I gotta be real with you, I feel some twinges of pity on CAGOP Chairman Jim Brulte. I know he is not an innocent bystander, I mean you don’t get to be CAGOP Chair and Minority Leader in both houses from playing paddycakes.
However, I don’t think he or anyone had a real clue that the shrinking California Republican Permanent Minority was infected with swinger’s syndrome, moral bankruptcy and a complete contempt for the rank-and-file grassroots activists. I don’t think many had a clue about the depth of Chad Mayes malignant narcissism.
This is why when California Governor Candidate John Cox coined the term #CAPANDTRAITORS, it was so real.
In the process of working on the “ouster” Chad Mayes, that turned in to a lateral move within the leadership hierarchy, (In Case you missed it, Mayes is now “Assistant” leader) I learned a lot about the now former CAGOP Vice Chair Kristen Olsen. I had been convinced that she was as intransigent and narcissistic (in the clinical sense of the word, not some politically hyperbolic label) as Chad Mayes. After reading her resignation, I am still convinced of that.
The embedded picture in this post is Ms (technically still Mrs.) Olsen with her boy toy Chad Mayes. These two, who played the Christian Card to create a false image of themselves are talking at an expensive political fundraising event yesterday (9/30/2017) in Del Mar (San Diego County). Del Mar has an extremely expensive resort hotel that is a popular spot for lobbyists, “Third House” donor types, Political Consultants, Pseudo Intellects and Politicians to hob-knob. (some attenders fill multiple categories) Take note of the bottle of wine between them in order to complete the scene.
The Delmar gathering is not illegal. I am not even alleging it is unethical. It was a $1 Million fundraiser for the CAGOP, split 3 ways with the Assembly and Senate sharing in the proceeds under the “one-ask” program that Chad Mayes attempted to kill in his rampage in his final days. In order to be invited, you were required to have given at least 15K to CAGOP’s accounts for legislative races as a member or donor. The event is designed to be a gathering of big donors and big donor members of the legislature in order to generate more support for the Republican Team. There are some legislators that never get invited because they never help raise money for anyone (let alone themselves), still others decline their invitation.
Not Chad Mayes. Not Kristen Olsen. When I heard about this yesterday and saw the photo, I had become convinced that the rumors I had heard about her impending resignation were being proven false. Now that I have seen her resignation, coupled with her appearance at this event (with Chad) was all about her going out on her own terms and flipping the bird to the little people that revolted against her moral bankruptcy and behavior.
Unlike Chad Mayes, who had some significant leverage (namely 6 leadership votes that were going nowhere) and was able to negotiate a sweetheart deal with Current Minority Leader Brian Dahle to get all the best committee assignments and a nice title to assuage his bruised ego over the grassroots revolt against him, Kristen Olsen is gone completely from the CRP. Kristen’s last consequential act as a CRP officer was voting against the CRP’s resolution calling on Chad Mayes to resign as leader, a brazenly unethical act. She should have abstained for an obvious conflict of interest and did not.
Then there is her resignation email. I cut the middle two paragraphs out and pasted them below:
California desperately needs a viable Republican Party, and maintaining the status quo will not get us there. We must be committed to building a bigger tent and articulating an optimistic message that resonates in diverse communities across the state. Our principles of freedom, opportunity and limited government are timeless. Our challenge is to define and apply them for a changing California.
Given the challenges before the Party, it is essential that we have officers who can fully commit to their volunteer positions. For both personal and professional reasons, I no longer have sufficient time to do so. As a county supervisor, I have been working on important and time-consuming issues. As a single mom, two of my three kids are now teenagers whose busy schedules often conflict with CRP activities. As a consultant, I am growing a new business and must dedicate more time to clients and provide for my family.
Allow me to translate paragraph one. “I slaughtered all the old line conservatives out of the caucus staff, forcing some with 30 years of service out of their jobs so I could bring in left-wing climate change freaks in for policy advisers. I re-made the Assembly Caucus staff in to my own image in order to create a new Republican Party few recognize both because its’ values are not Republican and because my leadership decisions helped people lose their elections”
Allow me to translate paragraph two. “I have more important things to do than deal with the unwashed masses of grassroots activists who object to me sleeping with another woman’s husband. I owe no one an explanation for my personal decisions and am moving on to another self-enriching endeavor”
The timing of the resignation, in my opinion was influenced greatly by a resolution being carried by Arthur Schaper and his merry band of political torch-wielding #MAGA warriors. Actions like these pile up and aggregate.
When Olsen was coming up through the political ranks, she was hard-core pro-life. That amongst a lot of other lifelong moral stances were discarded once she got in to office as her focus became on herself and what was expedient to continue her ascension. Once she had discarded her core values, the next logical step was discarding her values as it relates to her life decisions. The voters of Stanislaus County need to vote her out of office with extreme prejudice, because like Chad Mayes, Ms. Olsen is dangerous to everyone around her as long as her behavior continues the way it is.
Lastly, there were several “Third House” and political insider types that were trying to keep her in place by convincing her that they could raise money and support for her. Their efforts only prolonged the agony. Those of us that want real change in our leaders need to be vigilant and start tracking these people and what they are attempting to do under cover of Darkness. Kristen Olsen only resigned because the real people of the Republican Party finally unified long enough to make the arrogant moneyed elite realize that they were rendered powerless and needed to regroup. (see also things like Arthur Schaper’s resolution as one example of the insurrection)
Congratulations to the grassroots, because unlike the pyrric Chad Mayes victory, the Grassroots were able to win this one decisively.
Bonus: Kristen Olsen was a #nevertrumper and let her true colors show in a recent tweet
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