Days after taking a forceful and laudable stand against Missouri's Second Amendment Protection Act, disgraced former Gov. Eric Greitens completely reversed himself Saturday and declared his support for the act. His reversal followed a harsh put-down by a conservative gun extremist with a big internet following, which apparently is all it takes to get Missouri's leading GOP Senate candidate to change his mind. Greitens is slightly ahead of another politician with a penchant for bizarre antics, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, in Republican primary polls ahead of next year's U.S. Senate election.

Greitens stated in a radio interview last week that the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which punishes Missouri police who help enforce federal gun laws, effectively serves the defund-the-police movement. Greitens was absolutely correct because of the financial penalties imposed on local police if they help enforce federal laws that Missouri deems to be overly restrictive of gun rights.

Greitens denounced conservatives who support the act as "RINOs" — Republicans in name only — who don't understand the importance of supporting local police. "It's important to have leaders who, like, understand what's happening on the front lines," Greitens said.

That prompted a sharp response from gun-rights extremist Aaron Dorr, who launched a lengthy personal attack on Greitens in a 17-minute online video.

"In everything that you do, in all the apologies that you make," Dorr said, addressing Greitens directly, "I want to remind you: ... Watch the arrogance and the condescension in your mannerisms. Watch the way you carry yourself as you apologize, because you have come across as the most arrogant, condescending ass that we have seen certainly in this cycle and perhaps in all of the cycles certainly in recent memory in Missouri."

Wow. Even though Dorr is 100% wrong in his interpretation of the Second Amendment and the need to cooperate with federal authorities to prevent dangerous individuals from possessing guns, he was 100% correct in his assessment of Greitens.

Clearly, being an "arrogant, condescending ass" is not an automatic disqualifier for any politician. Josh Hawley fit that bill, and Missourians elected him to the Senate in 2018. Hawley has since made a point of championing those character traits at every available juncture. And given the recent conduct of Schmitt and others vying for the GOP Senate nomination, some might argue that Dorr actually paid Greitens a high compliment.

What should be deeply concerning to Republican voters, though, are Greitens' well-documented scandals, mercurial behavior and blow-with-the-wind policy positions. A politician who couldn't even honor his own wedding vows and betrayed his family, who changes his mind from one day to the next regarding support for law enforcers, and who stands in solid support of former President Donald Trump's most egregious, democracy-destroying statements and actions isn't someone ready to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate.

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