All Our Eggs in One Basket

Even if Craig doesn't resign, he's lost his committee assignments and the clout attendant thereto. So, since Idaho elects only Republicans, and Sali is marginalized due to his wackiness and extremism, and Craig is completely without influence, Idaho has got to be at its absolute nadir in power in Congress. Obviously, both Crapo and Simpson are in the minority party.

The downside of a one-party state, visible now. Given the way things look at the moment, the Rs are going to be out in the cold for some time, and Idaho will be shivering right alongside them.

On the good news front, the Idaho R party is fixing to fracture, due to the closed primary impetus. Rs are in disarray nationally and are linked to corruption and hypocricy. Craig's Wide Stance shenanigans tie Idaho politics right into the same culture of unacceptable behavior.

Kind of like in Alaska, another one-party state, when a politician feels so safe for so long, incentive to behave is minimal. It's healthy for our system to have the parties compete. Even candidates like Bruce Newcomb, who first ran as a Dem, haven't been able to get elected as a Dem in Idaho, for whatever reason, so they run as Rs.

Given that Dems are ascendent nationally, perhaps some folks who line up as moderate Rs in Idaho might make the switch to the D party, as has happened in Kansas and elsewhere. The Idaho R party will veer even more right and it will be tarnished with the Craig and national R odiousness. Idaho voters might - possibly - start to realize that just voting all R all the time isn't so healthy for the state.

I know, I'm dreaming. I do firmly believe that the Idaho political pendulum has reached the end of its swing, and soon, maybe not the 2008 election but probably by the next, it will swing back. We're not going to be a blue state, but we may at least go purple.

Sympathy for Larry Craig

I had some sympathy for Larry Craig. After all, his career and legacy is toast, his family is in turmoil, he'll soon be out of a job and unlikely to get a gig as a high paid lobbyist, and he's probably a conflicted soul. However, when I listened to the audio of his post-arrest interview, all sympathy vanished.

First, he claims he picked up a piece of toilet paper. Not just paper, toilet paper. Nobody, absolutely nobody, picks up toilet paper off the floor of a public toilet. A dropped piece of work paper, a plane ticket, sure, but not toilet paper. So all doubt about his veracity was erased.

The thing that really got me was how rude and condescending to the young police officer he was. Craig was just arrogant. No trace of humility. I can't abide hubris.

Want a laugh?

Check out this post by the anonymous Bill Sali Fan. Pretty typical over the top rant, but BSF manages to get in lots of descriptive phrases for what Craig has been accused of.

charges that Senator Craig is some sort of pole-smoking turd burglar must be completely fabricated

Senator Larry Craig doesn't have a hankerin' for some anonymous slab of man-meat tickling his Senatorial tonsils.

earlier claims of knob gobbling by Senator Craig

BSF also tries to defend the "wide stance" claim. Kind of ends up having the opposite effect. Instead of defending Craig, it's a bit of piling on.

You Know Who I Feel Sorry For?

Julie at Red State Rebels. Larry "Wide Stance" Craig is THE Idaho political scandal in at least a decade, and Julie can't, or rather, won't, comment on it due to her affiliation with the LaRocco campaign. A smart and classy move, but, boy, it's got to be tough on her.

And on that note, let's all encourage Craig to run again. Larry, show that you're a fighter, that quitting would be an admission of wrongdoing. At the minimum, please finish your term, but preferably, run for another.

I think that as wounded as Craig is, him running again would be LaRocco's best shot at taking the seat. LaRocco's got a shot anyway, but Craig running again would help.

A final question. Richard Stallings called for Sali to resign because of his religous bigotry. I guess to be consistent Stallings will call for Craig to resign. Doing so might even prod Larry into resisting even more. So, will Stallings, or has he already and I missed it, call for Wide Stance's resignation?

Craig Mug Shot

And the arresting officer.

Craig Arrest Report

Available here, brought to you by The Smoking Gun.

Shocking Headline in Today's Statesman

No, it's not the headline about Larry Craig. That's not a shock. I was shocked by this: "Idaho lawmakers sad to see Gonzalez go." Are you kidding me?

