Why do we tolerate SLO County's MAGA Circus? 

The November election is now center stage, and there's no shortage of far-right candidates and pundits shouting "Make America Great Again" and whizzing around like clown cars in a circus. And of course, Donald Trump is the MAGA Circus ringmaster.

Seriously, folks—why does anyone listen to the MAGA refrain, which is little more than a rehash of the failed 2020 campaign, trying to reelect an aging former president who's showing increasing signs of senility and dementia?

I'm not amused. Let's get serious for a change. It's hard, but it is imperative that we do so. Kamala Harris, in her speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president in Chicago, put it clearly: "In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man. But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious."

By now, we all know the deeply flawed character of the convicted felon at the top of the GOP ticket. Trump regularly spouts the most egregious nonsense, using rhetoric that demeans and diminishes our national civic culture. He thrives on chaos and conflict. He completely ignores the constitutional limits that have assured a stable democracy for almost 250 years. For evidence, look no further than his role in fomenting the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.

With his running mate, J.D. Vance, they have alienated women by their strident denial of a fundamental right to reproductive health care. Vance is a voice from the 19th century—or even earlier, Medieval times: He paints a nightmarish vision of a male-centered family, rejecting the notion that non-traditional families contribute anything of value to society. Vance even advocates limiting the voting rights of those who do not, for whatever reason, have children.

We don't have to go far down-ballot to find pernicious MAGA performers like Mark Robinson, the self-admitted "Black Nazi" who now serves as North Carolina's lieutenant governor. With tacit support from Trump and Vance, Robinson might still win the governor's post—even after revelations from CNN of his alleged obscene comments on a pornography website that include support for slavery ("I would certainly buy a few") and anti-Semitic, homophobic, racist, and misogynistic views.

One wonders how the GOP produces representatives like Q-Anon conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Georgia). Even MAGA House Speaker Mike Johnson can't stand her.

But don't assume that our local MAGA GOP is missing from the clown-car show.

Michelle Marie Morrow made a quixotic run as a write-in candidate for 3rd District supervisor against incumbent Dawn Ortiz-Legg in the March 5 primary. Nobody had filed on time to oppose Ortiz-Legg, so Morrow put herself out there. That's her right, of course, except that she lied in her declaration of candidacy, stating that she lived in the district (she didn't). Making matters worse, she apparently voted using that fraudulent address.

Now, the SLO County District Attorney has filed charges of felony voter fraud and perjury against Morrow, also accusing her of threatening witnesses, suborning perjury, and illegally interfering with the judicial process. She could face a $1,000 fine and several years in prison, and she ended up with only 6.6 percent of the vote!

Then there's the ongoing psychodrama presented by Arroyo Grande resident Gaea Powell. In April, Powell tried to stop the AG City Council from flying the Pride flag during June, spouting anti-gay and anti-trans rhetoric typical of far-right culture-war clowns. Her determination to exceed the three minute time limit prompted the City Council to throttle it down to one minute.

In July, Powell forced the SLO County Board of Supervisors and everyone else in their chambers to sit through a similar diatribe opposing Pride Month—but she added some "color" to her homophobic remarks by showing images of full-frontal nudity and graphic sex. Some complained that her presentation was pornographic. Supervisors have since prohibited the public from using any county equipment except a microphone during public comment.

And now Powell is running for mayor against incumbent Caren Ray Russom.

Finally, there's Darcia Stebbens, a mainstay of the gerrymandering fiasco in 2021 that led the former GOP-dominated Board of Supervisors to adopt a flawed redistricting map to extend their control over the board through this decade. That effort faced a bipartisan campaign and a successful lawsuit by a SLO County citizens group to overturn the map for violating the State Voting Rights Act. Stebbens and her ilk were stung badly in 2022 by Supervisor "Landslide Bruce" Gibson's reelection, winning by 13 votes in the re-drawn 2nd District under their map!

Stebbens continues to whine about Dominion voting machines, claiming—with neither evidence nor any sense of irony—"rampant voter fraud."

Darcia, meet your friend Michelle Morrow, a real-life practitioner of voter fraud, now facing trial for her false declaration of candidacy and voter registration.

It's hard to listen to these yahoos that continue to rise up from the MAGA/GOP swamp to spill their toxic tears in the halls of our local government. I applaud all those who have to put up with it—those well-meaning supervisors, council members, planning commissioners, and special district board members, and the candidates who want to fill those seats. Δ

John Ashbaugh is only asking to send the clowns to the circus instead of City Hall. Send your comments by writing to [email protected].