Ask yourself: what has Conservative, Inc. conserved in the last 50 years? Virtually nothing that was worth conserving is the honest answer and the evidence is all around us, in the ruins of this great country. Drag queen story hour anyone?
Yet cycle after election cycle, Republican and conservative voters are cajoled, oftentimes outright fooled, into voting for the same people who have facilitated America’s decline, the same people who say one thing but do another, the same people who send jobs overseas and look the other way as our children die of fentanyl overdoses, the same people who appeal to the base and then ignore them in order to do their corporate donors’ bidding.
The Swamp is at it again in the upcoming Republican primary on May 24 to replace the late Rep. Jim Hagedorn in CD1. The goal of the Swamp is to go back to a pre-Trump Republican Party where the interests of the monied and powerful are served while the needs and interests of the average American are studiously ignored.
Remember how mad the Swamp got when the Tea Party came out of nowhere? They are even angrier about Trump (and his supporters) and are determined to return to a time where they, not the people, held sway.
State Rep. Jeremy Munson is a threat to the Swamp and you can see that by who, and what, have endorsed his main opponent, Brad Finstad. Had anyone really heard of him before this primary bid? I follow state and local politics as closely as almost anyone and his was an unfamiliar name.
That’s because Finstad isn’t a candidate so much as an empty vessel who will carry the interests of the Swamp forward. The fewer Trump supporters in Congress, the better. It’s a simple calculus.
Endorsements aren’t what they used to be, but they can be of value in helping voters understand what interests are behind which candidates. In the CD1 primary, this is particularly true.
Two of President Trump’s staunchest supporters have endorsed Munson: Sen. Rand Paul and Congressman Jim Jordan. They were among the most relentless in exposing the Russia hoax because they have real principles, not the usual election campaign “principles” which mean nothing. Neither of them get behind candidates who are just going to be another brick in the wall, another water plant in the Swamp. Munson is deservedly proud of those endorsements and should be.
By contrast, Brad Finstad is something of a poster child for Swamp interests. With little name recognition, he has to rely on corporate special interest PAC money to manufacture an image and sell it to voters.
His biggest legislative accomplishment was forcing taxpayers to support an oligarch’s vanity project, the Twins stadium, in crime infested downtown Minneapolis. Finstad was the chief author of the bill for the taxpayer-funded boondoggle. It included a .15% sales tax to offset the $522 million cost. Enjoy the game, don’t forget to dodge the bullets. Oh and congrats, you helped pay for it. If you want more detail, Minnesota Public Radio wrote about the Finstad giveaway.
A hilariously named Super Pac, “Defending Main Street,” will be pouring big money into CD1 in order to fool voters into thinking Finstad is a conservative. This is a liberal Republican, big business and big bank supporting outfit. But they call themselves Main Street so you rubes better fall for it.
On its website, they say they are “Fiscally Conservative. Socially Inclusive.” You know what that means: run! “Socially inclusive” Republicans may just as well be Democrats in the culture war.
These are the types who routinely betray the base by saying we need to reach across the aisle (ever hear a Democrat run on that?), who say we can’t be too conservative (ick!), and who have been complicit in the erosion of traditional values and beliefs. Rush Limbaugh talked about these types continuously. Big donor money hopes CD1 voters will be fooled again into voting for one.
But they’re not the only ones: the globalist, open borders “Americans For Prosperity” have endorsed Finstad. Here’s a rule of thumb in the Age of Trump: whoever they are for, you should be against. Sometimes politics really is that simple.
As with his mentor Tim Pawlenty’s failed primary challenge to Jeff Johnson, Finstad’s AFP handlers are in the process of blanketing CD1 with cheesy, dishonest mailers designed to make voters think he is someone he demonstrably is not. Maybe if they send enough, they can get him past the wire? They think you’re simpletons so it makes a certain kind of sense.
You may not know that AFP refuses to endorse anyone who has questions about the 2020 election. They won’t do it. Whose side are they on, exactly? The evidence of a rigged election is more than substantial. Because Munson frequently introduces himself as “illegitimately elected” during the 2020 election (because we didn’t follow the laws), he was out!
You can read more about how AFP wants to control the 2022 election here.
Here’s the truth about Brad Finstad: he’s deceiving voters when he says he’s a Trump Republican. He’s anything but. For example, he’s on record liking anti-Trump stances on Twitter and couldn’t even be bothered to vote for him in the 2020 primary, according to an article from National File.
Even worse, because with these phonies it can always get worse, he took the Left‘s narrative approach to the January 6 Capitol protests. You know, many of whom have been in solitary confinement for over a year for a nonviolent protest. Any Finstad concern for them and the abuse of our “judicial system?” None that I’ve been able to find.
Don’t take my word for these things. National File has the receipts, as the kids say.
Finstad and his corporate backers are eager to fool you so they can reinforce the Swamp. Don’t let them.
Munson is known by the people of CD1 and not just in his House district. What you see is what you get, have gotten and will continue to get when he goes to D.C. He’s the mirror opposite of corporate AstroTurf Finstad.
He has an actual record conservative voters appreciate and support. Munson has:
- Fought against corruption by sponsoring legislation that would prevent sitting members of the Minnesota legislature from being paid lobbyists at the same time
- Fought for transparency with legislation for medical transparency and Big Pharma kickbacks
- Refused to take corporate PAC money because he wants to represent the people’s interests
- Remains a true fiscal conservative by not funding oligarch projects with taxpayer money and
- Is the only candidate who promises not to raise the federal debt ceiling, something particularly brave in the D.C. Swamp.
“Ye shall know them by their fruits.”
There was a reason that Munson barely missed getting the endorsement at the recent CD 1 convention: a deliberate effort to send the wrong person to D.C. He took the lead early and never relinquished it. All the anti-Trump forces could do was block after seven ballots. Why do you think this was?
But now all Republican voters in CD1 have their chance, have their say, have their influence, not Super PAC corporate money influence.
Finstad is Jeb! 2022 edition. Please clap.
But vote Munson.
John Gilmore
John Gilmore is an author, freelance writer & former opinion columnist for Alpha News. He blogs at minnesotaconservatives.org & is @Shabbosgoy on Twitter
