There's Something Happening Here, Redux

Tomorrow, January 4th, the Idaho Democratic Party is having a State Central Committee meeting via conference calls at three locations. The initial reason for the meeting was for a discussion on amendments for caucus rules that made explicit the procedure for caucus absentee pledges. When Richard Stallings, our most recent IDP Chair stepped down on December 20th, the meeting suddenly morphed into voting for a new IDP Chair.

Well, that bothered me, and many others, it seemed, because of the urgency that surrounded it. Many central committee members (chairs and state committee men and women) work for a living but volunteer our time. December is usually a rather slow month, politically speaking, and many of us put aside our Democratic duties to tend to the holidays and family and so forth. So when the announcement came that we now had to elect a chair, a number of us felt that this was too soon, too quick and too hurried. We quickly received one nomination but no others were forthcoming. Nominations could be made on the floor, but there would be no physical floor for this meeting since it was via conference call.

So I started calling around to see if others felt like I did about the hurry and the single nomination and what was going on. Boy did I get an earful!

My first inkling that there may be more here than meets the eye came when I heard that our IDP in-group just wanted to appoint Jerry Brady as the Chair. Well, the by-laws don't allow that so that appointment, or even nomination, became "difficult" because Brady had already endorsed Walt Minnick over Larry Grant and Rand Lewis for the District 1 Congressional Seat. I questioned the word "difficult" suggesting "impossible" instead. After all, how can you have an IDP Chair who has already publicly endorsed a primary candidate??? That seems rather unethical to me.... but perhaps that is politics as usual and one shouldn't be worried about ethics.
But then I never received a notification about a nomination for Jerry Brady. I, and the other Central Committee members only received the nomination for Keith Roark, a man well-qualified for the position. Not only was he the Democratic nominee in 2002 for Attorney General, his resume indicates a life dedicated to service to his community. Just what we need for the IDP. And, I heard that he may actually work as hard, if not harder than our dynamite Vice-Chair, Jeanne Buell. Now I really like this guy.

In the meantime, word also comes through from others who just feel something fishy is up in Boise, that Cecil Andrus, whose recommendation of John Foster as Executive Director took precedent over the fact that he was least qualified for the job, perhaps wanted Brady to be Chair. I also heard that the strategy was for Foster's nominee to declare on the floor and not beforehand, and so Brady would be thought popular by name recognition alone.

And then I heard that it all has to do with money and fund-raising capabilities given that the IDP is running low, so to speak....

So now I'm wondering why Brady, who has always struck me as a man of integrity, would pursue the Chair position having already endorsed Minnick. And I wonder why, after the great united front at the last State Central Committee Meeting, John Foster would suddenly be pushing for a possibly dividing IDP Chair. I mean, how can a chair be said to be fair if he has already endorsed one candidate over another. Like what does he say, "Oh, I can be fair now and I'll put my endorsement aside." Give me a break! The damage has been done.

Finally, I've heard that the argument for electing Brady over Roark is we should really question whether we want our top three party leaders all from Blaine County. This includes House Minority Leader Wendy Jaquet and Senate Minority Leader Clint Stennett. Hey, these two were elected by the people, the public. If they both happen to be from Blaine County then perhaps that suggests that Blaine County has a lot of Democrats. Now Roark would like to be IDP Chair and he happens to be from Blaine. So what? That suggests to me that he not only has a great background in community service but great experience with Democrats as well. What better choice for an IDP Chair?

Actually this whole situation could be a lot worse, or possibly even better than I think. After all I had one person already figuring out what exactly happened and he surmised that Stallings knew that a core group wanted to have all their compatriots leading the party, so he stepped down early to thwart them. Now this is a complete conjecture but when secrecy is in the air, people try to figure out what's really going on. It's human behavior. It's why detective stories and mysteries sell so well. It's why we have conspiracy theories. But it's also why there are those who get so carried away with their power that they forget open government, due process, accountability, and honesty.

I'd like to know the truth. So many Idaho Democrats worked too hard in the last several years to nourish the grassroots of this party to now have their work ignored in a new top-down approach that thinks money is going to turn Idaho blue.

Happy New Year!

Oh, how I look forward to the new year, 2008, the year of a presidential election, when we hopefully, finally rid ourselves of the neocon generation. The newspapers and television have been re-capping major events of the past year and I just don't want to see them because so much politics (and Republican at that) pervades their perspective. It's time for a new, refreshing, and spirited generation to seek to make the world a more beautiful place, and I'll help them all I can. It's time for peace.