Gonzalez was worse than incompetent. He was actively incompetent. He was the Energizer Bunny of incompetence. He was the King of incompetence, and he'll always reign. He had the reverse Midas touch while AG. Everything he touched turned to crap.

He authored the memo that justified the use of torture, something most thinking Americans abhor. He has destroyed the Justice Department, which has been described as the crown jewel of the Cabinet positions. Gonzalez hired political hacks from third rate schools, which was fine so long as they were loyal. Think Monica Goodling. He politicized the civil rights division. And on and on and on. Justice Department employees were bailing out in droves, voting with their feet.

America is a country of laws, and no person is above the law. To uphold that core principle, we need a strong, clean, fair, independent Justice Department. If those four adjectives don't apply, it isn't justice. And yet Gonzalez has consistently justified, and helped cover up, Bush administration departures from our core values. Many republicans even criticized Gonzalez, and certainly none openly supported him near the end.

And yet Idaho's lawmakers are sad to him go? Come on. Is there anything you won't support that's done by the President and his administration? Anything? Torture? Holding American citizens without legal counsel, without habeous corpus? That's all okay with you? Unbelievable.

Is This It for Craig?

Mountain Goat posted a link to a kos article about Larry Craig being arrested for lewd conduct.

You can follow the story from there. Since this happened in June, it makes you wonder about Popkey's effort to get to the bottom of the allegations about Craig sexuality.

In the comments, it appears someone has access to the arrest report.

At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area," the report states.

Craig then proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times, and Karsnia noted in his report that "I could ... see Craig had a gold ring on his ring finger as his hand was on my side of the stall divider."

And there's this which appears to be Craig's side of the story.

Craig stated "that he has a wide stance when going to the bathroom and that his foot may have touched mine," the report states. Craig also told the arresting officer that he reached down with his right hand to pick up a piece of paper that was on the floor.

Campaign money

It's time to follow the money a bit, since July 31, 2007 was a recent deadline for updated campaign finance reports. (Click on pictures below to enlarge)

First off, Jim Risch is finally getting around to repaying the $360,000 he loaned himself for his 2002 Lt Gov campaign. He used $125,000 of money left over from his last campaign. He still hasn't charged himself interest.


Next, Gov Otter has received some $5,600 in donations in 2007, and spent almost $15,000. I guess the expenses were for wrapping up the campaign, and the inaugural.



It's a little suprising that folks would be donating money after the election is over, since after all, the election is over. If the money isn't for helping Otter get elected, I wonder what the donators thought they were giving money for? Also interesting is checking the "Primary" block. Is it for the next primary? Probably just a pro forma deal.



Luna had contributions of $11,300 in 2007, and he spent $11,200. Again, the point of donating is? Since Luna has $27,000 of debt, donations might help retire that. However, Luna made no payments on his debt in 2007.



It appears that Tamarak, Tracy Lotz, and the Education Network of America are concerned about Luna's debt. Notice that their contributions (total of $8,000) are specifically earmarked for debt retirement. Looks like Luna's in no hurry to retire his debt, despite the earmarked contributions.



The University of Phoenix is also an interesting post-election contributor.

Cruelty to Animals

Per Idaho Code section 25-3520, the penalties for cruelty to animals, including dog fighting and cockfighting are:

1st offense, fine between $100 - $5,000, and/or not more than 6 months in jail. No minimum jail time.

2nd offense, fine between $200 - $7,000, and/or not more than 9 months in jail. No minimum jail time.

3rd or more offenses, fine between $500 - $9,000 and/or not more than 12 months in jail. Still no minimum jail time.

If you poison an animal, fine between $100 - $5,000. No minimum slammer time, but interestingly, you can be sentenced to a maximum of 3 years in state prison, or maximum of 1 year in a county jail. I guess county lock-ups are three times worse than prison.

Cemeteries

Do you spend much time thinking about being dead, or cemeteries? Me neither, but I recently stumbled across an interesting Idaho law that got me thinking along these lines; the Endowment Cemetery Care Act.

Most everyone has seen an old, abandoned gravesite or cemetery. It’s tough to take care of something over the centuries, which presumably is how long you’ll be dead. Just ask the Egyptians, or think about the time you visited a grandparent’s or great grandparent’s grave.

