OPINION: In Idaho, free speech is gone with the Winder

Never have so few done so little to be so punished.

Such is the case of three Idaho state senators:

* Glenna Zuiderveld, R-Twin Falls.

* Scott Herndon, R-Sagle.

* Brian Lenney, R-Nampa.

Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise, has stripped Zuiderveld and Lenney of the most prominent status symbol either of these freshman have, the vice chairpersonships of the Senate Health and Welfare and Commerce and Human Resources committees, respectively.

Herndon drew a public reprimand but no demotion.

And what were their offenses?

Zuiderveld wrote a column that essentially accused the establishment wing of the GOP of following the agenda set by the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry. She complained about government spending and corporate welfare. She encouraged voters to withhold support from those legislators who score high on IACI’s voting index and/or have been endorsed by its political action committee.

And she included a cartoon that depicted Winder as well as Sen. Kevin Cook and Rep. Stephanie Mickelson, both R-Idaho Falls, as a trio of rhinoceros-headed politicians carrying pails filled with IACI cash. A pejorative in GOP circles accuses those who are less than pure of being Republicans in name only (RINO).

Herndon’s offense was to accuse the Legislature — and the budget-writing committee on which he serves — of excessive spending.

“There are special interest groups that will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in the next 6 months against we conservatives who sometimes say NO,” Herndon wrote. “These Center Left special interest PACs want legislators who will say yes to everything.”

And where did Lenney cross the line?

That’s not clear to him or anyone else. Winder accused him of having “continually disrespected and harmed the legislative process by violating rules governing decorum” without citing specifics.

In any event, it’s fairly tame stuff — the kind of back-and-forth that’s become customary within the Idaho Republican Party’s civil war. On one side is the Idaho Freedom Caucus, where members such as Zuiderveld, Herndon and Lenney want to burn the House — or Senate — down if they ever gain a majority of the GOP caucus. On the other side are Winder’s conventional conservatives who are accustomed to watching chaos unfold in the House rather than their own chamber. But it’s a fair fight. Winder and his branch of the party are public officials engaged in a debate about policy, not personalities. And they have all the experience, political skills and financial allies they need to respond in kind.

Far more egregious behavior has garnered far less severe repercussions.

The morally bankrupt former Rep. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird, lost no more than a minor committee assignment in 2021 after she publicly exposed the young woman raped by former Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger, R-Lewiston, to public ridicule — then lied about it to the House Ethics Committee.

Giddings retained her office, kept her slot on the Legislature’s budget-writing committee and was free to continue her failed bid for lieutenant governor in 2022.

Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, once called Gov. Brad Little “Gov. Little Hitler.” No one yanked away her title as vice chairperson of the Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee.

And freshman Sen. Chris T. Trakel, R-Caldwell, had been in office hardly a month when he lorded it over the Caldwell School Board, threatening board members with litigation if they allowed students to use locker rooms that align with their gender identity. The Idaho Statesman characterized it as “deplorable, belligerent behavior” from a senator who “yelled at volunteer school board members and tried to leverage his position as a state legislator.”

Where was the outcry from leadership about Trakel violating the rules of decorum?

Or is it merely getting under Winder’s apparently thin political skin that draws a rebuke?

If so, the few Democrats holding seats in the Idaho Legislature ought to be concerned. As the loyal opposition, it’s their obligation to point out flaws in the way the Republican majority conducts business.

Likewise, can the critics — inside and outside of the state Capitol — expect the same treatment from Sen. Winder and his leadership team?

Zuiderveld, Herndon and Lenney are political bomb throwers who care far more about drawing accolades from their narrow political base than advancing the cause of education, public health or even a more equitable tax system.

But this idea of reprimanding people for political speech ought to give everybody pause. — M.T.