Some of these re-caps haven't been all that bad; indeed, we have many things to be thankful for in 2007. We finally pushed global warming to the forefront. Al Gore not only won an Oscar for "An Inconvenient Truth," but also a Nobel Prize for all his work on global warming. Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the House (although I'm not wowed by her service). I refuse to comment on all the "celebrity" news that dominated prime time television because I don't consider that news. I am, however, happy about the final book in the Harry Potter series. Much of the news has been depressing, including physical disasters, natural disaster, war, death, disease and poverty. But I think the one event that made me, an Idaho Democrat the happiest, was the gift we received from Senator Larry Wide-Stance Craig. You gave us an unexpected boost and I don't care whether you're gay or not, your gift is greatly appreciated.

So, Happy New Year!

A State Too Great for Hate?

Sweeping some of Idaho's racist problems under the carpet because it seems to belong to a small section of the populace, or because it's so nonsensical it appears unbelievable, allows the problem to persist and even grow. I believe that has happened with the racist letter that I wrote about in my previous blog (and thanks to Bubblehead for pointing out that it was eventually put on the Bonners Ferry Herald website). I was going to leave the following as a response to the other comments on the last blog, but it seemed more important to write about racism in Idaho again. I hope that many others chip in their two cents because if we want to understand Idaho, we need to understand its problems as well as appreciate its positive qualities.

Unfortunately for Idaho, although members of the Obama campaign thanked me for the information about the Herald letter, they seem to think that because the mis-information contained in this letter has been circulating for some time, and because it has been exposed and debunked elsewhere, it was not important to respond to the Herald, its publisher, and its owner. I think they missed the point, especially for Idaho if not elsewhere in the U.S. Many of the people who believe this nonsense are Republican members of fundamentalist churches who send their members in large numbers to the polls. I know for two reasons: living in a small rural town is like living in a glass house; and, I have been a poll watcher for several elections. For a newspaper to publish this kind of vitriol is encouragement for these people; thus, more fundamentalist Republicans will be at the polls voting the straight Republican ticket. But does our local newspaper, published by a Republican, and owned by a corporation whose owner and CEO is a Republican, do the citizens a service by publishing such blatant partisan letters? This paper has also published a number of opinion articles, news releases and so forth on behalf of Bill Sali. But do Democrats get their news releases published? You guessed that one. Rarely. Indeed, the publisher of this paper, in the last publication before the last election, printed an article that cast aspersions on a candidate who had a good chance of winning an Idaho Congressional seat. Did the article hurt the candidate? One cannot prove it but the candidate did lose. Not to mention the editor who supposedly was fired because he came out in favor of Jerry Brady for Governor....

But I digress... it is the blatant racism used here for political purposes that needs to be addressed. And, by the way, the Herald did not publish my response letter; instead the publisher wrote an opinion apologizing for "letting such a ill-informed, hate-filled letter run in our community newspaper." That was good. But what really puzzles me is that the letter, which wasn't on the Herald website on the printed day of publication, eventually made it there. This just provided more damaging grist against Obama and the Obama campaign. Oh, and the editor who allowed the letter to be published in the first place is still at her job....

It's bad enough that in a state "too great for hate," we do have this kind of racism. But what is really unfortunate is that we haven't addressed it strongly enough; indeed, Idaho Republicans' obsession with English as the "official language" is not only insulting to our immigrants but, I would suggest, racist as well. We do finally celebrate Martin Luther King Day in our schools, but what has occurred in the recent past with students who were educated in Boundary County (a girl thrown into a bonfire because her mother is a practicing Muslim) indicates, to me at least, that Boundary County needs more than Martin Luther King Day.... Although north Idaho has pretty much rid itself of large Aryan Nation groups, their brand of racism persists. And I believe that this occurs around the entire United States, not just north Idaho. And I think that one reason is because much of this racism comes from Republicans. A case in point: consider the action of the College Republicans at Boise State University who created anti-immigrant games and ran racist anti-immigrant ads. I have never heard nor read about a Democrat who has engaged in such racist acts. I think it's about time that the issue of racism be made a public debate, and if it takes having an Obama running for the presidency, then I, for one, am grateful he's running.

Idahoans, if you're not outraged at these acts of racism, then you aren't paying attention.