Various governments, city, county, state, will manage and maintain some cemeteries, so they are probably going to be stable over time. Private cemeteries fall into two categories: them that promise perpetual or endowment care, and them that don’t. The former are regulated by Idaho’s Endowment Cemetery Care Act, which requires a certain amount of money, per plot, crypt, etc., be placed in an irrevocable trust.

The income from the trust is available for care of the cemetery, theoretically forever. However, since the caretaker can take out all the income from the trust, the principal never increases, so over time inflation will reduce the value. Still, it’s better than nothing.

The unregulated ones, the ones that don’t promise perpetual care, can just fold up anytime they want and abandon the cemetery.

Supreme Court Redux

The interviews to replace Justice Trout on the Idaho Supreme Court are scheduled for Tuesday, Aug 28 in the Supreme Court building. Here's the schedule.

I'm glad I'm not doing them. 12 interviews in one day, each a half hour, then deliberations. I guess they'll have their picks to the Gov on Wednesday.

I'm betting that two of the picks will be women, and that the Gov will pick one of them.

My Representative

Bill Sali’s remarks about Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison are still echoing around the blogosphere, though the traditional media have moved on. What bothers me the most, even more than what Sali said, is the thinking and attitudes underneath the comments.

According to this broad definition, Sali is guilty of prejudice. Probably almost everyone is, to an extent.

Affective Prejudice refers to what people like and dislike. An example of affective prejudice might be found, for example, in attitudes toward members of particular classes such as race, ethnicity, national origin, or creed.

According to this one, he is also a bigot.

A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles, or identities differing from his or her own. …

Bigot is often used as a pejorative term against a person who is obstinately devoted to prejudices even when these views are challenged or proven to be false.

Sali never budged from his original premise that anyone in Congress who is not Jewish or Christian will work ill for the country. He apologized if this view offends anyone, but he still holds the view. How is this different from saying that anyone in Congress who is not white will be bad for the country? I don't think Sali is racially prejudiced or bigoted, but he sure seems to be a religious bigot. So there’s that.

What’s worse for Idahoans is Sali’s position that if you don’t agree with him, you’re wrong. Sali is very conservative, is a religious fundamentalist, and is anti-abortion. Many people in Idaho do agree with all this, but not that many. If you’re conservative, but not very conservative, you’re wrong. If you’re religious but not a fundamentalist, you’re wrong. If you hate abortion and want to outlaw it, leaving exceptions only for extreme circumstances, you’re wrong. If you want low taxes, but are willing to pay taxes for important government services, you’re wrong.

Does Sali really represent Idaho and Idahoans? I don’t expect my representative to hold my exact same views (In Idaho? Har!), but I also don’t expect my representative to think I’m wrong if I don’t share his views. I expect my Representative to have an open mind, listen to his constituents, gather facts and make an informed decision. Remember, Sali has stated that it doesn’t take a lot of critical thinking to be a legislator. I guess not, if his mind rejects anything that doesn't conform to his previously formed beliefs.

Ima lefty

I took the test. h/t the pottymouthed Binkyboy.

My political compass
Economic Left/Right: -4.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.77

Alert Bill Sali

Quick. Somebody tell Bill Sali about this. One of the largest Hindu Temples in the world is being built in an Atlanta Suburb.

Surely this is evidence that the multiculturalism our Founding Fathers despised is happening. Hindu temples? Hindu Gods are not the same God as the Judeo-Christian God, yet here is a temple to worship them.

And check out this slide show. Is that a pagan idol? Are those guys shirtless in church? We're doomed.

Oh, wait, I forgot what Republican House Speaker Bruce Newcomb said about Mr. Sali.

Values Voters

After the last presidential election, the MSM chattered endlessly about “values voters.” The point being that Dems just didn’t express faith, and therefore were out of touch with the majority of American voters. Lots of blather about how Dems need to express faith. So now we have Clinton, Obama and Edwards being very open about faith. Okaaaaay.

I think they’re missing the point. Now the nation is trending very Dem, which I think actually reflects the nations values. We don’t like torture. We don’t like a huge wage gap between CEOs and workers. We don’t like a corrupt system favoring lobbyists. We like habeas corpus. We like due process. We like civil rights. We like open government. These are American values.

