism industry that brings money into the county. Tyler listened and agreed. Tyler has the same views on taking care of our veterans and the needs they have, as well as defending strong family values and religious freedoms.

More: Democratic Erie County Executive candidate Tyler Titus announces victory in the municipal primary

Ive been a Republican for 27 years, but Ive always believed that we should make our decisions based on the person, not the party. I know that as a proud Republican, I will get pushback for my support of Tyler. That Im going forward with it anyway shows how important I believe this to be.

As a paramedic and volunteer firefighter, I know what it takes to keep Erie County safe. It is not the reckless showboating or arrogance my former opponent, Brenton Davis, continues to display. It is strong, stable leadership. In a moment of great division, the fact that Tyler Titus took the time to meet with a Republican shows that Tyler is not about party politics. Tyler is about what is right for the people of Erie County.

To me, politics should not be about parties or loyalty. It should be about doing whats right to create the community we deserve. I believe Tyler to be a genuine, thoughtful, competent, prepared leader one who listens first, knows what they dont know, fights for whats right, and is ready to lead. I believe Tyler has the heart, mind, and vision to serve as an effective county executive.

I know that a Titus administration will put everyday Erie County families first. We might be from opposite sides of the political aisle, but I am proud to endorse Tyler Titus for Erie County Executive in this Novembers election.

Shawn Wroblewski, of Erie, is a paramedic and holds a master's degree inhomeland security and public health from Penn State. As aRepublican candidate in the Erie County Executive primary, he garnered 8,367 votes. Davis won the nomination with 10,171 votes.

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Erie Voice: Im the Republican who ran against Brenton Davis, now, I'm supporting Tyler Titus - GoErie.com

Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie was criticized for tweeting a meme showing an image of aperson's wrist tattooed with a concentration camp identification number as a way to oppose coronavirus vaccine mandates.

The tweet was later removed by Twitter or deleted by Massie himself, but screenshots were widely shared by users on Twitter.

An intern in Massie's office later quit, stating on Twitter that the offensive tweet was a red line.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

The tweet seems to follow comments made by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a conspiracy theorist and fierce QAnon supporter, who has previously equated COVID-19 safety measures, like mask mandates, to the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust.

Although Greene later apologized, her remarks led to condemnation across the political spectrum, which included members of her own party. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy openly rejected the Georgia Republican's "appalling" rhetoric in May.

Many further condemned Massie on Twitter:

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GOP intern quits in protest of Republican congressman's comparison of vaccines to the Holocaust - Salon

The resettlement of Afghan allies in the U.S. is exposing an internal divide between the Republican Partys anti-immigrant wing and conservatives who want to help the refugees.

Many Republican leaders have accused President Biden of abandoning the Afghan interpreters and guides who helped the United States during two decades of war, leaving thousands of people in limbo in a country now controlled by the Taliban.

But others including former President Trump and Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader have criticized Mr. Biden for opening the United States up to what they characterized as dangerous foreigners.

Well have terrorists coming across the border, Mr. McCarthy said last week on a call with a bipartisan group of House members, according to two people who were on the call, where he railed against the Biden administrations handling of the withdrawal.

The debate is pitting traditional conservatives, who are more inclined to defend those who have sacrificed for America, against the anti-immigrant wing of the party. And it is a fresh test of Mr. Trumps power to make Republican leaders fall in line behind him.

For now, the faction of Republicans that supports welcoming Afghan refugees to the United States is larger than the one warning of any potential dangers that could accompany their resettlement, according to a poll.

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Republicans are divided over how to handle Afghan evacuees. - The New York Times

Something happened last Saturday that was significant because it was unprecedented: Donald Trump spoke at a rally in the heart of Trump countryCullman, Alabama, which gave the incumbent president more than 88 percent of the vote in 2020and he was booed. The jeers were scattered but noticeable, enough so that Trump responded to them.

Trump had encouraged those in the audience to get vaccinated. I believe totally in your freedoms. I do. Youve got to do what you have to do, Trump said, but I recommend: Take the vaccines. I did itits good. Yet for a large number of Trump supporters in the audience, even though the former president hadnt embraced government or private-sector mandates, he had crossed a redline.

