The Milton Coalition Blog has always and intentionally been non-partisan.  And this blog post is a plea for non-partisanship in Milton . . . or more precisely a return to non-partisanship . . . and some semblance of political sanity. 

In writing this post, I feel it is incumbent upon me to explain my political leanings.  I am lifelong staunch Conservative.  My conservatism is of the durable kind.  It begins with John Locke, flows through the Founding Fathers, and finds modern expression in thinkers like Frederic Hayek, Milton Friedman, and James Q. Wilson and in leaders like Barry Goldwater and especially Ronald Reagan.  I care nothing for contemporary talking heads on the far right and the far left who dispense partisan infotainment and won’t warrant even a footnote in the history of politics.  I understand and appreciate that Conservatism’s foundational tenet is maximizing and protecting liberty . . . and that government’s primary purpose is to secure our liberty.  This means true Conservatives unwaveringly believe in limited government, low taxes, entrepreneurship, individual responsibility, strong defense, and free trade.  Unfortunately, true conservatism often gets diluted/polluted by nativism, nationalism, crony capitalism, protectionism, moralism, censorship, and sometimes even authoritarianism.  Which brings me to Milton’s Lunatic Fringe . . .

The rabid radicals that have run amuck in Milton are NOT Conservatives in any sense of the word.  They identify as Republicans, although Republican is a label anyone can facilely apply to themselves.  Milton’s Lunatic Fringe are best identified as far right-wing extremists . . . so far to the right that they fall off the political spectrum.  Ironically, they most closely resemble—at least in their tactics—their brethren on the extreme far left.  (See political horseshoe graphic above.)

Milton’s Lunatic Fringe don’t think or act like the other 99% of us—whether conservative or progressive or somewhere in between.  They reside in constant state on blind fury; they lack basic self-control.  This result is often combative behavior, such as harassing and brashly confronting those with whom they disagree.  For example, after the October 4^th debate, several radicals antagonized council candidate Cranmer.  Of course, we have seen extreme expression of their rage in clearly (and constitutionally unprotected) libelous speech at council and recent death threats to the mayor, which one recent speaker at council dismissed as “manufactured.”

The Lunatic Fringe are paranoid and conspiratorial in their thinking.  Accordingly, they operate in secretive ways in Milton.  They use aliases and congregate on clandestine social media platforms.  Even within their underground social media groups, they are creating private chat groups, with admittance based on clearing especially high benchmarks for partisan purity.  They have even engaged in Soviet-style purges of members that don’t meet their extremist partisan standards or that have blasphemed against their ideological orthodoxies.  The leaders of these groups have exempted themselves from their own published standards of conduct; they routinely post derogatory posts.  These radicals mostly think and communicate in memes.  You won’t find content on their sites even remotely resembling logic and facts.  They publish and deliver anonymous newsletters to our driveways.  Their primary means of engaging opponents are personal attacks and confrontations meant to intimidate.  They cannot refute their opponents’ arguments, so instead resort to cancel-culture techniques of shouting down or impugning the credibility of their adversaries . . . the other 99% that do not agree with them.

Many of these radicals have forsaken democratic means for achieving their objectives.  They’ve given up on America.  Some in Milton even unpatriotically fly the US flag upside down.  Even though they give lip service to “election integrity,” they do not perceive elections as a vehicle for expressing the popular will but rather as a malleable instrument for achieving their partisan agenda.  We have experienced this approach right here in Milton.  Over the past two years, we have witnessed a process for elections design, planning, and preparations that was steeped in controversy and that was rife with dishonesty, secrecy, and extreme ideological bias.  Facts and logic were summarily sacrificed at the altar of petty partisanship.  City staff were disrespected, marginalized, and ultimately excluded.  The result was an election design that made voting less convenient for ALL voters and especially inconvenient for Milton’s least well-off citizens (even with the addition of a District 3 polling location).  And shockingly, these much lower election service levels will come at a higher cost than if Fulton County ran Milton’s elections.  A similar lack of integrity now permeates Rick Mohrig’s political campaign, with its fake forums; meetings with poll workers; and attempted use of governmental authority to suppress his opponent.

