OPINION: Next up: Republican Party’s grand inquisition

If you’re going to get kicked out of the Idaho GOP, it ought to be for something practically every Republican agrees with.

You wouldn’t expect any Idaho Republican lawmaker to call for the confiscation of guns.

Nor would any genuine Idaho Republican want to repeal the state’s so-called right to work law in order to strengthen organized labor unions.

Likewise, the idea that any Idaho Republican would advocate spending Medicaid dollars to pay for elective abortions is beyond the pale.

And no Republican would caucus with Democrats in order to cede control over running the Legislature.

Anyone who takes such a step would be branded a turncoat with good reason.

But look at the list of indictments precinct captains from two legislative district central committees have filed against lawmakers in Bonneville County.

Nothing is too petty to escape the attention of party regulars who, since the gathering of the GOP tribe in Challis last summer, have been empowered to censure elected Republican lawmakers. Should the party regulars agree, these legislators could be stripped of “party support” and barred from using “Republican Party identifiers on campaign information and advertising” for up to five years.

For instance:

Idaho Launch — The program aimed at providing $8,000 to Idaho high school graduates to foster their training or education is the initiative of a Republican, Gov. Brad Little. It responds to the state’s chronic shortage of skilled workers. Idaho voters endorsed the idea last year when they passed an advisory ballot measure by nearly 80%.

Even with all the fire it drew, Idaho Launch would not have cleared the Legislature without substantial Republican support. Some two dozen GOP House members and 13 Republican senators voted for it.

WWAMI funding — What could be more routine than passing the annual budget for the medical cooperative that serves Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho?

The Gem State has a shortage of doctors and no state-supported medical school. No wonder this bill passed with a majority of Senate and House Republicans.

College and university budgets — This is as routine as it comes. It’s hardly a fringe bill. Who would oppose the yearly continuation of state support for the higher education of Idaho’s young people? That’s why a majority of Senate and House Republicans voted for it.

Rural nursing incentives — If you want to get more nurses into underserved rural areas, you need to provide incentives. It’s no different than offering tax breaks to spread prosperity statewide. Republicans were split, but the idea was mainstream enough to pass and become law.

Offering feminine hygiene products in the schools — As modest an idea as this was, with a pricetag of $750,000, Rep. Lori McCann’s proposal failed on a tied vote in the House. Even so, when a bill secures the support of two dozen House Republicans, you have to acknowledge its appeal among many members of the GOP.

Libraries — The reason Idaho libraries don’t have a bounty on them is because Republicans like Gov. Little and 18 House members stopped it.

And this feeding frenzy is spreading.

It wasn’t much of a surprise to see an independent thinker such as McCann, R-Lewiston, hauled before GOP tribunals in Latah, Lewis and Nez Perce counties. But how do you explain Bonneville County rank-and-file Republicans taking issue with the godmother of anti-transgender legislation and anti-diversity in higher education, Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls?

“I was genuinely shocked to learn of this,” Ehardt told the Idaho Falls Post Register’s David Pace.

Ehardt’s shocked? What about the rest of us?

We’re not talking about bedrock Republican principles.

We’re not even talking about the usual intraparty policy disputes in which the losing side is seeking revenge.

This is no longer the stuff of political intrigue.

It’s taking on the trappings of a grand inquisition where a group of high priests from the Holy Order of Inflexibility imposes a rigid doctrine.

Anyone who violates that doctrine is branded a heretic.

And the remedy they’re most comfortable with is nothing short of excommunication. — M.T.