Starring Ryan Walters as Anne Gorsuch
Gentle reader,
Have you ever heard of Anne Gorsuch?
We have no doubt that you’ve heard of her son, Neil Gorsuch. Other than his decisions in Bostock and McGirt, he’s been a great Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
But we’re talking about his mother, Anne Gorsuch. Anne was phenomenal in her own right. Ronald Reagan appointed her to lead the still-fairly-new EPA and essentially dismantle the bastardized (by the Carter Administration) vision of what President Nixon put in place. Environmentalism was still in its infancy at the time, but during the Carter years, it was incubated enough that they knew how to put up a fight. Over Anne Gorsuch, they really did.
Using a willing press, the environmentalists ran exaggerated stories about the Administrator. Stories were made up as well, and flat out lies were told against her. The Reagan Administration pushed back on the stories as well as they could, but the left’s pervasive effort could not be entirely defeated, and questions continued around Anne. She survived in her role for two years, but when you legitimately screw up amid pervasive false pressure, it magnifies the impact, and your side just can’t defend you anymore. (Anne’s troubles weren’t fully her fault – she was instructed by the White House to withhold documents from Congress – which was the basis of the famous Supreme Court case Morrison v. Olson.) Justice Gorsuch was 15 at the time of his mom’s resignation and the whole thing informed his views on the administrative state.
The same exact thing happened to Oklahoman Scott Pruitt
when he served as EPA Administrator. False stories and bluster were published, drama was created, and when he really did screw up (asking staff to buy him a used mattress from the next-door Trump Hotel, and trying to acquire a Chik-fil-a franchise for his wife) it magnified the problem and Trump could not protect him anymore. He became a distraction and had to go.
We say all of this
because this is where we are with Ryan Walters: he is a distraction. He is Pruitt and Anne Gorsuch, except Ryan is elected rather than appointed. In fairness, more than half of what the press writes about him isn’t really a story, but becomes one because he’s Ryan Walters and he’s made a caricature of himself.
(Remember, in the hierarchy of liberal activism, the tiers of power are 1) environmentalists; 2) teachers; 3) tie: trial lawyers and the LGBTQIA+LMNOP alphabet people.) (Also remember Warrior rule #387: A significant portion of teachers go into education either because they miss high school, or because they love drama, and public schools are the best place to get concentrated doses of drama daily. They will literally lick toes and blame YOU for not funding things well enough. Bigot.)
Reader boards across the state and internet sites everywhere are trying to blame Ryan for the death of the student at Owosso High School. It’s a far stretch, particularly when the young person admitted 1) “they” (she) started the fight in the bathroom, and 2) there isn't evidence of a correlation between the death and the fight, particularly since the hospital released her. But Ryan created this mess for himself because he makes videos in his car and gets loving texts from Wayne Hill rather than try to actually do his job. Again, he’s made himself a caricature.
Through the Owosso issue and others, the press has painted a picture of a more dangerous Republican than usual with higher aspirations. Walters has aided the press in the creation of the image. And they plan to stop him from any other office he seeks. But don’t discount what he’s done to himself: He fights with other Republicans. He ignores appropriate requests from the legislature until he has to back down. He makes decisions that local school boards are pushing back on, and losing or backing down. He recruits out-of-state social media keyboard warriors to the state board of education. And didn’t act in the Kingfisher football coach abuse case after he was slow to act in the Ringling football coach case.
This laundry list all comes
at a time that his primary contact with school districts announces he’s leaving, and his chief counsel is abandoning ship, leaving him with a very young, inexperienced legal team. This is a horrible position to be in. While multiple polls show that his numbers remain above 50% in the rural areas, his numbers are well underwater in the population centers, even among Republicans only.
Most elected officials would see this as a problem, and work to retain as many of their policy positions as possible, but message them differently and build coalitions. But genius fool Walters consultant Matt Langston ignores the path that makes sense in order to own the libs. Yep. That always works as the polling shows.
Ryan has about a little more than
a year to right his ship if he legitimately thinks he’s running for Governor or Lt. Governor. There is no indication that he plans to, or wants to change ways. Since that is the path he chooses, plan on Ryan Walters looking for a job outside of government, and education, in 2026. And if he needs advice on what to do when his team drops him, he might check in with Anne Gorsuch or Scott Pruitt.
Quickly, let’s talk about banning books
since many of you don’t seem to have a clue how to talk about the topic. Public libraries are meaningfully different from school libraries. Yes, school libraries are in public schools, but they aren’t public in the same way that public libraries are. Not just anyone can walk in and borrow books. Rather, school libraries are part of the educational process and exist to fulfill the educational mission that the district’s school board provides. If a school board doesn’t think certain books fulfill that mission, it’s not a ban, but a determination that a certain book doesn’t fulfill that district’s educational mission.
We as conservatives DO NOT support book banning. Period. And must say that. Public libraries are very different facilities than schools, and conservatives must clarify and differentiate between the two.
Have a great week!
With love, CW/CM/SC
p.s. When mentioning Ryan Walters, we are contractually obligated to mention his role in his movie The Notebook with Hollywood hottie Rachel McAdams. Other than Wedding Crashers, The Notebook was her best work. And Ryan’s.