Sadly, for the past 2 years, Milton’s vanishingly small band of political radicals has strongly influenced politics and government in Milton.  They compensate for their small stature with fanaticism and hysterical antics.  They seek to infect Milton with the divisive and dysfunctional Washington DC-style partisanship that most of us have come to loathe. Unfortunately, for too long, this Lunatic Fringe was indulged by a weak city council that appeased them.  Weakness is provocative . . . appeasement only emboldened these radicals and their handlers.  Through its indulgent responses to Milton’s manic mob, council let the barbarians through the gate.  Provided encouragement and cover by Council Members Moore and Mohrig, these partisans infested Milton City Hall, interfering (often in the shadows) in Milton’s elections project.  However, they overplayed their hand.  With the denial of a third polling location, average Milton citizens—both Conservative and Progressive–began to pay attention and were repulsed by what they were witnessing.  These normal citizens—the other 99% of us-–rebelled . . . and we have been fighting back and winning.  Thankfully, the Lunatic Fringe has been (mostly) exorcised from city government, although troublingly a few have been hired as poll workers.  With their power slipping away, they are now desperate.  Like a wounded and cornered animal, the Lunatic Fringe will likely resort to increasingly extreme misconduct between now and election day.  We saw this with the death threats to the Mayor and his family.  Could it get worse?  And we’ve seen it with increasingly vitriolic tantrums at council.  If Phil Cranmer and Carol Cookerly are elected, the radicals know they will be demoted to the status of plain ordinary citizens and their glory days at City Hall will be over.  Additionally, the FULL truth about Milton’s elections project will finally be revealed.

So what’s wrong with partisanship?  Well, from both a practical and policy perspective, partisanship really has no place in Milton.  I have been involved in city politics and government since 2014 and I have never once witnessed a policy issue that broke along party lines.  Even Milton’s election initiative needn’t have been divisive.  Unfortunately, for reasons that are still not entirely clear, Milton’s government deviated from its rules for committee formation and formed an ideologically biased elections committee . . . with predictable results . . . infection of city politics and government with divisive partisanship that soon metastasized throughout Milton’s body politic.  This partisanship–along with the shameful Paul Moore ethics scandal and council’s preoccupation with petty HOA issues–has distracted city government from its strategic priorities.  Worse, partisan chaos is providing welcome cover for corruption and for special interests to exercise influence.  The only path back to non-partisan sanity and civility is to elect Phil Cranmer and Carol Cookerly.  A rejection of partisanship requires a rejection of Rick Mohrig.

In closing, I urge citizens to watch two videos that I am confident confirm the dangers I have described above.  First is a video of general public comment at Monday’s City Council Meeting.  Eight uber-angry speakers spewed 40 minutes of conspiratorial, delusional, and (sometimes) just plain weird venom.  These hyper-partisans have been regularly ranting at council for over two years.  Their increasingly tedious tantrums foreshadow a city government under a Rick Mohrig regime . . . a municipal version of dystopia.  Forward the video to 12:30. 

The second video is of Wednesday night’s candidate debate.  If you have just 5 minutes, I would suggest that you watch Cranmer and Mohrig’s closing statements. 

Cranmer was crisp and specific.  He did not pull his punches.  Cranmer painted a stark and compelling contrast between himself and Mohrig.  Cranmer called for an end to destructive partisan drama in Milton and a return to sanity.  It was masterful.  Conversely, Mohrig gave a bland, mealy-mouthed, and uninspiring closing statement.  Mohrig came across as just another stereotypical say-nothing/do-nothing hack politician. Forward to 1:37:00:

Milton City Council Candidate Debate.

Milton’s upcoming elections provide an unambiguous choice for city government between 1) continued partisan chaos and rancor with a focus on minutiae and appeasing Special Interests or 2) restoration of non-partisan cooperation and civility with a focus on strategic priorities and citizens’ prerogatives.  It is not a difficult choice. Please vote for political sanity . . . Please vote for Phil Cranmer and Carol Cookerly for Milton City Council.

Advocating For Non-Partisanship and a Return to Political Sanity,

Tim