When I think of Idaho politics, it makes me sick, much like how I felt before I left where I came from to seek asylum here in our great state. When I think of Governor, I think of a controlling elite that doesn't seem to understand who they are supposed to represent. Constitutionally I believe they should represent the people but Corporately they represent "Stakeholders" a very different thing and a very dangerous one too if you love your freedom.
Somehow every election cycle we make the same mistakes as those that seem to hate us use our language against us to get us to elect them and many that say they are like us buy into it every year only to find out after only a few months these people once again complain about how poor the elected official is rather than blaming themselves for their poor choices they blame the person they elected. This whole thing seems a bit psychotic to me but every election year this mental illness abounds and this mental illness is so ingrained within them, they become so arrogant when it is pointed out, they attack the one that pointed it out. Do these people even realize that their bad decisions effect those of us that make the right one's?
Hey! No one is perfect! We all make mistakes right? But making mistakes isn't the issue necessarily, it is continuing to make those mistakes and not listening to wise council or dialoguing with others to understand multiple perspectives of what is happening. The fact is, at least to me, that bad choices that affect our freedom demand accountability and if we all cared enough about one another we would be open to such accountability. The fact that we are not open only proves to me that we are way too arrogant and narcissistic than we care about others and the decisions we make that affect them. If we hope to fix our issues, in my view, this is one of the first things that needs to be fixed. I call it issues relating to pre-politics.
I guess my thought is, if we are arrogant and our Founding Fathers said we get the government we deserve and our elected officials are arrogant, didn't we indeed get the government we deserve?
Look at the Governor for example. Butch Otter. Who did he support, the people or his "stakeholders?" Look at Brad Little. Who does he support? The people or his "stakeholders?"
Hell, look at the Presidency or even our legislative elected officials. The President surely supports his "stakeholders" and as for our local elected officials, if you are even remotely paying attention, you can tell who they support! What you can also tell if you are attuned is who voted them in!
Well, its election time again! Are you ready for the charade and the proverbial shell game trying to figure out who is playing you and who is running for the best interest of the people?
I hate it because it never seems like we are right until after the election. If we were all honest, there would be no reason to second guess what others say but American's are no longer in that place and we seem to be okay with it, at least most of us seem to be. I however am not.
I attended several events the last few weeks and have been watching several things. We all know Brad Little is running again. We know the Idaho GOP establishment wants him in because he supports their special interests and they hate "liberty candidates! If he gets in again, he will once again control the citizens rather than defend their liberty and the empowered bureaucrats will once again run rogue and the corporations will continually violate the rights of the people and we will have no recourse because we have all been programmed to believe that corporations can do whatever they want to to violate the rights of the people forced to patronize them. Little has shown over and over again who he is so why would he change now? He won't. So what are our options?
I told myself years ago I can't attend GOP establishment presentations and I have proven to myself that not going has saved me from wasting my time because of their same tired talking points.
One event I attended recently though was Gubernatorial candidate Ed Humphreys. I met Ed sometime early last year for the first time. A sharp driven young man that I had never seen or even heard about before. When I met with him, I just had the feeling that he wanted to be involved in the political arena and I wasn't at all surprised to see when he announced he wanted to run for Governor. He peaked my interest because he reached out to me which people rarely do unless they are liberty people. I mean who would be interested in what a long time activist and John Birch Society Coordinator would have to say so admittedly I was intrigued.
He is young, 31 soon if I remember correctly and a new baby on the way. Congratulations to his family. His parents, I believe he said were from Yugoslavia and his motivation for running stemmed from the stories his family told him about Communism and what he is seeing in Idaho which is admirable and true by the way. That would motivate me to run too!
His talking points are very good and he appears very real but very polished at the same time which is a red flag for me. He has a way of easily getting people to like him and has good answers for the questions he gets regarding his age and the positions he has. Just because I said he has good answers, doesn't mean he has my support however, it just means that he is "quick to the draw." Whether his quickness stems from his soul or because he is rehearsed remains to be seen. He appears to be legitimate to those he was speaking to and most bought all of his talking points hook, line and sinker, even his outward support of Term Limits. I adamantly oppose Term limits, therefore, for me, another red flag.
The questions I have regarding Mr. Humphrey's probably stem from not only what I have learned in the way of personal education but my multi-decade involvement in Idaho politics, two things that others wouldn't see. So, in a way, admittedly, understanding Idaho politics has jaded my view which is really one reason I am so cautious. I also realize which is why I am telling you this, that having that jaded side can also wrongly influence one's decisions and I understand that. Because others wouldn't see what I see , it is difficult to explain in detail what my apprehensions are but I realized if I am trusted regarding who I am and what I think, I needed to try to be better at articulating those points being as openly transparent as possible, and I hope over time I can.
All that being said going forward, I should also say I hate division. I hate back-biting and the liberty movement's failure to unify. What also may appear to you as you read on is that somehow I have some desire to disrespect people's character or be mean and I want you to know this is not at all the case. What my intention is instead is to be very real with you and give you a glimpse at what I see for what it is worth as far as what is happening and the worldviews people possess and how they intertwine with politics, that's it. Again, much of this wouldn't need to be stated if people were honest or if we knew the players enough to understand who they are and we simply don't. Therefore, all we can do is speculate trying as hard as we can not to appear disrespectful.
For now the questions I have regarding Mr. Humphry's campaign are: Who is funding him? Where did he come from? Who put him up to running? Why would he be running against an already experienced and well known and well liked (and well hated by the Establishment) liberty candidate? And why when he is concerned about the same things she is concerned about, endanger the movement by splitting the vote? Could this after all be a plan by the Idaho GOP to split the vote, to get Janice McGeachin out and keep Brad Little where he is? It is the M.O of the Idaho GOP after all! Why does this seem too eerily familiar to a repeat of Tommy Ahlquist?