Racism in Rural America

The following letter is not only racist, but it is filled with errors, confused information, and thinly disguised hatred. It was published today in the Bonners Ferry Herald, although you won't find it in the edited, online version. Many of you may find the mistakes so ridiculous that you laugh the letter off. Please do not do this. I live in this town, this county, and have for almost 20 yrs. I try to be tolerant and objective, and although I don't know the author of this Letter-to-the-Editor, I know others like her who, in other circumstances, would give you the shirt off their backs if they could help you....and if you were white. This kind of racism finds a home in some of the fundamentalist churches in this rural landscape (and there are plenty of them). This letter is not just pathetic in its ignorance but abhorrent in its racism. And what I find even more deplorable is that the Bonners Ferry Herald even decided to publish it! Have their standards sunk as low as those of the person who wrote this letter? I have copied this letter to my blog tonight (and you can all get an original copy by buying the Bonners Ferry Herald print edition) in the hopes that whoever reads it will take offence, call the Herald, write their own LTE to the Herald, and spread the word about this kind of racism in order to bring this problem to the fore and make it a topic of discussion that we cannot ignore.

The letter:

Don’t Elect a Muslim as next U.S. President?

Barak Hussein Obama, a Muslim wants to be our next president.
How can a good Muslim be a “good American,” much less the President of the United States of America?

Politically he can’t because he must submit to the mullah (political leader) who teach annihilation of Israel and destruction of the great satin they refer to as America. Death to all who are not Muslim.

Intellectually he cannot accept the American Constitution since it is based on Biblical principles and he believes as a Muslim that the Bible is corrupt.
Philosophically he cannot because Islam Mohammed and the Iran to not allow freedom of religion. Democracy and Islam cannot co-exist. Every Muslim government is either dictatorial or autocratic.

Spiritually he cannot because when we declare “One Nation Under God,” our Christian God is loving and kind while Allah is never referred to as a Heavenly Father nor is he ever called love in the Iran. Muslims cannot be both a good Muslim and a good American. Their personal preference and allegiance is to Allah and not our Constitution, nor our God.

A state of our nation has already elected a Muslim (Obama) to the House of Representatives.

He is in the current session of Congress 2007 and during his swearing in he used the Muslim Iran instead of our Bible.

How dare we not recognize this as the evil it will bring on our nation if we allow Obama to be our next president.

Also four Senators along with many others voted against English as our official American language, Senators Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Obama, Boxer, Kerry, Kennedy, Lieferman and many more. Where is the loyalty to America?

None of these people should be leaders of our “Great Nation.” In our country people are free to believe anything they want to as well as their religious preference. But they don’t qualify to be the President of the United States of America when they don’t support or believe in our Constitution. They are not loyal Americans and talk out of both sides of their mouth.

Please use your voting privilege to keep these people out of the White House. Please do not elect them to be the President of the United States of America. This may be the most serious election our country has ever faced. Our government isn’t perfect but it’s the best one in the whole world. Let’s help keep it that way. Our vote may be a matter of life or death and liberty for all.

Face the Music and Dance

Oh boy, Larry Craig's Sunday is ruined. Front page of the Idaho Statesman. Front page of the Spokesman-Review (same Popkey article). Front page of the Times News (Magic Valley). Tucked into the Lewiston Tribune. Across the nation, from the Seattle Post Intelligencer (albeit without all the sordid details) to the Miami Herald (with the sordid details). Even the ubiquitous USA Today. The guys have kissed and now they're telling.... Not a good time to be a Republican in Idaho....not a good time to be a Republican....and so much for family values....

I believe that a person's private life should remain private, but it was the Senator, himself, who took it into public places and who lied and who is such the hypocrite. I have no problem with anyone being gay, but again, the lies and hypocrisies attached to Lewd-Conduct-Man have brought embarrassment to the state of Idaho, not to mention the Republican party....

Thank goodness Idaho also has some great Democratic candidates so that we can rid ourselves of the mess that the Republican party has laid at our feet. Larry LaRocco for Craig's seat and Larry Grant, Walt Minnick, and Rand Lewis for Bill Sali's seat. It can only get better!

The 2008 election is going to be very interesting, as well as great entertainment! I can't wait...

There's something happening here....

I think I haven't been doing enough Sudoku or crossword puzzles lately because I'm feeling mentally challenged and I'm having trouble understanding things. Like I don't understand Walt Minnick's problem with Larry Grant. Now, I only met Minnick twice, briefly, and I've heard from very good friends that he is a great guy. But I'm still not sure why he's running against Grant.

Minnick announced last week that he would be running against Grant and Lewis for the District 1 Congressional seat. Actually, his announcement came to me first through the Idaho Democratic Party, and the next day I read the announcement by Jill Kuraitis at NewWest Boise. Jill pulled out the same-ole-same-ole talk that was made public by Popkey, i.e., that Grant ran a "lackluster" campaign. My guess is that lackluster means he lost to Sali.... OMG, in a Republican state!!!, which only ended up remaining red because the Republicans had to spend so much money here on Sali's campaign that they lost candidates in Ohio and some other east coast state. So said Parag Mehta at the IDP State Committee Meeting in Kootenai County. And Cheney came to visit twice! Once in Boise and once in Coeur d'Alene. Now what major candidate EVER comes to Coeur d'Alene??? What is lackluster about drawing that kind of attention? Even Cecil Andrus endorsed him during the 2006 election. Geez, do you think that maybe "lackluster" really had nothing to do with this loss??

