The time to stop the radical right is now

March 13, 2023

By Mike Weland, Publisher

Over the years, Idaho has been blessed at every level with politicians and statesman of distinction and accomplishment, men and women of both parties who, though by no means perfect, upheld their oaths of office and saw to their duties even while holding fast to their own morals and convictions. Men and women who took seriously that they were privileged to serve the public, a diverse collection of individuals and groups who, collectively, stood stronger together than any single faction within.

Men and women elected to offices great and small, who set aside their differences and worked together for the benefit of "we, the people."

They recognized and believed that the two documents they swore fealty to in taking office, the Constitutions of the United States and that of Idaho, could forge a set of principles all could accept and believe and so bind the many disparate elements of our society into a kindred whole that brings a measure of benefit to all. Perhaps never a perfect union, but a union that together we may ever strive to perfect.

Yet in every society in world history, there is ever an undercurrent of discontent, factions that somehow convince themselves to proclaim that they are being oppressed, of being treated with gross unfairness. Sects and factions that try to stand separate and apart even while partaking from the common coffers.

And on rare occasion, a charismatic leader arises who brings such factions into the sunlight, convincing them that they are strong, but oppressed and threatened, their inherent rights, their privileges, being stolen by people whose sole aim is to to subjugate.

The good people of Boundary County are knee deep in one of those rare occasions right now, and it's due in part to a trusting nature and overt hospitality. Infiltrated by a band of the oppressed far right endowed with the resources and retirement funds to buy up local real estate and build citadels, fortifications and multi-million dollar homes. People who declare this to be their "Redoubt," where they will make their stand against whatever Hollywood monster, Alex Jones conspiracy or whatever threat du jour they can raise to instill fear and outrage in the hearts of their fellow zealots. They are here to save us, they say, to guide us down their path to right wing authoritarianism like sheep to slaughter.

By their wealth, gained elsewhere, they've come here and raised prices beyond the point of affordability for most born and raised here.

And they are legally infiltrating our local government offices, winning elections for school board, senator, representative, precinct committeeman, and they do it by doing what the complacent don't.

They go to meetings, campaign hard. They vote. They set up cameras and aver they are exposing inequities and corruption when all they are doing is seeking out those not sufficiently supportive of their cause and accuse those at odds with them as "RINOS, "woke" or "leftists" for failing to show adequate fealty to their radical agenda. They support wholeheartedly the radical candidates now serving who push their far right wing ideologies rather than abide their oath of office or serve the public good.

They don't seek to serve, they seek to force their radical agenda down the throats of all. This crop of zealots aren't leaders or statesmen,  they are bullies, full of bluster and false bravado. And while they have rights to their beliefs and biases and to seek elected offices from which to gain power and control, those not taken in by their fear-mongering, rhetoric and threats aren't helpless.

It's time  to shrug off complacency, to take time to attend meetings and hearings, to become involved. To raise the qualified voter rate in each election into the 90-percent range, to vet those who seek office and to vote only for those you trust to represent you. To recall those who, once elected, pursue their own agendas rather than the public good. They are growing in number across the land, gaining strength and power. The time to stop them is now, before they become more solidly entrenched.

Our freedoms and liberties depend on it.