Republicans are shocked(!) over fake ‘severed head’ at Wichita anti-Trump protest | Opinion
A Wichita protester waving an effigy of the severed head of Donald Trump has the local Republican Party leadership outraged.
You’re probably saying: So what? Those guys are always outraged about something — and usually, it’s something inconsequential like a City Hall proclamation they disagree with.
And you’d be right.
But John Whitmer, the head, if you will, of the Sedgwick County Republican Party, took a picture of a guy at one of Wichita’s regular street protests over the weekend, carrying what appears to be a Styrofoam wig head with a Trump mask stretched over it, and what looks like possibly cherry furniture stain dripping from its ear.
I wasn’t there, so I have no idea who this guy is or why he was doing what he was doing. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably some sort of silly homage to comedian Kathy Griffin, whose career was shut down by right-wing cancel culture after she displayed a similarly gruesome item on social media in 2017.
If I had been there, I probably wouldn’t have bothered to talk to him.
Some random Joe carrying a fake severed head at a street protest doesn’t exactly seem super-newsworthy, compared to say, the Trump administration cutting funding for adult advocates for children abused in the Kansas foster care system, which also happened last week.
But you never can tell what will catch the public eye in year five of the Reign of Trump.
Picture gets 300,000 views on X
In the interest of “I do this so you don’t have to,” I took a dip into the cesspool of seething rage that used to be called Twitter before Elon Musk bought it and renamed it X.
Whitmer posted his pic there and it’s gotten him about 300,000 views. If that boosts traffic to Whitmer’s right-wing talk show on KNSS, good for him.
But Whitmer being Whitmer, he decided to call me out over this, personally and repeatedly.
He started Sunday on his show’s Facebook page: “Dion Lefler, is THIS peaceful protest?” he asked.
He followed up with Facebook comments on a story I posted Monday about the continuing controversy over Wichita City Council proclamations. The flap was sparked by the council approving a ceremonial proclamation honoring Transgender Day of Visibility, and it continues to be fueled by an ongoing and embarrassing effort by far-right Republicans to punish one of “their” council members for voting for it.
In the comments on my story, Whitmer reposted his picture of Severed Head Guy with the comment: “Come on Dion, THIS should have been your story but instead you keep rehashing this nonsense?”
Chiming in was Hunter Larkin, the on-again-off-again former mayor of Goddard and poster boy for corruption in local government: “It’s because Dion is one of those California liberals that hates America. It’s that simple.”
A Grand Old (pity) Party
OK, kiddies. You serve, I’ll volley.
This may surprise you, but I have nothing to do with Severed Head Guy and I’m not a fan of protest by effigy, whoever’s doing it.
It doesn’t convince anyone of anything, and only inspires nut jobs to do increasingly nutty things.
The first thing this flap reminded me of was March of last year, when an official Republican Party fundraising event in Johnson County offered Republicans the chance to punch, hit and kick a martial arts mannequin with a Joe Biden mask and a “Let’s Go Brandon” T-shirt (if you don’t know what that means, Google it).
In the interest of civil discourse, it’s worth noting that the keynoter for that event was Ted Nugent, whose most popular song since the ‘70s is a delightful ditty called “F--- Joe Biden,” and who revived his flagging career via violent political rhetoric targeting Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and rank-and-file Democrats.
When someone mentioned the Johnson County incident during Whitmer’s GOP pity party, he decided to bear a little false witness against me.
“When they punched the Biden dummy,” Whitmer wrote, “many in the GOP condemned them, including myself and Dion Lefler EVISCERATED them in the Wichita Eagle, this leftist carries around Trump’s bloody severed head and nobody says a peep... #Hypocrites.”
Meanwhile Dion Lefler (checks notes) didn’t write anything about the Johnson County Republicans getting their jollies through simulated elder abuse.
The Eagle ran two stories on the incident.
▪ The first one was a column by opinion correspondent Joel Mathis, before the event, questioning the party’s judgment for even having a fundraiser featuring the “Motor City Madman.” It noted that “The Nuge” would be accompanied by disgraced and disbarred former Kansas attorney general Phill Kline, arguably the worst attorney general in Kansas history (although current AG Kris Kobach is doing his best to overtake him).
▪ The other was a short news story on the mannequin beating from our sister paper, the Kansas City Star, after the fact.
No “evisceration” of the GOP occurred, and we can safely put the story of Severed Head Guy in the ongoing Republican political file labeled “We dish it out, but we can’t take it.”
It’s become a big part of the Republican brand in the Age of Trump: Cheer on GOP celebrities who say and do the most outrageous things, then cry victimhood when some obscure member of the opposition responds in kind.
To John Whitmer, Hunter Larkin, and anyone else clutching their pearls at this moment in time, I offer this advice:
Get over yourself.
