What was he thinking? In spite of having been acquitted by a judge for his role in inciting the capitol riot, Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks has showed out one time too many for the good conservative people of Alabama. These days, most Alabama folks that are conservative are not neo-Nazi fascists like Mo Brooks. In my view, Brooks probably could’ve been convicted of incitement and conspiracy where Donald Trump wouldn’t have been. The tone and tenor of the remarks by each were different from one another.
The fact is Mo Brooks crossed a line that the conservatives of Alabama don’t like. It’s not even that he incited the riot, it’s the malicious words he used, it’s his attitude. He showed himself to be be forged in the same extremist vein as the deposed Roy Moore and Jeff Sessions. And don’t forget, he was one of the cadre present when Steve Scalise was shot.
I remember when I first met Mo Brooks years ago prior to being elected to the Madison County Republican Executive Committee in 1986. People told me, you just don’t understand how extreme he really is – he’s totally two faced – watch your back. Later on by the time I ran for Huntsville mayor in 2000 and 2004 I had seen his inklings bleeding through and realized he was indeed the kind of total fascist that caused me to renounce and denounce the Republican Party in spite of having previously been elected to the executive committee. Mo Brooks has now proven publicly what I already knew – Mo Brooks is unfit for public office.
These days the rest of Alabama is going through a little bit of an identity crisis when it comes to conservatism versus the fascism born of days gone by. As the state grows and moves forward, particularly in Huntsville and North Alabama, conservative transplants are moving in that have no taste for the family of “good ol’ boys” hanging on to their aristocratic entitlements.
The saying goes, “there’s a new sheriff in town.” As a matter of fact, there are several new sheriffs in North Alabama as the likes of Blake Dorning, Mike Blakely and Anna Franklin have moved on, some voluntarily and some under duress of the law they portend to reflect. The successors aren’t always optimum but the changing guard does reflect a different attitude and tone coming from the good folks in those towns – transplants or not.
Donald Trump’s prattle about why he pulled his endorsement for US Senate from Congressman Brooks is really just problematic for him because ironically Brooks is right in that it’s time to move on from Trump’s lost/stolen election. Trump knows this and most likely what he says now and how he runs his next election still three years away – an eternity in political terms – will be two different things. Right now it’s still a good idea to evade his association with the capitol riots. The bottom line is that Mo Brooks is “tanking” in the polls so badly that he is no longer viable (good riddance). And, he’s even being beaten by Katie Britt – a GIRL!
And, there’s another kind of new sheriff in town by the name of Mike Durant. Frankly, I don’t much care for Durant, but he says the right words, has the military background, has the small business background, has the money pouring in and fits the bill to the tee for a successful Trump conservative. I can’t imagine Mo Brooks making a comeback at this point and so it’s a no brainer that Trump will endorse a winner – Mike Durant – once the dust settles over the creek. It’s just good politics.
Spoiler alert. This mornings news says Joe Biden’s poll popularity is so bad right now that I suppose even Mo Brooks could beat him. In that light, I assert Trump could’ve won the last election outright if he meant to. His agenda is complex and he has different goals he wants to accomplish in due time. But get this, the confederate monuments are gone and they ain’t coming back. For Trump to win and for conservatives to win, they have to stop stirring that pit of malarki and be conservatives in today’s real world.
In my opinion, if Trump wants to take the whip away from the ultra-left diversity fascists, he’s got to stop the alt-right neo-Nazi fascists from giving them the rope. So, we shall see, whether Donald Trump will run a campaign of good ol’ boy sublimation, or dig in the spurs and run a real campaign to win the White House. I can assure you, Trump can loose the next election on behalf of the Republicans – in spite of Joe Biden’s incompetence – if he wants to.
©2022 – Jim Casey
