Dem
51
GOP
49
Anytime we see a picture of state Sen. Colton Moore (R-GA), we for some reason start to think about the many and varied benefits of picking someone other than your first cousin to reproduce with:
Don't know why that keeps popping into our heads. In any event, Moore is a far-right Trumper, conspiracy theorist and rabble-rouser. Undoubtedly you will be shocked to learn that his Senate district (SD-53) is contained within the U.S. House district (GA-14) of Marjorie Taylor Greene. They're both in the far northwest corner of the state.
In the past several months, Moore has been out for blood. And he wants it to come from Fulton DA Fani Willis, who had the temerity to indict Moore's Dear Leader. To that end, Moore has been pushing, prodding, and nagging his GOP colleagues to call a special session of the Georgia legislature, so as to investigate and then remove Willis.
There are a couple of problems here. The first is that special sessions are kind of a pain for legislators, since they have real jobs they're doing right now to support themselves. That is how it is in a state where the legislature meets for 40 business days per year. The second is that there is no basis for investigating or removing Willis, as there is no evidence she's done anything criminal or otherwise corrupt. The 32 non-Moore Republicans who control the agenda for the Georgia Senate do not want to bend over backwards in order to engage in political stunts that may not sit well with the somewhat non-Trumpy voters of the Peach State.
Moore is a True Believer, however, and would not give it up, no matter how many times his colleagues said "no." So, he launched a PR blitz, in which he talked to any outlet in Georgia who would have him, from the South Cupcake Junior High School Daily Reporter to Fox 5 Atlanta. And during those appearances, he said many things that were not only provocative, but outright false.
In response to the Senator's activities, his fellow Republicans decided that maybe they could conduct a little business right now. And so, they indefinitely booted him out of the Senate GOP caucus. Here's the key portion of the statement they issued explaining their decision:
Despite the fact that 32 of 33 Republican State Senators, the Governor, Lt. Governor, Speaker of the House, and the Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party agree that a Special Session to take action against the Fulton County District Attorney is impossible, Senator Moore has a right to his opinion. However, during his advocacy for his ill-conceived proposal, Senator Moore has knowingly misled people across Georgia and our nation, causing unnecessary tension and hostility, while putting his Caucus colleagues and their families at risk of personal harm.
Furthermore, Senator Moore was informed that he has violated multiple Caucus Rules on multiple occasions and was given every opportunity to simply adhere to the Rules going forward, not to abandon his wrongheaded policy position. Unfortunately, he has refused and was suspended by Leadership from participating in the Caucus until he agrees to abide by the Rules which he voted for at the beginning of his term.
You have to be pretty extreme, rhetoric-wise, to get smacked down by your own party like this. Although it means that Moore and Greene now have something else in common.
The clear message of the statement is that if Moore shuts up and flies right, he'll be welcomed back. However, he has no interest in doing so, it would seem, and has already taking to slurring his now-semi-colleagues as the "RINO caucus." So, this estrangement could last a while. (Z)