Rove and Bush scared folks into voting R, in large part by whipping up the Christianist base, and the MSM called this “values voters.”

Well now that political opinion is moving left, I hope that we see appropriate commentary about how these values voters are still voting their values. No torture. No renditions. No wiretapping of American citizens. Habeas corpus is available to the accused. We want to know what our executive branch is up to.

Thank goodness for George Bush and Karl Rove. They made us miserable for six or eight years, but clued the American voter into how antithetical Republicans are to American values.

Value voters are still voting their values. They’ve finally realized that Bush/Rove don’t represent their values. It just took some time.

Life in These United States

I was watching the Bourne Ultimatum over the weekend. At one point, the character playing the head of a government program, some kind of CIA/NSA thing, describes the program. He says he has authority for wiretapping, kidnapping, torture, rendition, and assassination, on foreigners and American citizens, and they seem to do plenty of it. The program turns out to be illegal. However, when he described it I just thought, "Oh, another one of those."

I've seen movies before with similar rogue agents and governmental programs, but always knew right away it was illegal. This time I thought he was describing some duly authorized program, because our intelligence agencies are doing just those things. Assassination, I don't know, but the others, certainly. That's pretty sad.

Technical Difficulties

I've been having some digital difficulties lately, which is the reason my posting has been kind of sparse. I hope to get them cleared up, but it'll take a week or so. Just so ya know.

Only Christians in Congress, or America is Doomed

Rep Bill Sali's mouth has gotten him in trouble. Michael Kinsley said a gaffe is when someone blurts out the truth. Well, Sali has blurted out his true feelings. Only Christians should serve in Congress. Not Muslims, not Jews, not Hindus, not Mormons.

Stapilus has a Post "Them What Don't Belong" here. Wayne Hoffman Sali communication director responds on this post.

Huckleberries Online has a post here, with extensive comments, including Hoffman trying to put out the fire.

Mountain Goat has a post about it. Red State Rebels calls it "The Divisive Gospel of Sali."

Mcjoan at Dailykos placed a post on the front page here.

TalkingPointsMemo's take is here.

Rep. Bill Sali (R-ID): God may destroy America over Hindu prayer in the senate. Muslim congressman probably won't help any either.

Here's the original article.

And please, won't someone with the ability to get a response (Statesman, Spokane Review, New West, LDS Church) ask Sali the question bubblehead keeps asking ? It is a legitimate question of concern to lots of Sali's constituents.

If it’s his personal opinion that non-Christians shouldn’t be heard in Congress, and since the national leader of his church teaches that Mormons aren’t Christians, is it Rep. Sali’s “personal opinion” that Mormons shouldn’t be heard in Congress? I’m sure there are a healthy portion of his constituents who would like to know the answer to that one.

I think bubblehead has posted it plenty enough that Sali is aware of the question. Certainly Hoffman is. After this much time, failure to answer the question must mean that in fact, Sali does not belive Mormons are Christians, but he doesn't want to say so.

Bill Sali believes that Mormons are not Christians. If this is not true Mr. Sali, please deny it. Continued silence will be taken for agreement with this position.

Update: Sali clarifies to the Statesman here.

Later update: In the comments to this post, bubblehead says he has received an answer to his question, which he'll post on his site later.

Barbara Morgan

So, Idaho's granolanaut Barbara Morgan has finally made it into space, and proud we are of all of that. I'm glad she made it, and kudos to her for sticking it out. I wonder though, what's the point?

NASA wanted to send an educator into space, but why? Is she going to give a lesson up there? "Okay kids, now turn to page 37 ..." Is she going to do some educating? "Now this knob is used to ...." Is she going to bring back her experiences and take it into a class room? Return to teaching and bring that experience to 30 kids a year in a tiny Idaho town? Travel and talk about going into space? Write a chapter on space in a science textbook?

I think she has achieved something great, and I admire her. This is not a criticism of Barbara Morgan. I'm just questioning NASA. If they want to make the space experience accessible to the masses, send a poet, or a writer, or a photographer, or a professional communicator like an actor or philosopher or TV news anchor. But a teacher? Teaching is too personal; it's not for the masses. I don't get it.

If You haven't Seen This ...

