Ken Buck is a Tea Party Republican. In 2014, he won a US congressional seat in Colorado 4. His conservative credentials glittered. He was against Obamacare and TARP — and for slashing government debt, regardless of who got hurt. He was one of two votes against the March 2020 $8.3 billion COVID emergency aid measure.
He then ventured into MAGA territory with his embrace of anti-vax hysteria:
"I will not be taking the vaccine. I'm an American. I have the freedom to decide if I'm going to take a vaccine or not and in this case, I am not going to take the vaccine. I'm more concerned about the safety of the vaccine than I am the side effects of the disease."
In December 2020, he further ingratiated himself with the Trump cultists by signing an amicus brief supporting the overthrow of the 2020 election in the Texas vs. Pennsylvania case. In October 2023, he added to his fundamentalist political reputation by being one of the eight bomb-throwers voting to oust Kevin McCarthy as Speaker.
But Buck was not as committed a MAGA as those actions indicated. In January 2021, he joined six other GOP Reps in declining to challenge the election. However, his recalcitrance was not due to a love of truth or democracy. He believed that elections should be fixed by local cheats — aka Republican state legislatures.
In May 2021, Buck further strained relations with Trump’s shit-eating remoras by criticizing the political execution of the apostate, Liz Cheney. From a MAGA perspective, Buck jumped the shark in October 2021 when he distanced himself from Trump’s big lie (bad) — in a New York Times interview (worse).
However, no one should think Buck’s reasonableness on spurious election claims reflects a decent man. He is in lock-step agreement with most of conservatism’s idiotic sadism. He is a flag-waving anti-abortion absolutist who believes women impregnated by rapists and family members should just grin and bear it — literally.
He thinks climate change is a deception. In his words, “Global warming is the greatest hoax that has been perpetrated.” He characterized anti-COVID measures as a socialist Pelosi/Schumer plot to give stimulus checks to prisoners and illegal immigrants. He compared homosexuality to alcoholism. He …. I could go on, but you get the point.
Sadly for Buck, this embrace of MAGA ‘values’ was not absolute enough for the pro-Trump purists. He screwed the pooch by not sacrificing enough electoral lambs on the Trump altar. And he rejected the mephitic dishonesty redolent in the Republican sewer.
Buck had a choice. He could stand up for his beliefs. He could endeavor to rescue his party from perdition. He might fail. But the brave fight because they believe in something, not because they are assured victory. It is hard to overcome long odds — but people who refuse to fight never win. Or he could quit.
Buck chose the latter.
He did not have the courage of his convictions. Given the chance to be great, he chose to be gone. In November 2023, he announced his retirement.
This Sunday, he unconsciously revealed his cowardice to News Nation’s Chris Stirewalt. In the interview, he outlined his career choice in the face of the GOP's craven immorality.
“You know, the time is right. I’m at a point in my life where I want to do different things. I want to enjoy my family more, I want to [do] less business travel and more recreational travel. There are a lot of things that went into the decision.
But really we’re at a time in American politics, that I am not going to lie on behalf of my presidential candidate, on behalf of my party. And I’m very sad that others in my party have taken the position that, as long as we get the White House, it doesn’t really matter what we say.”
Buck is taking his ball and going home because he does not like the way his teammates are playing the game. Is there a bigger coward? He gleefully hurt other people when in a position of power. But as soon as he was the victim of Republican opprobrium, he folded his tent and fled. Along with all the other GOP never-Trumpers.
There is no mistaking his yellow streak. Buck knows his party is in the hands of lunatic nihilists, saying:
“We’ve gone from a time when the Tea Party stood for conservative principles, for constitutional principles, to a time where the [populists] have taken over the Republican Party and are really advocating things that I believe are very dangerous,”
But despite this knowledge, he is running away.
Perhaps there is a silver lining. Maybe the new Republican representing CO 4 (it is a safe GOP seat) will be someone willing to fight against the fascist threat of MAGA's anti-democratic, swivel-eyed loons. I would not bet that way. After all, one possible Buck successor is the carpet-bagging Lauren Boebert.
Buck's quit in the face of adversity is prevalent in Republican America today. The US is a country where right-wing bullies collapse in the face of a bigger bully. It is a nation where conservatives have to write books telling guys how to be real men because they have no examples of how real men behave. Buck was a tough guy when his posse had his back. But when his security blankey was ripped away he whined, shit his pants, and fled.
Sadly, every time an old-school Republican shows they have no stomach for a fight, a MAGA lackey replaces them. And the country inches closer to fascism.