The Cheating Spouse: Sara Carruthers Called Us”Extremists”

I wasn’t going to talk about what I’ve been saying to all the mostly guys in the Republican party of Butler County, Ohio in the wake of Lynda O’Connor’s loss from the Lakota school board until I read the comments from Sara Carruthers in the Journal News. Obviously, she was referring to me and some of the core team around me who are considered radicals where she said she hated the “extremism in the party.” And that she said, “I think it’s sad to have other Republicans fighting against you.” Well, she’s up for re-election and my message to her is, she’s next. And all those like her. We can’t fight Democrats when we don’t have Republicans in the party. So, we must go through this process to make things honest before we can ever consider winning in politics. Otherwise, it’s all an illusion. Everyone has probably seen the video that Candice Keller took of Butler County Commissioner Cindy Carpenter campaigning for a Democrat on election day. There are a lot of RINO Republicans operating in the Butler County GOP, and they have made their voices known more ostentatiously since Trump has been out of the White House. And many of us, just aren’t going to put up with it. I’ve never given any illusion that I would. I work with people. I listen to their point of view and give people an honest shake. But politically, I’m to the hard right of the Tea Party, and that isn’t going to change. Obviously, I’m interested in politics for different reasons than other people. So my comment to people who have been asking me why I can’t support these RINOs when we learn about them is that I always say, “I love all Republicans until they show me they aren’t. Then I hate them.” There is no middle ground.

Further, I have been saying to lots of people an obvious metaphor that is directly relatable. Political relationships are a lot like marriage, with marriage being something everyone can relate to in some way or another. And most of the people I have been talking to have been men. I have said this to women, but the context is from a male perspective. When you catch a woman climbing out of the window to sleep with someone else on the other side of town, don’t go out and buy her a diamond ring. It would be best if you were looking for ways to get away from her, not deepening the commitment. And in regard to Lynda O’Connor, I feel she cheated on me, and my way of dealing with that isn’t to profess my love for her, or even to hold my nose and pretend like we have a happy marriage. Once it’s over, for me, it’s over. Forever. My policy is to let the cheaters have their loves, their forbidden fruit. I won’t play happy family with tea on Sundays like there isn’t a problem. A lot of people with low self-esteem are afraid that they won’t ever find another spouse, or maybe there are kids and property that are all wrapped up in the marriage, so it’s just cheaper to put up with all the cheating and play happy family. I think a lot of people find themselves in this situation, and it rolls over into their political lives. Well, that’s not where I am. I want to believe in the people who represent us politically, and those are my standards and the standards of a lot of people I know and associate with. What I hear from all these crybabies after this 2023 election are complaints that we have standards and that we should give those up and put up with the cheating wife who crawls out the window to multiple lovers across town, to keep the kids together, essentially.

To people like Sara Carruthers, it is considered “extreme” to have values.  The Trump MAGA movement is considered “extreme” because it does not want to put up with the politics of the past, where values are thrown out the window, and concessions with evil are endorsed.  In those kinds of statements, I hear a lazy person who doesn’t want to do the hard work of representation and upholding the values of the community she represents.  That certainly was the anger at Lynda O’Connor.  She did not express the community’s sentiment; she worked against it, even working to silence the community from having an opinion.  And that is what many of the insiders in the wake of the 2023 election have been expressing: frustration that they couldn’t control the narrative and impose some low bar that the rest of the community would put up with so they could compete with low-level Democrats for office seats.  If that is what we have to do to compete with Democrats, to play their dumb game, then the answer is, no. I know many people who will be a hard pass on that approach.  What’s the difference then between a Democrat and a Republican if the brand is destroyed by becoming one of them?  When Cindy Carpenter (Sheriff Jones’ budget girl) is campaigning for Democrats on election day.  I’ll pass if that is the kind of teamwork Sara Carruthers is talking about.  Like I’ve also been saying a lot lately to the soft-shelled tacos of the Republican Party, “With Republicans like you, who needs Democrats.” 

Here’s the deal: everyone can do what they want, I’ll only tell you once, Trump will be back in office.  There is going to be a very violent and tumultuous four years coming up while we clean up years and years of neglect.  And anybody who wants to ride that political train, get on and fasten your seat belt.  I know many people willing to fight for what’s right, and they will either do it arm-in-arm with a political party or work against you.  So, you better catch up if you want to do anything political.  It’s not extreme to have “high expectations,” and we are talking about that.  The anger at Lynda, Sara, Cindy, Sheriff Jones, and many of the business owners of Butler County who are only in politics to protect their investments is that they do not match the high expectations of those interested in politics that represent their values.  The message is that everyone should lower their values to accommodate the cheating spouse just to maintain the façade of marriage.  Which a lot of people do.  But these “extremists” that Sara is referring to are not those types of people.  Sincerity and honesty are not bad traits, and it is those traits that these aftermath losers are indicating are holding back the Republican Party.  I know many bright young people who would run for some of these future political offices.  But they will not kiss a ring or play nice with their morality.  This is why we end up with losers who lack ethical standards in some positions, which is why the Republicans are losing.  Not because the expectations are too high but because the kind of people they want are too lazy and too compromised to live up to those standards.  The future of politics will force that issue to be addressed, ready or not.  And in Butler County, Ohio, many are not. 

Rich Hoffman