David A. Graham: The noisy minority

Two days later Alex Jones, the far-right radio host and conspiracy theorist Trump courted in 2016, rebuked Trump. After playing a clip of Trump declaring that the vaccines are working, Jones responded, BS. Trump, thats a lie. Youre not stupid. Jones added, Shame on you, Trump. Seriously. Hey, if you dont have the good sense to save yourself and your political career, thats okay. At least youre gonna get some good Republicans elected, and you know, we like ya. But my God. Maybe youre not that bright. Maybe Trumps actually a dumbass.

These incidents are just a few of the straws in the turbulent wind, signs that something ominous is happening to the Republican Party. The GOP base may be identifying less and less with Trump personallythat was inevitable after he left the presidencybut it is not identifying any less with the conspiracist and antidemocratic impulses that defined him over the past five years.

In fact, the opposite is happening.

Not long ago, Trump was viewed as avant-garde, outrageous, and scandalous, Americas enfant terrible. His actions were viewed as so shocking and norm-shattering that he couldnt be ignored. In todays Republican Party, however, Trump is becoming what was once unthinkableconventional, unexceptional, even something of an establishment figure.

In a right-wing movement that is home to a growing assortment of cranks and kooksMarjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar and Lauren Boebert, Mo Brooks and Madison Cawthorn, Ron Johnson and Marsha Blackburn, Mike Lindell and Michael Flynn, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, Cyber Ninjas and QAnon, anti-vaxxers and insurrectionistsTrump looks rather ordinary. He wants credit for the vaccines that were developed during his administration, which mark a genuine medical milestone, but in some quarters of todays Republican Party, that makes Trump suspect, too closely aligned with the hated Anthony Fauci, a dumbass.

The dark, destructive place the GOP has found itself in isnt shocking. For more than half a decade, the Republican baseMAGA worldhas been fed a constant diet of outrageous lies and conspiracy theories, not just by Trump but also by his allies in the party and the right-wing media ecosystem. Negative emotions such as fear, rage, and resentment have been constantly stirred up. Over time, transgressive behaviors became chic; owning the libs became the name of the game. What mattered was hating the right people.

The MAGA brain was rewired. The psychologist Daniel Goleman refers to amygdala hijack, an intense emotional reaction thats dramatically disproportionate to the situation. When a person has been triggered, their emotions take over, and they see the world through a distorted lens.

Republicans who assumed that the party would return to sanity after Trump left office never understood how deforming the effects of his presidency would be. For many, Trumps behaviors were initially a bug; eventually, they became a feature. Republicans ignored his corruptions and reveled in his cruelty. They entered Trumps hall of mirrors, and they rather enjoyed it.

To better understand whats happening in the GOP, think of a person with addiction who over time develops a tolerance; as a result, they need more potent and more frequent doses of the drug to get their desired high. And sometimes even that isnt enough. They might turn to a more potent drug, which offers a more intense experience and a longer-lasting high, but at the price of considerably more danger.

Chris Hayes: The Republican Party is radicalizing against democracy

What was seen as shocking in 2017 is now anodyne. The ethical lines that existed then turned out to have been drawn in sand. When you cross into territory devoid of moral axioms or epistemic standardsthe kind of world you would find in a Turgenev novelthings can get very ugly, very quickly. Even Trumpwhose derangement now includes turning a violent Capitol Hill rioter who was shot and killed by a police officer into a martyr, falsely accusing the police officer of murder, and issuing yet another barely concealed incitement to violencecan begin to look like a mainstream figure within the party. At some point in the future, the same may be said of Marjorie Taylor Greene.

All of this is not only worrisome but deeply dispiriting, especially for those of us who were loyal Republicans for our entire political life, until 2016. To watch an entire party bend and then break and stay broken, to witness it become what it once claimed to loathe, to see it move in an even more frenzied direction after Trumps presidency than during it, is painful. But not nearly as painful as staying silent or becoming complicit with those who continue to cause grave damage to conservatism, to truth, and to our republic.