Now this really makes me wonder. Andrus is held as the ideal candidate who gets votes by going door-to-door, you know, real grassroots, like Howard Dean promotes. And that's what Larry Grant did. Even in Bonners Ferry. So, what's the problem? No Clinton/DLC money slinging? No big buck luster? We do not have movie star big donor types in Boundary County, but we gave what we can. And we turned out more Democratic voters than we had in years. Is that a lack of luster?

Also, in the recent past, I've heard many Idaho Democrat advisers say a candidate has to try two or even three times before they win in this state. So, Larry Grant is on his second try, but now that's not good enough. Is a second try a bit lusterless? Does that mean two or three tries are good or are they not? Does this require a whole new way of thinking mathematically so that I can't even apply it to Sudoku???

Well, they still say, that is the Boys of Boise say, that Larry Grant lost due to lackluster. Hmm, maybe that's the answer. Minnick has luster! Will somebody please tell me what that is?

Still, I remain confused. Perusing the news articles on Minnick, I have read little about issues, but a lot about Minnick's past association with big timber, the Republican party, Nixon, G. Gordon Liddy, and, thank God for small miracles, the Idaho Conservation League. Of course, that makes me wonder how he feels about the NUCLEAR QUESTION?? I ask because even though he fought the dumping of nuclear waste in Idaho, I understand Senate Candidate,Larry LaRocco, is a very good friend of Minnick. And Larry LaRocco supports nuclear energy as clean energy. That leaves me a bit wary....and gives a whole new definition to the word "clean." It also makes me wonder, why didn't Minnick try once more for the Senate seat? Is it because he is friends with LaRocco? Or does he prefer that path that Grant already paved..... Ah, the machinations of human behavior....

Anyway, I'm curious as to how ALL the candidates will handle the "tough" questions that Bonner and Boundary counties handed to Larry Grant when he first arrived. Forget the bring troops home from Iraq, we want to know when and how. And how about gun control? Health care? Does the candidate have a plan or just rhetoric? And the Right to Work? Minimum wage? Big Business tax breaks? Corporations? Corporate crime? Agricultural subsidies? Immigration? The War on Drugs? The Impeachment Question. I look forward to hearing everyone's responses, if they ever make it to Boundary County. Geographically we are the crown jewel of Idaho; however, we're not exactly around the corner.... Democrats from the south find that a trip to Boundary County is about as far away as, well, let me provide a clearer picture of distances. Boise is 361 miles from Bonners Ferry; Portland, OR is closer to Boise at 345 miles; Reno, NV is closer to Boise at only 336 miles; and Salt Lake City is only 296 miles from Boise. Think of the reverse: Vancouver, CAN is only 295 miles from Bonners Ferry; Seattle, WA is but 274 miles from Bonners; Banff, ALB is 169 miles; and Missoula, MT only 180 miles. Bonners Ferry is 2 1/2 hrs. from the nearest airport in Spokane, WA. We do not share any radio or television stations with southern Idaho. We do not share a common newspaper with southern Idaho (Bonners Ferry major media is from Spokane, WA). I'm not convinced that we're exactly in the same state, except by name and politics. In sum, we are not exactly geographically desirable to visitors from the south, and, nor are they to us.

As for the political situation, Boundary County is filled with Republicans, disgruntled Republicans, and Independents. If someone wants their vote, they had better remember the myth of Sisyphus. Or better yet, read and understand Deer-Hunting With Jesus. We have been working hard to get more votes for Democrats in Boundary County. In the last election, the Boundary County Central Committee once again made it okay to be a Democrat by putting up a billboard at the only entrance to town which read, "Had Enough? Vote Democratic." When candidates like Larry Grant, Jerry Brady, and Steve Elgar took the time to go door-to-door in our town, they also made it okay to be Democratic again. In the 2006 campaign, these candidates took the time to leave a path of luster in Boundary County, a luster they could bank on for the next election. New candidates have their work cut out for them....

As for me, a Sudoku awaits. Maybe I'll feel less mentally challenged after it's completion....if I complete it.

The More We Get Together, Together, Together...

