Ronda Vuillemont-Smith
From her website
In politics there are two ways to win: by merit or by destroying your opponent. Rarely does one win by merit. What is more common is the art of the political witch-hunt. The key to a good witch-hunt is public frenzy. Find something the public will emotionally connect to and pursue the victory at any cost, destroying whatever human capital is in the way. For a state that has spent most of its existence controlled by Democrats, we are no strangers to the witch-hunt. All one needs is a good accusation and in the age of social media, the dogs are sent off. For the past few weeks, some in the media and some in the legislature have latched onto a political witch-hunt against the new administration of the State GOP. The motives vary from personal vendettas to self-promotion. Facts matter not when political egos are at stake.
Scroll down to the ReTweet below for her position three weeks ago
What matters is that the victim is bullied publicly by as many as can jump on the bandwagon. Public opinion must be swayed so that whatever happens, the monsters on Maple Street are summoned into existence.
We are seeing the mob mentality emerge with one faction of the party going after the new State GOP Chair and his Political Director, TC Ryan. I have worked closely with Mr. Ryan on numerous meetings, conferences and events, he is a good and honorable man; a man of his word. He has organized minority outreach seminars for the County Party. He arranged an ice cream social event to unify behind our Republican nominees. He has promoted the principles of the party in various positions and across the entire state, building bridges between various groups around Oklahoma. Yet despite all of his accomplishments, despite those who know the man he is, the witch-hunt has begun and the only thing that matters is that he is bullied out of the party and cast aside once the mob is finished.
As Republicans we believe that our past does not define our future. We have always been the party of God’s grace and of hard work. We have seen both exhibited in TC’s history of assisting the party. Our conservative values and emphasis on the individual should enable us to examine the situation and forgo following the crowd. I am proud to call to TC a friend and stand by him and OKGOP State Chairman Randy Brogdon during this ridiculous personal attack.
The writer lives in Tulsa; she sought the Tulsa County Republican Party chair’s seat this year and lost by a single vote. She is the organizer of the Tulsa 9/12 group, which “is dedicated to bring Americans back to the people we were on September 12, the day following the most tragic day in American history. Our focus was not on republican or democrat but uniting as Americans to protect and defend the greatest country ever created. Our objective is to take our Out-of-Control Government back to the American people! We will do this thru Educated Activism. Education; so that we can talk with facts, conviction, and assertiveness to prospective members, the news media, our elected Representatives, and groups that may oppose our objectives. Activism; to make contacts contacts with our elected Representatives, INSISTING that their votes on key legislation MUST adhere to the Constitution and be for the benefit of the people they work for, and not for themselves or for special interest groups. Join us!!”
http://www.capitolbeatok.com/reports/up-in-flames-sooner-tea-party-s-candidates-fail
http://www.randybrogdon.com/oklahoma_grassroots_leaders_endorse_brogdon_for_chairman
Here is a re-tweet from her a short time ago:
The abuser beat up a woman in front of her child. When she tried to call 911 for medical assistance he grabbed her phone from her and destroyed it in order to cover up his misdeeds. When she found her child, he was huddled in fear in a corner of her home. He admitted guilt to these charges. He did this two years ago. He has not paid restitution for his crimes against the woman as a Tulsa Today story by David Arnett confirmed.
And yet some believe the abuser deserves to be a political director? Exactly how much of one’s soul has to be sold in the political arena to defend such despicable behavior?
At a time where even the NFL has figured out that domestic abusers are bad for its image and has taken actions to suspend players who have engaged in the same behavior, you have a GOP leader in the Tulsa area conservative movement making excuses to insure the abuser stays in his office of political director?
The only thing worse than the actions of the abuser here are the apologists that have minimized the crime committed and the damage done to a woman and her child. And this from a bunch of people who claim family values?
The Democrats don’t need to allege a “war on women.” All they need to do is point to the leadership of the OKGOP and invite the world to take a look. And shame on Ronda Vuillemont-Smith and all the others in the so-called OKGOP “liberty” movement who are defending the abuser.
There are some things a person does that disqualifies them from leadership of any political party. Whether they are sorry they committed a heinous crime or not.
And now there is the inevitable question: Are there any other TC Ryan criminal records that have been expunged as was the court record in this one?
‘He arranged an ice cream social event to unify behind our Republican nominees.’ – Well, that certainly absolves him from an apparent total lack of respect for women. I hope he didn’t serve Blue Bell to the female attendees.
Come on, Rhonda, is this rambling ambiguous rant really the best defense you can come up with?
Pretty impressive article! All the more so for having avoided any mention of bite-marks, bruises, shattered phones and terrified children.
Instead we are treated to the inspiring story of minority outreach and ice cream socials. Not a word about a foul temper, more ink than a small town Sunday newspaper, and enough hair and piercings to alarm a Hell’s Angel.
If either of these impostors were truly interested in party unity, Mr. Ryan would quietly drop out of official sight and consult with Chairman Brogdon on an informal basis, away from the public eye. But they aren’t so they won’t.
Only a few short weeks ago I was cautiously optimistic about Mr. Brogdon as party chairman, but I’ve abandoned that position now.
Well said.
Wow. I was totally ready to get rid of this guy until I read that he organized an ice cream social.
The casual use and abuse of the idea of grace and forgiveness is troubling. I don’t know the people involved here, but, even if I did, I have no authority to forgive someone for wronging someone else. God can and does forgive. When a person is wronged, he or she ought to forgive the perpetrator. Neither of those kinds of forgiveness, however, eliminates all of the consequences for bad behavior.
This is particularly important when it comes to leadership. When people are choosing a leader, Paul in his letters makes explicit that reputation matters. This makes sense in terms of evangelism, since we do not want ourselves to stand in the way of the message. We might even wrongly have a bad reputation, but still we would have to consider that in taking on leadership–what matters is the message, not ourselves.
All this is true in politics. A wise person who desires to advance his or her ideas will avoid becoming, personally, a stumbling block. Do we not owe it to our principles to actually try to be effective advocates for them? “Wise as a serpent, gentle as a dove.” In this situation, it seems failure to abide the latter is being compounded by ignoring the former.