Let me just say that it is once more than I am less than impressed my representative in the U.S. House, John Rutherford. You see, it was after a less than impressive career in the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office that Rutherford decided to run for Congress to replace retiring Ander Crenshaw. And while Crenshaw was only a borderline conservative at best, Rutherford, during his tenure, has proven to be nothing more than a reliable RINO. It was during the primary process, after having watched him as Sheriff, that I chose to vote for Rutherford’s opponent, but in the general election I must admit that I did vote for him. But that was the last time I did so.
Rutherford has proven to be no better as a member of
Congress than he was as member of the Sheriff’s Department. And it was once
again that Rutherford himself has proven me right in choosing not to vote for
him. You see, Rutherford has now escalated his increasingly personal attacks
against Rep. Jim Jordan as moderates and establishment Republicans, aka RINOs
like Rutherford, continue working to derail the Republican’s Speaker nominee.
Rutherford has demanded that Jordan now step down, insisting “the race is over”
and even suggesting Republicans “either go to conference to show him in private
or back to the floor to show him in public."
Rutherford, who also happens to be a stalwart
supporter of increased taxpayer aid to Ukraine’s war effort, accused Jordan of
“fiddling while the world is on fire.” Rutherford voted against Jordan on both
ballots on the House floor this week, and he sighted Jordan winning 200
followed by 199 votes in his two rounds, short of the necessary 217, as being
reason enough for him to step aside. Needless to say, I have made more than one
phone call to Rutherford’s office, but to no avail. So essentially, he leaves
me with no choice but to, once again, not vote for him when he comes up for
re-election. My hope is that there will be someone who runs against him.
And I’m sure that it comes as virtually no surprise
that in January’s speaker election Rutherford proudly stood by Kevin McCarthy,
a fellow RINO, throughout all fifteen rounds of voting, during which McCarthy’s
vote totals similarly hovered around 200 through the first dozen rounds. After
one of those rounds McCarthy also lost support, and yet maintained Rutherford’s
backing. McCarthy won on the 15th ballot by the very slimmest of margins. Rutherford
has advocated for Republicans to work with Democrats to empower Speaker Pro Tem
Patrick McHenry and has echoed other anti-Jordan Republican talking points in more
than few tweets.
Yet the Appropriations Committee, on which
Rutherford serves, does not appear to have done much work during the 269 days
in which this Congress did have a Speaker. Seats on the coveted Appropriations
Committee are traditionally reserved for the most ardent allies of leadership.
Crossing Republican leadership by voting against the leadership position can
jeopardize one’s position on the committee. Rutherford, a supporter of Steve
Scalise for Speaker, has referenced Scalise’s support of the majority of the Republican
conference as the reason for backing the Louisianan. On Scalise’s winning
ballot, Scalise won 113 votes to Jordan’s 99.
Rutherford is nothing more than a two-bit phony and
he has shown, repeatedly, that my decision not to vote for him to be re-elected
has been the right one. And it was his statement that Scalise won “by majority
rule” that was more than a little misleading. Three of Scalise’s votes in
conference came from non-voting delegates from Guam, American Samoa, and Puerto
Rico. These members are unable to vote for Speaker on the House floor. Without
those three votes from delegates, Scalise fell short of majority support from
the House Republicans. But that seemed to matter not to those like RINO
Rutherford, we in his district now have the duty to send him packing.
Rutherford’s double standards were again on display
in the tweet thread from October 11, the day Scalise won the Republican
nomination before later dropping out after lacking a path to the speakership.
Rutherford claimed that every Republican should get behind the Republican
nominee, saying “any member of the Republican Conference who doesn’t follow
majority rule is just an obstructionist.” Despite Jordan winning the Republican
nomination just two days later, the “obstructionist” Rutherford has now voted
against Jordan twice on the House floor. Rutherford has continually
demonstrated that he has no business being in Congress.
As well, I think it worth mentioning that in June
2022, the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into Rutherford for
failure to disclose multiple stock trades in accordance with the law.
Rutherford reportedly paid thousands of dollars in fines for missing filing
deadlines over multiple years but refused to meet with the committee, leading
to the investigation’s formalization. One of the stocks Rutherford purchased
was Raytheon, which he purchased the same day Russia invaded Ukraine. It was
via a tweet that same day that Rutherford said, “The U.S. and our allies must
impose the maximum possible sanctions & leave nothing off the table."
Rutherford’s case is unique to say the least in that
he also serves on the Ethics Committee, sitting on its investigative branch.
Oddly enough it was that committee that dismissed the charges in August 2022.
Just one of those things that make you go, hmmmmmmm. Rutherford is more of a
Democrat than a Republican. He just uses an (R) by his name to get elected. For
God’s sake, the man has a Liberty Score of 53 percent, an F. Clearly his only
reason for opposing Jordan is because if Jordan were to become Speaker, Mr.
Rutherford gets his piggy bank broken. He’s for spending, earmarks and massive
giveaways to other countries. He needs to go.
With the world is teetering on the brink and a
corrupt, dementia patient for a president and a cabinet is filled with incompetent
boobs, it’s ‘Republicans’ like Rutherford who seem interested in nothing more
than lining their own pockets. Rutherford should not be allowed to continue in
his current position. He has no interest in serving his constituents, only
himself. And he also has no interest in keeping this nation safe. He is a fraud
and a con man. I made the mistake of voting for him once, and since he has now become
more a part of the problem than a part of the solution, I have not made, and
will not make, that mistake again.
And finally, it’s time for
those whom Rutherford relies upon to continue his ‘career’ to come together and
put an end to that ‘career,’ as he is no longer deserving of anyone’s support.
RINOs such as him are worse than Democrats, at least Democrats are upfront
about their desire to destroy this country. Joey has destroyed our economy, our
military and has thrown open our border, making it far more likely that our homeland
will be hit. There can be no working across the aisle anymore, the enemy is
among us. And it would seem that our cadre of RINOs can’t be bothered with
doing their job. A thorough House cleaning is now called for, Rutherford and
those like him need to be retired.
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