Friday, April 07, 2006

Pariahs and petty dictators

Bill Sali is a pariah in a party led by petty tyrants making childish decisions. Or so it appears from the recent dust up between Sali and House Speaker Newcomb.

Eye on Boise reports that after Sali refused to go along with the GOP tax plan, asking that it be split into three bills instead of one, Speaker Newcomb took away Sali's committee assignments. Newcomb later relented and reinstated the committee assignments.

Dan Popkey views this as a signal by Newcomb to voters that Sali is disliked by his own party, and his article has several juicy zingers of Sali by GOPers, including one about brain damage Sali said he sustained in an accident. Popkey concludes that the IdGOP views Sali as ineffective and a weak candidate against Larry Grant, and the IdGOP is going to try to undermine Sali.

This raises a few questions. Should IdDems cross over in the primary and vote for Sali, hoping that he will be weak against Grant and thereby helping Grant, even though risking that Sali will win in the general and they'll be stuck with Ani-Abortion-Bill Sali?

What do you make of a House Speaker who is so intolerant of a different view that he punishes a person who expresses one? Isn't the legislature a place where freedom of speech should be very highly valued? What do you think about a Speaker who reacts in a snit, lashes out and then changes his mind within a few hours and says "Never mind"?



(Sorry; lost the links due to technical difficulties. I'll try to re-link later.)

(Update: links added back.)

1 comment:

Jessica said...

Idaho Dems should vote in the Republican primary if they want Democrats to win in November. And we should vote for the weakest Repub opponent who has a chance at winning the primary.