This is a campaign YouTube from Larry Grant's run for Congress in 2006. I am posting it now because I thought it was very effective, and hope to encourage YouTube ads by candidates. The white "no sh!t" background, the straight into the camera address, the plain talk, all really worked, I thought.



I'll be happy to post interesting YouTube clips, from any candidate, with a preference for an Idaho connection. Doesn't have to be official. If you've got a political clip, and it's interesting and not offensive, or at least not odiously offensive, I'll post it. Doesn't have to be election related. Want to rant about overgrazing? Ten commandments? Term limits? Closed Primaries? Bring it on.

Post a comment, or email me at idablue@cableone.net.

Tibbs Whiffs One

The Statesman has reported the details on mayoral candidate Jim Tibbs' effort to make an issue about Mayor Bieter's involvement with the Gallatin Group. Tibbs is alleging a conflict. However, as Randy Stapilus points out, there is no conflict.

An internal problem with the release (apart from proofreading - we reproduced the text here verbatim) is that it doesn’t indicate a conflict. A conflict of interests might occur if, for example, Bieter were being paid by Gallatin for outside contracting work and then proposed it receive a city contract. That could be a conflict between private interest and public responsibility. Instead, in this case, he spent campaign money with Gallatin, and also recommended it for city work. That indicates some closeness, perhaps; but where’s the conflict?

The Statesman makes that case that Tibb's handling of the alleged conflict went contrary to the way he's selling himself for mayor; "relationship repairman."

Meanwhile, we're troubled that Tibbs politicized this issue, holding a news conference to announce his ethics complaint. ... If this is really a blatant case of "political payback and graft," to quote Tibbs, he should have made his case in a proper forum and in a professional manner. Tibbs, the self-styled relationship repairman, sandbagged council colleagues who aren't even the target of his ethics complaint.

As you'll see from the articles, Tibbs made a cheesy effort to gin up this controversy by keeping his mouth shut at the time he should speak up, and then absented himself from the vote. By missing the vote he didn't have to state reasons for voting against it, and probably thought he was preserving the issue to use against Bieter.

A good mayor will have enough political savvy to balance the many interests affected by city government and will get along with the city council, or at least have a good working relationship with it. With this episode, Tibbs cast doubt on his judgment because he alleged a conflict where there was none. He alienated the city council. He subjected himself to widespread criticism but didn't really score a hit on Bieter. In fact, Bieter's conduct in disclosing and abstaining from voting makes him look good, and that has been highlighted by Tibb's attack.

I think Tibbs has shown that he doesn't have the sound judgment, nor the political acumen, to be mayor. He swung for the fence here but struck out instead. Keep him in the minor leagues.

Blogonymity

Mountain Goat has sparked a discussion of anonymity in blogging. Huckleberries Online has a post, including comments by Wayne Hofffman here. Mountain Goat has a follow up to his original post that started the discussion. Kevin Richert's take is here. Jill Kuraitis has a contribution.

I see a distinction in two different types of blog anonymity. A blogger like Mountain Goat keeps his personal identity private, but his online identity is out there and consistent. When he leaves comments, it's as Mountain Goat. After a while we get to know the persona Mountain Goat. (Just using MG as an example; plenty of others, like me and Bubblehead and Tom Paine and binkyboy, are in the same category; semi-anonymous).

The truly anonymous blogger usually doesn't maintain a blog, but just posts comments on other blogs, or he or she has a blog with multiple editors all using the same name, like The Idahoan. We never know if the comment or post is by the same person so we can't develop a sense of the person or outlook behind the nom de blog.

I read national columnists who identify themselves by name, but I'll never meet them. Many of them I'll never even see a picture of, but I still know something about them. I know Mountain Goat, or at least his commentariat persona, at least as well as I know George Will or Maureen Dowd, or even Dan Popkey. I'll probably never meet any of these folks. Anonymity or lack of it makes no difference in how I evaluate their opinion or how much credence I give to their viewpoint because I know their consistent persona.

So, MG's anonymity isn't the same as the Idahoan's.

BTW, what interests me more than anonymity in blogs is the trend of appending "blog" to a word because it's used on a blog. Blogvertorial, blogvertisement, bleg (!!), blogonymity ... when will it end?

