最新杏吧原创

The advertisement in the Journal explained that it鈥檚 easy to build a case against an incompetent employee. But what about a competent employee with a bad attitude? How can you get rid of that person?

I paid my $155 fee and attended. I wanted to get a list of all the businesses that sent people to the seminar so I could warn their employees.

The meeting room at a local Holiday Inn was filled. The speaker was Chuck Daniel. He talked about the art of firing competent employees. 鈥淲e want to be fair, moral, ethical and legal,鈥� he said. 鈥淎t least legal.鈥� Everybody laughed.

I introduced myself to a young man sitting next to me. He said his name was Ed Martin, and he worked for the 最新杏吧原创 Archdiocese.

That made sense. The church was in the late stage of its transition from being a wing of the Democratic party to being a wing of the Republican party. There had to be some liberals still on the payroll.

Sure enough. Martin soon decimated the Human Rights office of the Archdiocese. In fact, it no longer exists.

Despite our ideological differences, Martin and I became friends.

He went to Jefferson City to serve as chief of staff to Gov. Matt Blunt. Chaos ensued. There was a dispute about public records and emails and Martin fired Deputy Counsel Scott Eckersley, who then sued for wrongful termination and defamation. Martin resigned.

鈥淚 guess I didn鈥檛 pay close enough attention at the seminar,鈥� he said.

He soon found a new cause. He became the public face of the resistance to the sale of Anheuser-Busch. He was on CNN, FOX and the BBC. He was quoted in all the big papers. But how do you stop rich people from doing what they want with what is theirs?

鈥淎dmittedly, I can鈥檛 see the end game yet,鈥� Martin said. His efforts failed.

He ran against Congressman Russ Carnahan in 2010. Martin鈥檚 election night watch party was crowded and boisterous. Carnahan鈥檚 party was lifeless in comparison. But it was a Democratic district, and Carnahan won.

The next year, Martin mulled a run for the U.S. Senate but instead ran against Ann Wagner in the Republican primary for the newly constituted Second District. Both signed term-limit pledges. Three terms, no more. Wagner won easily and has continued to win. She has announced her intention to run for an eighth term in 2026.

In 2012, Martin unsuccessfully ran for attorney general.

The next year, he became state chairman of the Republican party. Phyllis Schlafly and Martin and Mae Duggan were honorees at a dinner. The Duggans could not make it. Martin called me. You鈥檙e friends with the Duggans, he said. Why don鈥檛 you accept the award for them. You can talk about being a liberal. It will be a blast.

It was a blast.

But Martin鈥檚 tenure as head of the party wasn鈥檛 so good. The financials went way down. Serious people didn鈥檛 take him seriously. In 2015, he announced he would be stepping down to become president of Schlafly鈥檚 Eagle Forum.

Soon there was chaos among the Eagles. To the surprise of many in the organization, Schlafly endorsed the profane and thrice-married Donald Trump in the primary. Some accused Martin of manipulating his boss. Then Schlafly, Martin and Brett Decker, a former Wall Street Journal editorial writer, tri-authored a book, 鈥淭he Conservative Case for Trump.鈥� It was released the day after Schlafly died. She was 92.

By then, the Eagle Forum was embroiled in lawsuits.

Martin moved to the D.C. area. He ran for Fairfax County Supervisor in Virginia. His opponent called him a right-wing carpetbagger. Martin lost.

I did not think that would be the end for him. Have you noticed a pattern? He stumbles and falls, but he falls up. Without getting too metaphysical, that seems like a testament to the human spirit.

I lost track of him. I should have guessed that he was in the crowd on Jan. 6, 2021. I should have guessed that he would represent some of the defendants, and would do so unsuccessfully. And then he would fall up again.

In January, I got an email from him. It was a screen shot of a social media message from President Trump.

鈥淚 am pleased to announce that Ed Martin will serve as the next Chief of staff at the Office of Management and Budget鈥︹�� Trump mentioned the book.

鈥淪hould be something,鈥� Martin wrote.

But fate intervened and Martin was appointed acting U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. He inherited an office in chaos. He must have felt at home. He did so well, or so poorly, depending on your take on democracy, that the president removed the 鈥渢emporary鈥� from Martin鈥檚 title. He is now the U.S. attorney for the D.C. office. That is a very big job.

His appointment should come as no surprise to Missourians. We鈥檙e fly-over country, but we have a certain insight into the circus in the Capitol. Our own Billy Long is the new boss at the IRS. He is a graduate of the Missouri Auction School and was named 鈥淏est Auctioneer in the Ozarks鈥� for seven consecutive years. No other auctioneer comes close.

More to the point, he coined the term 鈥淭rump Train.鈥� As in, 鈥淕et on the Trump Train.鈥�

Perhaps Long has gone as far as the Trump Train will take him, but what about Martin? The knowledge from that long ago seminar should stand him in good stead, but still, with no prosecutorial experience and a hostile workforce, he seems set up for failure. That should worry the people above him. Martin falls up.