We mourn the passing of Bud Otis’s membership in the Frederick County Republican Party. The general climate of vindictive hostility within the county has inspired Council President Bud Otis to change his political registration to unaffiliated.

You may think it would be easy for us to be pleased by this turn of events–watching the jerks eat their own. It most assuredly is not. We need to have two functioning parties, not a rabid pack of arseholes who waste time, impede the functioning of quotidian matters we all depend upon for a good quality of life in Frederick County, and go saying insane things on air on WFMD. Some things that we frankly are not willing to even repeat. When you see where this paragraph is willing to go, you will have to wonder, “What on Earth could it be that is absolutely beyond the pale?” Then there are the apparent residents of some padded cell in a relative’s dank basement who get on Facebook’s Worst Nightmare Watch and tell anyone who disagrees with them things like they have sweat from the Council President’s testicles rubbed all over them. We have some other (apparently) BREAKING news: politics is not supposed to be about pushing people away from your point of view (follow that link back there; it is in a Republican’s own words). Bud Otis is an incredibly good and decent man, who has governed thoughtfully and responsibly on behalf of this county. He been forced out of his party by a party purity test that becomes increasingly guano psychotic. Thanks for that term. You know who you are, girlfriend.

It has become ever more alarming that we appear to be setting examples for young people who are now reaching voting age who may have never even seen the two party system do something like compromise. Failure to function, a la Ted-I’m-Taking-My-Ball-and-Going-Home Cruz, is bad enough. Being the party of bullying is worse. Billy and Kirby employ both tactics, liberally haha see what we did there! Tony is a little more conservative, but not always on the responsible side. We got ourselves a countywide nationwide guano show, people.

We are super sad. How are we supposed to say, “Look folks, there are sane people on both sides of the aisle.” Bud Otis gave us hope. We were inspired. We now rely on some involved private citizens to carry that mantle: Carl Thomas, Steve McKay, Craig Hicks, and Carol Jaar Sepe, we look to you to find the bipartisan common ground. We’re very grateful to you.

We do have utmost respect for the decision Mr. Otis felt himself forced to make. Bravo, Bud Otis. You do you. Middle finger to the haters.