From Distaso:
O’Brien, who nominated Kimball for party chairman in January, still considers Kimball a friend, the source said, and hopes Kimball would resign “with dignity.”
Let’s translate – "Oops, this blew up in my face and in Jennifer Horn’s. PLEASE resign so we can just get this to go away quietly – this was not supposed to happen". Congratulations on picking on a former Navy guy (Jack). I was asked by an activist that I trust "What is the last thing that a Navy captain wants to do?" It took me all of 2 seconds to respond: "Abandon ship". The absolute phrase uttered only when nothing else has worked; worse than being relieved of command. Any business owner has an inkling of the outlook – as their biz becomes "their baby", a ship becomes the leader’s raison d’etre and will sacrifice all for its benefit.
That is the mindset, I believe, with Jack. No, he has not served for decades, but it IS that spirit in still observing his oath of fealty to this country. The miscalculation was that Jack was a budding politician – wrong thing to do: the last thing that Jack does is think like a politician. I guess that is one of the things people wanted when they voted for him, a real person, but must be driving the real pols absolutly bat-crazy thinking he is about to become one of them.
In this light, resigning is akin to "abandon ship" – a "friend" would know better and not evoke the condition under which that would be necessary. An astute person would have realized it from the get go if they actually knew who Jack is.
Let’s continue:
Horn, the source said, did not attend the meeting to urge Kimball to resign but rather to point out that “if the five top elected Republican officials in the state are telling you it’s time to go, it probably is.”
Sorry, that’s a distinction without…
…one. In this case, with those words, Horn is trying to appear to be on both sides at the same time. Sorry, that’s a derogatory act – trying to appear as both a friend to Jack and those that would oust him? That’s an act of trying to split the difference: at best, hoping for a rose that would just pop up and smell nice; at the worst, splitting herself and trying to be on both side of fence at the same time. Ma’am, be careful of those splinters; some of them can go real deep.
Let’s continue:
And straightway one of them ran, and took a sop, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink
So what does that have to do with anything?
O’Brien is hoping for a smooth transition to have current state party vice chairman Wayne MacDonald take over as chairman, the source said. The speaker also hopes that a Tea Party activist, like Kimball, can be named vice chairman in an attempt to restore party unity.
So, Speaker O’Brien believes that offering a mere sop to the TEA Party will heal all wounds? I use the word "sop" with the intended meaning – not a great honorary. A majority of TEA Party type folks worked awfully hard to get Jack elected to be the chair. With all due respect, a vice position is second best at best and irrelevant at worst – a figurehead position where advice may emanate but little in decision making capability. A sop is a slap in the face – not exactly an act of friendship. This will be seen for what it is – limp.
O’Brien is planning to meet with Republican House members next Tuesday to discuss the Kimball situation, the source said. He also plans to talk to activists about the situation at Tea Party and 9/12 meetings.
I noticed that in the last WMUR clips, he’s standing real tall in front of that Gadsden Flag in his office – normally, it is not present. Symbology can be VERY important at times and it was ONLY because of his cultivation of the freshman TEA Party / Liberty & Freedom freshman that he was elected to his Speakership. In this, even as he is ousting a TEA Party Chair (where most of those same freshman helped and voted for).
The question will be for the freshman – will that symbology work for you? I listened to Speaker O’Brien the night I posted "So this is your 30 pieces of silver?" ; he is a very accomplished speaker and like a good lawyer, demonstrated amply how he could emphasis what he needed to drive his narrative – and as an engineer, I noticed that the politicalese did not answer my rather direct question(s). That helped to formulate my outlook – how will it form your calculus?