Read more here:
Trumpism Has Entered Its Final Form - The Atlantic

Speaker of the House of Representatives Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, presides over a partially filled floor session on Feb. 12. A similar scene played out on August 25 when minority-caucus Republicans refused to attend a floor session. There were too few members present to conduct business. (Peter Segall/Juneau Empire via AP, Pool)

The Alaska House of Representatives couldnt conduct any business Wednesday when minority-caucus Republicans refused to attend a floor session.The mostly Democratic House majority didnt have enough members present to reach a quorum.

The two sides traded accusations.

House Speaker Louise Stutes said the absence of minority Republicans is holding up the Legislatures ability to pay for permanent fund dividends. Stutes is a Kodiak Republican who caucuses with the majority.

Its very sad for me, to see these people putting Alaskans secondary to the my-way-or-highway and that seems to be the way their approach is: Its their way or the highway, instead of, Lets sit down and work this out, she said.

Dillingham independent Rep. Bryce Edgmon said theres limited time to pass the dividend bill, since both chambers are struggling to have enough members in Juneau.

And unfortunately, the alternative if we miss that window of time, in August as we turn the corner into September we may walk out of here with a zero PFD, he said. And thats not what our majority wants.

RELATED: Alaska House committee lowers proposed PFD amount to $1,100

But Minority Leader Cathy Tilton, a Wasilla Republican, pushed back against the idea that her caucus caused the failed floor session. She said it was the majority that couldnt get a quorum.The majority caucus holds a slim one-member advantage and Rep. Chris Tuck, D-Anchorage, was absent. Rep. Sara Rasmussen, R-Anchorage, who doesnt belong to either caucus, also was absent.

Tilton said she warned the majority that minority Republicans may not attend the session because they dont want to see a PFD bill pushed through that they cant weigh-in on. Her caucus asked for the ability to draft and vote on amendments to the bill.

Stutes told legislators in an email Wednesday that she planned to get through all amendments that night. Tilton said that wasnt enough time, since the lawyers who draft legislation dont have enough time to draft amendments requested after 6 p.m. for the same night.

Anchorage Democratic Rep. Matt Claman said hes not aware of any previous time when legislators in the Capitol refused to attend a floor session. He compared it to a recent dispute in the Texas Legislature,in which Democratic lawmakers left the state to prevent a quorum to conduct some business.While the Texas House speaker signed arrest warrants for absent members, Stutes said she hoped Alaska legislators would work together.

Minority Republicans also asked for hearings on thegovernors proposals to amend the state constitution to include the dividendand lower the state limit on spending, as well as to debate other legislation affecting the state budget in the long term.

We should be having hearings, Tilton said. Theres nothing holding us back from having those hearings, so it doesnt seem like there should be a problem with making those happen.

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After hours of trying, and failing, to reach a quorum majority members held a brief news conference. They said they planned to hold hearings on the governors constitutional amendment idea and the other budget bills next week.The House Special Committee on Ways and Means has scheduled five meetings in the next two weeks, including hearing a bill from Wasilla Republican Rep. David Eastman who is in the minority that would make changes related to the budget.

The majority caucus had planned to act quickly on the bill to fund PFDs,which the House Finance Committee passed Wednesday morning.The current version would set dividends at $1,100, which is less than half of the $2,350 that Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and some minority Republicans support.

Tilton said the caucuses differ on how to pass the dividend funding.

While its important that we get a dividend out to Alaskans I would completely agree with that I think we may disagree on the amount of that dividend, and what it looks like, she said.

In other news, Dunleavy announced that the state would fund university scholarships and the medical education program, known as WWAMI.Funding for the two programs about $15 million has been held up in a legal dispute over unspent funds that get swept into a state savings account each year.He said the programs were funded for the next year before the rest of the money in the accounts to pay the programs was swept.

More here:
In feud over PFD, Alaska Legislature grinds to a halt when Republican lawmakers refuse to show up - Alaska Public Media News