We all know the Idaho GOP is well funded, have rigid control over politics and are surrounded by people either that are new to politics or relatively ignorant to Idaho Politics and more similarly aligned with easily led Fox news "Conservatives" than people that have been in the fight for Idaho as long as many of us have. The GOP's main goal is to maintain control not correct a failing nation and proof is that they only mention liberty and socialism during election time. Hmm...
I want you all to know this is not a personal attack on the young man nor does it mean I don't like him. I actually do like him. What it means is that I measure a man or any political candidate, on other things besides if I like him or not and you should too. Again, I am not meaning to attack anyone.
The other questions regarding his campaign are why in events that I attend with Humphreys speaking do I not see anyone I know? Where have these people been and where did they come from? The better question is what do they know and how educated are they? What are their true concerns and "Conservative values?" Where has Humphreys been for the last two decades while the rest of us have been fighting for liberty in this state and why does no one I know, know him? Truth be told, if Ed is only 30, he would have only been 10 when we first got involved so I can't blame him there. Ed openly admits he has no experience and I can appreciate his honesty there but the Ada County Ronald Reagan Club did vouch for him saying that Ed had met them years ago like somehow he has been involved longer than he may have. The other thing to consider is that most of the people that seem to support him, I have never seen before and whom many I spoke to are new to Idaho which tells me one thing...People new here may like freedom, they may even understand our Constitution but what they don't know is Idaho Politics.
One other thing I have also considered is who is running his campaign? Apparently Tracey Koellisch is his Campaign Manager...also someone I have never met. In asking about her she is well liked in the liberty community and well respected. She is very successful at planning events and having great attendance but apparently she is also relatively new to Idaho as well. When I asked about her they said "she is like us"...also because her husband Bob is allegedly, according to what I hear a 27 year retired CIA and/or law enforcement and Maybe a vet? Let me ask you something with no disrespect intended, to Bob or anyone else... would you trust someone new here to understand and successfully navigate through Idaho politics with those credentials? I mean it is possible and I could be way off base here and I will apologize if I am but what I am saying it is less likely that the norm. (Not to sound arrogant but I was in fact seemingly wrong a few elections ago when I had made the wrong assumptions about a candidate so please take what I am saying as just a perspective. My intention is never to wrongly mislead anyone.)
Would you also be quick to support someone as a liberty type person that had a career working for the government? I wouldn't. It doesn't mean that these are bad people at all. Some indeed are liberty people. They could be and probably are great people! Maybe everything about them is perfect regarding liberty or maybe everything is perfect except they may not understand Idaho politics? Maybe they know way more than I do and I am completely wrong. Again, if I am, I will be the first one to tell you. Word is Tracey is a political analyst as well. Would that be a good reason to trust the judgement of someone new here? Not necessarily.
I realized at my attendance in meetings that most people appear to be followers not leaders and that can have some significant consequences. One more thing to add on a personal note is that I can call anyone in the liberty movement and get a call back and out of my attempts to contact her , she has not yet contacted me. In my view if we are fighting together for liberty, why would she not reach out to me? Sure she could be too busy but it is another red flag for me because the only one's that don't ever call me back are those entrenched in the GOP establishment.
I do want to tread very carefully here to say I am not looking to make enemies in my own movement, I am just openly sharing my concerns about politics to help people see that there is more to consider than a pretty face and the smooth words one speaks. Also, to continue to make my point most concerning as we look at details is to rest assured that if there is an apology that needs to be made for mis-stating anything I write, I will have no issue apologizing and correcting the record.
Moving on...I also attended Janice McGeachin's announcement at the Capitol. She was to speak apparently at 1:45 but she didn't speak until I had to leave at 2:15 pm. I found that disappointing. On a week day, candidates that ask for your support seem to forget that we must take time from work to attend. There were the usual in attendance, most of whom I either knew or had met several times before, these people, by the way that have shown where they stand, fought and spoken in defense of liberty in our state.
Although I needed to leave before she spoke, I know Janice's message. She not only speaks it, she lives it through example. One thing clearer than other candidates is she has the experience and track record that shows who she defends and she responds well to those that understand this as her constituents respond to her when she speaks. This to me is the proper relationship between an elected official to their constituents as compared to the actions of the poor Governor Little that never seems to have received the memo or doesn't care which is my guess.
I showed up at Janice's event early. I enjoy meeting with friends and helping where I can. I also see things that others may not even be aware of. In this instance, as I was waiting around, a bit before the event started, a black suburban pulled up and surrounded by what seemed to be 4-6 security officers, I saw Little get out of the back seat. I noticed his head down and looking away as if he was hiding so it was clear that he was insulated and separated from those he claimed to serve. His officers within several inches to several feet from him. This is a very improper relationship between the Governor and his constituents. My guess is because he hates people that love freedom, after all, his actions have proven he does!
McGeachin did have security there but it was way less obvious and they were much farther away, indicating to me, Little as a paranoia problem. Would you prefer to vote for a paranoid tyrant that needs to hide from "his constituents" or would you support someone that is confident enough in who she is that she doesn't feel threatened by those that elected her? As I recall the more tyrannical the leader the more need for security. If that doesn't shed the proper light on the situation, I am not sure what will. It would also be good to know that most liberty candidates are women, not men and those women, as frail as many would like to think they are have openly stated that although they do like ISP, they have no issue walking the halls of the Capitol without them. They have openly stated they actually feel that the presence of the ISP there to the degree they have been, is more intimidating and giving the appearance we are less free than before and they are right. Little and the GOP establishment legislators want them there because they are little tyrants themselves.
So to date, I have shared with you what I know so far and I hope it helps. If you know I am in error, please let me know. If you agree, please feel free to leave comments or share mine with others.
Comments