I've been seeing a lot of right-wing bloggers' tributes to a man named Parker "Chip" Gerdes, who died this morning. Who was Chip Gerdes? Why is he being lavished with praise? Why haven't many of us heard of him till now?
Well, it appears that we weren't supposed to know about him. Robert Stacy McCain writes:
The first rule of Chip Gerdes was, nobody talked about Chip Gerdes....Judson Phillips of Tea Party Nation adds:
Chip was a "black ops" guy, a disciple of the legendary Republican operative Roger Stone. He was adept at research and organizing, but his specialty was the kind of no-fingerprints political trickery that some people have termed "ratfucking."
Chip was described on Breitbart earlier today as being an Alinsky for the good guys. That is an understatement if anything. Chip in some ways was a one man Seal Team 6 for the conservative movement. He knew the black arts of political intrigue and more importantly, he knew how to get things done in a way that no one knew he did it or at least no one could prove it.So he was a political sleazebag, right? Oh, no -- as Jim Holt puts it, he was a patriot:
Chip worked on campaigns and operated behind the scenes to secure freedom and push the conservative cause. His contact list was extensive from local Illinois GOP leaders to Drudge and The Daily Caller.And from Dana Loesch:
He met adversity with a fist, especially for his friends. There are only two people in this modern movement who were so steadfast in the face of it all, they are now both gone. Any time is always too soon for such a man. We saw him just this weekend. You never think a final goodbye is just that, but I’m glad we got one."Andrew" being, needless to say, Andrew Breitbart, the greatest human being to walk the face of the earth not named Reagan, in right-wingers' eyes.
I imagine he's now giving a big hug to Andrew.
So he was a ratfucking black ops guy who met adversity with a fist. And, under his Twitter name TookieW, he aimed a lot of homophobic tweets at a lefty blogger named Adam from a blog clled St. Louis Activist Hub, who tussled with him:
And these days, that's what gets you a eulogy on the House floor from a Republican congresswoman:
Today I want to honor a legendary man, a loyal soldier in the battle for freedom in this great country: Chip Gerdes of my neighboring state of Illinois. Chip suddenly passed away this morning in his home, where he was a loving father and a devoted husband. He was a devoted friend to me and my family, and a faithful patriot to so many. Chip is the type of person we all strive to be in politics. He reached across all divides to bring people together for a common purpose. I know Chip is smiling down on all of us today, cracking a joke about how serious we are about a man who never missed an opportunity to lighten the mood, and who would always fire up the room.Chip Gerdes will be missed by many, but his memory and his fight will continue. We love you, Chip. We already miss you and we will never stop fighting for what you devoted your life to defend: life, liberty, an the pursuit of happiness. Rest easy, my friend. We've got it from here.Yeah, politics ain't beanbag. But when I was a lad, the sleazy operators were seen as sleazy operators. They weren't praised on the floor of the House as great patriots.