Ah, we're so friendly in the north. Look at that, Red Lion Templin's Hotel welcoming the Idaho Democratic Party to their friendly neck of the north Idaho woods. How can you beat that?? It certainly warmed the cockles of my heart....

I just love state committee meetings. I love seeing old friends and meeting new people from places in Idaho that are as foreign to me as, well, as foreign lands and places. But when we're all in the same room together, it's like the manifestation of a whole party, one state united in common values, with other people who place a high value on democracy, and, more importantly, on people.

And, as usual, it was inspired. Our new Executive Director, John Foster, has already carved out his niche, including who he is and the direction in which he wants to lead the party. Taking his cue from the DNC, he sees clearly the much needed effort to unite all of Idaho at the grassroots level, in order to see good, old-fashioned Democratic values, Idaho values, once more take center stage in this state. He has spoken to many of us so many times it seems like he has been around for years, rather than months.

And of course, Stephanie Astorquia, our Treasurer, who is the only person I've ever met that can make money spending and accumulation make some sort of sense to me. I am in awe of her as can be seen in her impressive accounting skills and ability which leave me, big-mouth me, utterly speechless. At least once a week I give thanks for having her as our treasurer....

Always a ray of sunshine, and a person who allows no negativity to come near her, Shelley Landry, our north Idaho fieldworker, displayed her usual organizational skills and warmly greeted all of us who miss her whenever she is in the great unknown regions of District 1. Without her, I'm not sure that there could even be a united north Idaho Democratic Party.... And with Shelley, we're Democrats, we can make this work....

Chuck Oxley seemed to have a heads up on everything being said, took many photos, including the above one which he so kindly emailed to me before I even made it back to Bonners Ferry, and I'm sure he'll have plenty for us to read in his News Updates.

So many other familiar faces from around the state, including the tireless southern fieldworker, Randy Johnson, the other county chairs that work so hard for the IDP, the delightful and so very hard-working House Minority Leader, Wendy Jaquet, and I know I'm forgetting others after a long but wonderful day in Post Falls (still north Idaho but almost 2 hrs. from home).

Our illustrious leader, Richard Stallings, that very kind man with a tremendous sense of political acumen and a wonderful touch of dry wit and humor, always seems to find just the right things to say. I only wish that he could visit all the counties on a regular basis because he obviously has so much leadership to impart and share in a state so geographically divided.

And of course it is always a delight to see Larry Grant, who should be Congressman Larry Grant, which may be a wish fulfilled next year. How wonderful for DNC speaker, Parag Mehta, to thank Larry, and to say what I and others said after the last election, that even though he didn't win, he made Republicans spend so much money here that the money they lost in other states made them lose Republican seats! (Well, I didn't know about losing Republican seats because of that money but I know it was due to Larry Grant and Jerry Brady that Republicans took lots of money from elsewhere and spent it in Idaho; indeed, they even sent VP Cheney to Coeur d'Alene, ID. Now when was the last time someone that high up in the US gov. came to north Idaho????) So thank you Parag for bringing that statistic up. You go, Larry!

And I was delighted to see our Party VP, Jeanne Buell, one of the most compassionate people I know who also has the political heart strong enough to push the DNC to give us such wonderful people like Parag Mehta to speak. Jeanne provides so much soul to this party, as well as organizational skills with great foresight (thanks so much for the notecards....) that I always know I'll learn some important political and humanistic skill whenever we have the chance to meet.

Finally, I want to thank the DNC for sending us Parag Mehta. He may not be the VP like Cheney, but Cheney, if he had a mind and/or a heart, could learn loads from Parag. He entered the room and took the floor with the energy of Howard Dean, the political astuteness of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the charisma of Bobby Kennedy. I loved what he said, his presentation, his humor, his intelligence, and "the plan." I've knocked on enough doors to know that the DNC 50 state strategy can work. My only disappointment is that he couldn't have spoke on Saturday when the attendance would have been much greater. As I told him, if the DNC doesn't give more energy to north Idaho, then not only will they lose north Idaho votes, but western Montana and eastern Washington votes as well. I'm sure Parag heard me...

Well, I must get up early in the morning for another political day of delight in north Idaho. Which reminds me, if not for the tremendous efforts of Bev Moss, Kootenai County Chair, Shelley Landry, Tamara Poelstra and others of whom I do not know, then this wonderful opportunity to have a state committe meeting in north Idaho would never have occurred. So a giant HURRAH for Bev and the Kootenai Democrats! And for all of you Kootenai Democrats and precinct captains who did not attend, well, you missed out on a great and inspirational opportunity.

After another state committee meeting, what can I say but IdahoRocks! You go, my blue Idaho!