Insecure Republican Party
The Republican Party is certainly insecure.
It is amazing to me that the Republicans are so insecure that they feel everyone in their party has to voice and vote exactly the way the Republican Party feels they should speak or vote.
In other words, no one is to have a mind or thought of her own. The Republican Party is to tell a person how to think and speak. This doesn’t sound like America to me. This is not how our Founding Fathers put together our Constitution. They each spoke his own words, and each listened and learned from each other.
Good for Lori McCann to have a mind and words of her own. She gives thoughtful consideration to each bill and should be allowed to voice her opinion without the Republican Party reprimanding her for their insecurity and inability to listen to another point of view.
Cara Snyder
Lewiston
Eating their own
Wow. I haven’t seen anything this crazy since the Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy hearings in the mid-1950s.
Idaho Republicans, with a huge majority in the Legislature and owning all the statewide elected officials, are now forced to start eating their own for headlines.
They are after Rep. Lori McCann and 13 other evildoers who dared not support overriding the governor’s veto of a crackpot bill attacking the ultimate “new commies” — our librarians. McCarthy would be so proud of the majority. As the Idaho Freedom Foundation cheers them on, Dorothy Moon and her sidekicks continue to try to limit who can vote in the Republican primary.
For example, they would like to kick us out if we donate to a Democrat. Will they also kick us out for supporting a censured Republican? I guess I’m gone then, as I intend to send a check to Rep. McCann and ask for a really big yard sign. McCann is in the mold of the real Idaho Republicans of 20 years ago who tried to help the people, not intimidate and threaten us.
Isn’t it time to take on property taxes and school funding and stop inventing hysteria like “woke” and “critical race theory”? Probably not, as it is a lot easier for the conservatives to pick on those ultimate evildoers, our librarians and teachers.
I hope Rep. McCann is not driven out by this nonsense. We need a lot more just like her.
Earl Bennett
Genesee
Democracy in action?
I have been voting for a representative in the Idaho Legislature for almost 60 years. Until this year I had always thought the state legislators answered to the people who elected them, not some damn central committee in each county within their district “who did not like the way they voted.”
All three Republican central committees in each county reprimanded Rep. Lori McCann this year. Nez Perce County in March, Lewis County in April and on Aug. 15, the Latah County Republican Central Committee reprimanded Lori after eight tries, late at night, following in the footsteps of their fellow central committee members in Nez Perce and Lewis counties. “They did not like the way she voted.” Oh my. If this is democracy in action, then I have had a distorted view for years.
Do we now assume each legislator should obtain approval of all central committee members of each county within the legislative district before casting a vote in Boise?
Lori, you were too kind to these “dupes” who chose to reprimand you. I know a very prominent political figure in southern Idaho who thinks you were among the top legislators in Boise this past term. I believe him.
Lori, keep up the good work. A lot of people support you. We all look forward to next year.
Steve Rice
Lewiston
Old-fashioned witch hunt
It’s ironic the hearing the Latah County Republican Central Committee held to determine if Lori McCann should be censured because of her votes on certain bills convinced me she is exactly the kind of legislator who deserves to be supported, not censured.
A year ago, I registered as a Republican to be able to vote in their closed primary. Given the dominance the Republican Party has and likely will continue to have in Idaho politics, I knew whichever candidates won in the primary would go on to be elected in the general election.
McCann handily won her House seat, thereby demonstrating the majority of voters in her district wanted her to represent them, which she has done in the thoughtful way she has voted on various bills. However, a number of her votes didn’t pass the party’s loyalty test, hence their decision.
Even though the process used was deemed fair, even by McCann, it still seemed more like an old-fashioned witch hunt.
Having attended the hearing and heard McCann’s defense of her votes, ... I ended up admiring her very much. She both demonstrated grace under pressure and, more importantly, that she is the kind of representative we need more of, not less of.
I’m sure the process she has been subjected to by her own party has taken its toll, and so would not be surprised if she decided not to run next year. However, if she does decide to run, she will certainly get my vote.
Barbara Wells
Moscow