The Idahoan

Mountain Goat has stirred up the Idaho blogosphere with his reporting on The Idahoan. Kevin Richert in the Statesman picked up the story and contacted Wayne Hoffman. Bubblehead, in his direct manner, left a comment asking the Idahoan if he/she is Wayne Hoffman.

So, having been previously unaware of the site, I checked it out. The site uses lots of "guest posts" a la Trish and Halli, which I don't think will help accomplish its goal of serving as a right-wing counterpart to the blue blogosphere in Idaho (too boring). The Idahoan sings the praises of Steve Thayn, who as Julie noted here is extremely conservative.

We at The Idahoan are so very proud of our good friend Rep. Steven Thayn, who garnered national attention this week for keeping our children out of the hands of the nanny state.

If the site is applauding Thayn's efforts to oppose pre-K education for kids, it is placing itself on the far right of the political spectrum.

This little pearl caught my eye.

We seem to have a fair share of Idaho Democrats who believe in restricting the right to keep and bear arms. They'll tell you they support the Second Amendment then give you a hundred ways that the U.S. Constitution should be upended.

This was a surprise to me. Talk about the third rail of Idaho politics (touch it and you're dead), gun control is it. I know of no Idaho Dem who supports gun control.

So, Idahoan, please name said gun control supporting Idaho Democrats. Can you name even one? If not, this says volumes about your credibility and veracity.

Kuna Days

The Statesman has a puff piece on Kuna Days coming up this weekend. Nice of the Statesman to help promote the festival.

However, the article refers twice to a "street dance" for adults 21 and older in the Cowgirls parking lot. Up to a couple of years ago, Kuna had an actual street dance and it was a hoot. They'd close off Main Street, put a band on the back of a semi, and go for it. They'd also allow folks in that vicintity to drink alcohol. Of course, some folks failed to act responsibly, but most behaved.

Well, that's over with. Last year the dance in the Cowgirls parking lot was just an extension of Cowgirls. A temporary fence was erected around the parking lot, high enough that you couldn't even see into the parking lot. It cost $10 (I think, maybe $15 or $20) to get in. Not even the same thing. Just a great money-making opportunity for Cowgirls.

The chairman's statement that "It is the best family event in the Treasure Valley, without a doubt," is an overstatement. There are a few events, but nothing that approaches "the best family event."

The change was made when I was out of town for 18 months, so I missed it. But the Kuna Melba News printed some letters accusing the mayor and a couple of council member, all of whom are or were in the same church, of imposing their morality on Kuna Days. If any reader has more info, I like to hear it in the comments. Whatever the motivation, Kuna Days isn't the same.

RIP, Kuna Days.

Correction

As noted by binkyboy in the comments to my immediately preceding post, Adam is crying foul (literally: "Foul on you, Idablue!") about my post on the Aryan Warrior recently arrested.

Adam takes my statement that the guy isn't going to get a break on the arrest as a slam on the police. My point, apparently too subtly or obliquely made, was that the guy's behavior - tattooing Aryan Warrior on his forehead - was going to result in negative consequences for him. Plus, I was also hoping to imply that the guy appears to be a bloomin' idiot.

The post was not commenting on the police. I will admit that my post about arresting the person for unlawful use of bathroom was critical of the police action in that case, but the criticism was aimed at the individual arrester, not the department. I think the BPD for the most part is a fine organization, although I do wish they'd write more tickets for following too closely.

Adam also says I was trying to parody Mountain Goat's posts about Sali. Parrot might be the word Adam wanted there rather than parody. If my post resembled MG's style, well, thanks for the compliment. MG has one of the best blogs in the NW blogosphere.

I did have a sentence wondering whether the Aryan Warrior voted for Kerry or Bush, but I removed that within minutes of posting it. I was uncomfortable with the implication. I removed the sentence hours before I knew Adam was cheesed off about it. I will say straight up that I believe Aryans and racists are more likely to vote Republican, for a couple of reasons. One, Dems tend to get most of the black and Jewish vote, and two, the GOP for decades has promoted its "southern strategy". That strategy was intended to appeal to the white southern vote along racial lines, so would tend to attract the racist vote.